Saint Dominic Church
Kingsport, Tennessee
Dear Friends,
We, at St. Dominic Catholic Church and Parish, are happy to assist you in your preparation for the sacrament of marriage! We know that this is an exciting time for you and we hope to help you in your spiritual and faith formation for this beautiful vocation!
In our Catholic faith, marriage is a lifelong vocation and a covenant entered into both between the bride and groom as well as the couple with God. God has brought you together and we believe God will continually strengthen your love and commitment if you are willing to allow God into your marriage and to live your vocation within the support of the Church.
In our assisting your preparation for marriage we hope to discuss and share with you these aspects of the sacrament of marriage and to help give you the resources needed to live out and grow in your commitment together.
For your reference below are listed the components of the marriage preparation process for engaged couples at St. Dominic Catholic Church. After you have reviewed the information provided please contact either Fr. Michael Cummins or Fr. William Oruko to set up your initial meeting.
May God bless you!
The St. Dominic Parish Community
Components of Marriage Preparation at St. Dominic Catholic Church
Initial Meeting
In order to begin the preparation process, the engaged couple will have an initial meeting with one of the priests of the parish. At this meeting the couple and priest will get to know one another. We will also establish the freedom to enter the Sacrament of Marriage through the Pre-Nuptial questionnaire. After this meeting the priest will finalize the date for your wedding (if it is to be held at St. Dominic Church) on the parish calendar. Please note that if neither of the priests of the parish are available to celebrate your wedding due to schedule conflicts it is possible, if the wedding occurs outside of a Mass, to have the parish deacon celebrate the wedding. This option can be discussed if needed.
FOCCUS
Once freedom to enter into the sacrament has been established, then the engaged couple will be put in contact with a facilitator couple for the FOCCUS inventory. The FOCCUS inventory is a questionnaire raising issues that will be important in assisting couples to prepare for and live out the reality of married life. This part of the marriage preparation process is comprised of taking the inventory online and then meeting a few times with the facilitator couple to discuss the results of the inventory.
Engaged Encounter
Engaged Encounter (EE) is a nation-wide engaged couple preparation weekend retreat. The engaged couple is to register for one of these weekends either within the Diocese of Knoxville or in another area if it works better schedule-wise. To find the schedule of weekends and register please go to www.engagedencounter.org. Once you are registered please let the priest whom you are working with know. The EE weekend can be attended at any point in the marriage preparation process.
Natural Family Planning
Natural Family Planning (NFP) is an invitation from the Church for couples to consider how they might live their marriage covenant with the possibility of having children according to the in-built structure of human biology. At some point in the marriage preparation process the engaged couple will have an informal meeting with a couple practicing NFP who will share their experience and invite the couple to consider this possibility for their own marriage.
Wedding Ceremony Preparation
If the wedding is to take place at St. Dominic Church, after the initial meeting and the FOCCUS process, the couple will meet one or two times with the priest to discuss and plan for the wedding ceremony. If the engaged couple is just doing their preparation at St. Dominic’s but are getting married somewhere else then they are to work with the priest or deacon at the place of the wedding regarding the specifics of the wedding ceremony. Please contact the parish office for the Guidelines for Weddings at St. Dominic Church as well as the Parish Life Center (PLC) Rules and Guidelines in case you might be interested in using the PLC for your wedding reception.
We, at St. Dominic Catholic Church and Parish, are happy to assist you in your preparation for the sacrament of marriage! We know that this is an exciting time for you and we hope to help you in your spiritual and faith formation for this beautiful vocation!
In our Catholic faith, marriage is a lifelong vocation and a covenant entered into both between the bride and groom as well as the couple with God. God has brought you together and we believe God will continually strengthen your love and commitment if you are willing to allow God into your marriage and to live your vocation within the support of the Church.
In our assisting your preparation for marriage we hope to discuss and share with you these aspects of the sacrament of marriage and to help give you the resources needed to live out and grow in your commitment together.
For your reference below are listed the components of the marriage preparation process for engaged couples at St. Dominic Catholic Church. After you have reviewed the information provided please contact either Fr. Michael Cummins or Fr. William Oruko to set up your initial meeting.
May God bless you!
The St. Dominic Parish Community
Components of Marriage Preparation at St. Dominic Catholic Church
Initial Meeting
In order to begin the preparation process, the engaged couple will have an initial meeting with one of the priests of the parish. At this meeting the couple and priest will get to know one another. We will also establish the freedom to enter the Sacrament of Marriage through the Pre-Nuptial questionnaire. After this meeting the priest will finalize the date for your wedding (if it is to be held at St. Dominic Church) on the parish calendar. Please note that if neither of the priests of the parish are available to celebrate your wedding due to schedule conflicts it is possible, if the wedding occurs outside of a Mass, to have the parish deacon celebrate the wedding. This option can be discussed if needed.
FOCCUS
Once freedom to enter into the sacrament has been established, then the engaged couple will be put in contact with a facilitator couple for the FOCCUS inventory. The FOCCUS inventory is a questionnaire raising issues that will be important in assisting couples to prepare for and live out the reality of married life. This part of the marriage preparation process is comprised of taking the inventory online and then meeting a few times with the facilitator couple to discuss the results of the inventory.
Engaged Encounter
Engaged Encounter (EE) is a nation-wide engaged couple preparation weekend retreat. The engaged couple is to register for one of these weekends either within the Diocese of Knoxville or in another area if it works better schedule-wise. To find the schedule of weekends and register please go to www.engagedencounter.org. Once you are registered please let the priest whom you are working with know. The EE weekend can be attended at any point in the marriage preparation process.
Natural Family Planning
Natural Family Planning (NFP) is an invitation from the Church for couples to consider how they might live their marriage covenant with the possibility of having children according to the in-built structure of human biology. At some point in the marriage preparation process the engaged couple will have an informal meeting with a couple practicing NFP who will share their experience and invite the couple to consider this possibility for their own marriage.
Wedding Ceremony Preparation
If the wedding is to take place at St. Dominic Church, after the initial meeting and the FOCCUS process, the couple will meet one or two times with the priest to discuss and plan for the wedding ceremony. If the engaged couple is just doing their preparation at St. Dominic’s but are getting married somewhere else then they are to work with the priest or deacon at the place of the wedding regarding the specifics of the wedding ceremony. Please contact the parish office for the Guidelines for Weddings at St. Dominic Church as well as the Parish Life Center (PLC) Rules and Guidelines in case you might be interested in using the PLC for your wedding reception.
