Course Description

This course focuses on developing skills that are essential to deacons in the pastoral setting of pre-marriage counseling and preparation: the ability to assess and summarize various information to the sacramental nature of marriage, and the capacity to develop a pastoral care approach to the couple’s vision of the wedding. Both challenges require deacons to think purposefully and integrate various communication skills. Deacons apply these skills in several contexts: couple premarital meetings, marriage team meetings, and marriage presentations. Being able to understand and communicate fundamental marriage issues, identify the sacramental challenges, and delineate essential elements of alternatives or recommendations require a comprehensive understanding of marriage in the United States multicultural and interfaith society. Being able to develop and refine a pastoral care approach is essential in evangelizing the Church’s position on marriage and influencing newly married couples to live out a sacramental marriage. In this course, students learn how to analyze pre-marriage situations, purposefully develop approaches for structure and style for each couple, and construct methods to handle conflicts among couples.