A Wedding Is A Day, A Marriage Is A Lifetime®

Welcome

Congratulations on your engagement, and welcome to the Catholic Engaged Encounter of Dodge City! Our community has been serving the Dodge City area for many years. Most of the couples that attend our weekends live in Southwest Kansas, but we warmly welcome any engaged Catholic couple that needs to complete a pre-cana program.

Our Community

Our community currently hosts four weekends per year in English and one or two in Spanish. Several team couples volunteer their time to share the gift of marriage with engaged couples. We are also very blessed and thankful to have priests that serve our program when they are available. Our weekends are held at Heartland Retreat Center in Great Bend, Kansas and St. Anthony’s in Liberal, Kansas.

FAQ

FOCCUS is not part of the Catholic Engaged Encounter program. The FOCCUS survey should be completed and the results thereof should be discussed with your priest / diocese and representative before you attend the Catholic Engaged Encounter weekend.

We recommend the using the “earlier the better” policy. Many parishes require you to start marriage prep at least 6 months in advance. As soon as you are engaged, or even considering engagement, it is the right time to attend a retreat. By attending early, you can discover areas of growth necessary in your relationship, determine if engagement and marriage is right for you and avoid the last-minute hassles of attending a retreat while trying to do everything else your wedding day entails.

Catholic Engaged Encounter is designed to provide couples getting married the tools needed for a successful marriage. The retreat is open to any engaged couple wanting to prepare for a deeper, more meaningful life together in a marriage recognized by the Catholic Church according to its Church law.

Weekends are $200 per couple.

The retreat is not group therapy, instead, it provides private one-on-one time for the couple to learn about each other and marriage based on 5 major themes: The Family we Grew Up In, Sacramental Marriage, Communications, Intimacy – more than just sex, and Values. Couples learn about these 5 major themes through a series of presentations given by married couples. After each presentation, both fiancé’s are given time to individually reflect and write on the topic covered. Couples then are given time to privately reflect as a couple. Couples are never required to share with the group.

We suggest you bring the following items with you:

  • Wear comfortable casual clothing;
  • Bring a snack to place on the shared snack table which will be available in the conference room (water, tea, and coffee will be provided);
  • A six pack of our favorite soda, energy or sports drink;
  • A reusable cup to enjoy coffee and water during the retreat;
  • Any snack or drink items for your own personal consumption

Weekends start Friday at 7:00 pm, so plan to arrive between 6:00 – 6:45 pm.
Spanish weekends begin Saturday morning at 8:00 am.

Weekends end Sunday at 2:00pm.

Each couple will receive two workbooks (available in English or Spanish) to use throughout the retreat. These are yours to keep. The workbook provides an outline of the retreat and topics covered. Due to varying factors, such as meal times, slight differences in presenter’s length on topics, we are unable to provide exact timing of each presentation. Most presentations, individual reflection and couple reflection time total about 60-90 minutes.

YES, it is very important that you stay for the entire retreat. If you arrive late or leave early, you will miss important parts of the retreat experience, and we will not be able to give you your certificate of completion of the retreat.

Yes, we do ask that you observe a few basic rules.

  • Please refrain from the use of alcohol and illegal drugs.
  • Please respect this is a Catholic retreat – we ask that you dress appropriately. Gentlemen, please no hats.
  • Please remember the weekend is presented at a Catholic facility and be respectful of your surroundings.
  • Please do not leave the weekend, for any reason, unless an emergency arises. If you need to leave, please speak to one of the team members.

Dress for the entire weekend is casual. Please dress comfortably. We will attend Mass during the weekend, however casual attire is acceptable.

Catholic Engaged Encounter is a smoke free environment, and due to state law all of our facilities prohibit smoking, including the use of e-cigarettes. If you do smoke, each facility has designated smoking areas outside of the building. Additionally, as a sign of respect, we ask that you please refrain from using e-cigarettes or vaping inside the facilities as well.

Planning a wedding can be a fun and exciting time. It can also be stressful. Catholic Engaged Encounter offers a weekend-long retreat away from the hustle and bustle of life, where you can focus on each other, your relationship, and what it means to become a sacrament. While couples spend the majority of the retreat together – there is not much free time.

Catholic Engaged Encounter offers a weekend-long retreat away from the hustle and bustle of life, where you can focus on each other, your relationship, and what it means to become a sacrament. As such we ask that couples refrain from using electronic devices as much as possible – including cell phones.

No, the purpose of the Catholic Engaged Encounter weekend is to interact with and talk with your fiance about issues you may not have already discussed. If your fiance is not present, you will be unable to complete the program.

Reservation Policies

If your reservation is not paid in full at least 2 weeks before the start date of the weekend, it will automatically be cancelled without the possibility of re-booking. All cancellations earlier than 2 weeks before your scheduled weekend will incur a $50.00 administrative processing fee. If you cancel less than 2 weeks before your scheduled weekend, we are unable to issue any refund due to the policy restrictions at the retreat house.

*** For best experience while registering for a weekend retreat, please use a laptop or desktop rather than a mobile device***

Heartland Retreat Center

Google Map Link
7:00 PM
3-Day(s) ($200.00)
9 space(s)
7:00 PM
3-Day(s) ($200.00)
11 space(s)
7:00 PM
3-Day(s) ($200.00)
12 space(s)
7:00 PM
3-Day(s) ($200.00)
12 space(s)

Testimonials

We we are very unsure what this weekend would bring. But after everything, we are beyond grateful to have come.
Gabriel and Klarissa Ponce
Wow! We hope to embrace what we have learned this weekend.
Ana & Julian Sanchez-Ortiz
Micah and I love the Lord and we want to devote our time to serving him daily. We are open to returning to do anything we can to help.
Micah and Alejandra Womacks
Outstanding for both of us. A lot of this we’ve already talked about but this helped us to focus on things and not worry about interruptions with work or family. Thank you!
Tate and Michaela Bartlett
Great weekend! Thanks to our team for taking time out of their busy lives to help us become prepared for the sacrament of marriage.
Isaac and Brogan White

Volunteer for CEE

Our community is always looking for charitable people to donate their time to our ministry. We often reach out to ask for prayers for the engaged couples that attend our weekend. The couple will receive a personal note card with the name(s) of those praying for them. This ministry can be fulfilled from the comfort of your own home!

If you have a strong call to serve our community, you and your spouse may be interested in serving as a team couple. Serving as a team couple involves writing talks on topics using your personal marital experience. To serve as a team couple, you and your spouse must be a couple in good standing with the Catholic Church.

If you would like to be a face in our community, but aren’t called to be a team couple you may be interested in serving as a host couple. Host couples arrive before the weekend starts to help engaged couples to their rooms at the retreat center. This commitment involves an hour or two of your time, but serves as a warm welcome to the engaged couples we serve.

Volunteer Today

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    Please contact us if you have any questions. We’re looking forward to hearing from you!

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