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eMatrimony.org Supporting, Encouraging, and Challenging the WWME Community |
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| News / Conventions You Have To Believe! Convention News Jack & Karen Baker “You Have To Believe” was the theme of the 2003 Worldwide Marriage Encounter National Convention in DeKalb, Illinois. The July 25-27, 2003 gathering celebrated the 35th anniversary of Worldwide Marriage Encounter. The spirits were high as 893 couples, 75 priests, and 13 widow/widowers made up the 981 sacraments (1874 people) registered proclaimed, “You Have to Believe” through presentations, dialogues, worship and celebration. The presentations called all of us to know, to love and to serve God. In order to do this, “you have to believe that it is the call of each couple and priest to be Jesus alive in the world today. It is our purpose. It is our holiness. It is the command of Jesus in the New Testament, `to love one another as I have loved you’. It is how we will be judged at the end of our life, making it, in effect, our salvation”. These were the words of the convention committee as they laid out the theme of the convention and transformed the vision of the convention into action of those in attendance. The presenters challenged us and affirmed us in our vocations of matrimony and holy orders. We were called forth as modern day apostles to renew the church and change the world by living a holy life. Just as in each of the previous conventions throughout the 35 years of WWME, liturgy, prayer and song lifted the participants spiritually. Ron & Judy Pekny and Fr. Mark Willenbring, sent us forth to believe and to take action in our marriage ministry and vocations. Our National Leaders Huli Tabone (with Bob in her heart) and Fr. Mark Willenbring touched our hearts deeply. Their passion for Worldwide Marriage Encounter is as alive and strong as it has ever been. They too, called us to live the values that are the heart of our beloved movement. The convention was a call to action to live and share the good news of Jesus. Another action that received recognition during the convention was the 90-day dialogue challenge. There were 1,300 participants in the “challenge”, each of which represents a couple or priest dialogueing daily for 90 consecutive days. There were a total of 117,000 dialogues shared beginning April 21, 2002 through July 21, 2003 as part of the challenge worldwide. Section 6 (Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio, and West Virginia) registered a total of 209 completed challenges representing 18,810 daily dialogues to claim the Section with the highest number of completed dialogues. Congratulations Section 6! Participating in the challenge was a way to put into practice the relationship tools that were presented and explored at the Grace Odyssey Convention in Atlanta, 2001! Many success stories were exchanged as sacraments witnessed how the dialogue challenge boosted their commitment to dialogue and how relationships were once again renewed. In true WWME convention style, Saturday night promoted fellowship and celebration. Section 14 put on an inspirational performance of light, music, and dance, ending with a calling to our section leaders to bring light to the world. At the end of the evening, musician John Angotti gave a concert. The traditional Matrimony magazine promotion took on a new twist as eMatrimony.org was introduced to the community. The new format is exciting as the long time resource enters the world of electronic technology. A request was made to all sections to provide content for this new resource. (Visit the Contact Us page to submit content) To receive regular announcements about new material available on the website, a visit to eMatrimony.org and supplying an email address is all it takes! The keynote address on Sunday morning was given by Neil & Kathy Heskin. The closing mass is always a highlight at a WWME Convention and this year was no exception. Celebrating the Eucharist is a beautiful way for us to honor our time together and to be sent forth with the message “You have to believe”. Our gratitude and deep appreciation to Section 7, Dan & Cheryl Montgomery, the convention chair couple, and all the wonderful couples and priests who made his convention so wonderful! Thank you to all the enthusiastic participants who reminded us to live the WWME radical lifestyle through knowing, loving and serving God. If you took photos at the Convention, send us your best! Resize them to 800x600 and email them to .
More pictures can be found here:
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