Sponsor Couples

Sponsor Couple

Sponsor Couple is a couple-to-couple ministry in which married couples mentor engaged couples to help them prepare for a Christian marriage.

Suggested Qualities of a Sponsor Couple

• Believe in marriage as a permanent and faithful commitment
• Believe God and church are necessary to a successful relationship
• Are generous, warm and nonjudgmental
• Are realistic and hopeful regarding the day-to-day living of marriage
• Are open-minded and can share their own lived witness of the sacrament
• Have the ability to listen well, reflect back and encourage participation without threatening
• Can be witnesses and companions with the engaged couples in their continued search for a fulfilling and successful marriage
• Have been married for at least three years, are following the teachings of the Catholic church, and support the diocesan guidelines in preparing couples for marriage
• Endorse and support the teachings of the church such as birth control, premarital sex, cohabitation, etc
• Understand the principle of confidentiality

Training Involves

A comprehensive five-hour session using different learning modes of group interaction, discussion, lecture and role playing. Topics covered include:

• The Catholic Perspective on Marriage as a Sacrament
• Overview of the Marriage Preparation process
• Role of the Sponsor Couple
• Using the premarital inventory tool “Fully Engaged”
• Special Areas of Concern (i.e. cohabitation, premarital sex, contraception, interfaith, finances, etc.)

Cost and Registration

Training sessions can be scheduled on a parish, deanery or regional basis. The cost is $125 per couple and includes the Fully Engaged Facilitator’s Guide, materials from the Office of Marriage & Family and training expenses.

Register couples at this link: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/SCTraining2023 or contact Jan Zylla at jan.zylla@gw.stcdio.org or call (320) 258-7615 with names, address, phone numbers and emails of the couple attending at least two weeks before the scheduled sponsor couple training session.

Note: If training is given in a parish setting, a mileage fee is added.

Training Dates

Contact Patrick Flynn at patrick.flynn@gw.stcdio.org to arrange additional training sessions.