Marriage Ministry

The Catholic Church views married life as a vocation. The sacrament of marriage is a covenant between a consenting man and woman who mutually give and receive each other through the sacrament in service to God, each other and their children. Marriage is the foundation of the Christian family, or domestic church.

8 Steps in Marriage Preparation

Pre-Marriage

Couples who wish to marry in the Catholic Church within the Diocese of Des Moines are asked to experience pre-marital consultation. This experience is designed to help a man and a woman learn more about each other’s tendencies, habits, likes and dislikes before entering into a lifelong commitment of marriage. The experience also explores the sacramental nature of marriage in the Catholic faith tradition.

The pre-marriage counseling program in the Diocese of Des Moines is facilitated by the diocesan Marriage Ministry Office, staffed by Adam Storey. He can be reached at 515-237-5056.

Adam coordinates two key efforts within Marriage Ministry.

Training sponsor couples, who then facilitate the pre-marital consultations on a local level.
Offering pre-marital consultation for those in unique circumstances.

Two local resources for couples wanting to marry in the Diocese of Des Moines are:

Wedding

Before making all your plans, check out the diocesan wedding planning guide.

Second Marriage

For individuals who are divorced and want to remarry in the Church, contact the diocesan Tribunal to learn about annulments.

Marriage validation

Individuals who want their civil marriage blessed by the church should check out validation meetings.

Enhance Marriage

For those who are married and either want to address issues in their relationship or rediscover the spark in their relationships, keeping their relationships alive and vibrant, consider Marriage Encounter.

Natural Family Planning

The following are resources available regarding Natural Family Planning:

            Fertility Services of Central Iowa, using the Creighton Model, Julie Craven 515-643-8611
            Couple to Couple League, Sympto-Thermal Method, Kevin & Faye Akers 515-327-1851
            Billings Ovulation Method - Betty McGehe 515-961-8098
            Billings Ovulation Method (Spanish) - Yolanda Bello-Bogdanyi 712-322-5378

End of Marriage

An excellent program in the Diocese of Des Moines assists people who experience the grief that accompanies the end of a relationship through separation, divorce or death. This program is called Beginning Experience and is open to people of all faith denominations. For more information call Father Bob Schoemann 515-418-1938, Cleo Scheidel 515-986-5783 or the Catholic Pastoral Center 515-237-5056.

National Resource

For additional resource informaiton, go to the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops' site for marriage.

For more information, contact the diocesan Marriage Ministry Office at 515-237-5056 or e-mail astorey@dmdiocese.org.