National Marriage Encounter (Organization : U.S.) Records

Fonds

Identifier: MEM

Staff Only

Scope and Content

Correspondence; minutes and meeting material, including financial reports, from the national board; articles, dissertations, and theses concerning the Marriage Encounter movement and related topics; position papers, manuals, and written descriptions of the program for the Marriage Encounter weekend; reports, correspondence, and other records from NME annual national conferences and other meetings; and tape recordings.

Correspondents include Rev. Gabriel Calvo, Pat and Patty Crowley and other officials of the Christian Family Movement, Rev. Tom Hill, Rev. Charles Gallagher, Jamie and Arline Whelan, Armando and Barbara Carlo, Rev. Frank Heinan, Rev. Jake Beuttner, and Marilyn and Jerry Sexton.

Dates

Creation: 1967-[ongoing].

Language of Materials

English.

Background

National Marriage Encounter is a confederation of local groups offering weekend retreats (marriage encounters) for married couples. The movement began in the 1950s in Spain as the Encuentro Conjugal under the direction of its founder Father Gabriel Calvo and spread to the United States under the aegis of the Christian Family Movement in 1967.

A national organization was founded in 1969 and later split into two separate groups: National Marriage Encounter (tracing its origins to the Calvo group) and Worldwide Marriage Encounter (an alternative group under the direction of Father Charles Gallagher of New York).