Creating Married Couples’ Retreats (on a shoestring)

/in /by

Presented by Tere Johnson, Jason Angelette, and Kelly Krapes

April 20, 2023

Click Here to View Presentation

Most marriage ministers recognize the value of retreats for married couples as an opportunity for couples to “get away” and focus on strengthening their relationship with one another and with God. At the same time, the task of planning and administering such an experience can be daunting. Our April Professional Development Presentation will feature three panelists with extensive experience in providing retreats for couples. They will share their ideas on how to make these events happen, how to create meaningful experiences for couples and assessing the impact that these events have on couples’ relationships.

Teresita Johnson is the president and founder of Stella Maris Center which she founded in 2020. She is a marriage education specialist spending 10+ years training marriage ministry teams as well as overseeing numerous marriage preparation programs. She recently wrote Dearly Beloved: Launch a Lifetime of Love with Marriage Preparation to inspire and encourage engaged couples to fully embrace marriage education for a happy and holy marriage.

As far as her other professional experience, Tere worked for a decade in the broadcast news industry starting in radio news and then spent nearly a decade in the television news industry.

Tere’s formal training includes a Certificate in Marriage and Family Ministry from the Marriage and Family Institute, University of St. Thomas (CMF), a Masters of Arts in Pastoral Studies from the University of St. Thomas (MA PS) and a Bachelor of Arts Radio/Television, Journalism minor, from the University of Houston.
Jason Angelette is the father of five beautiful children. He and his beloved (late) wife Elise co-authored the marriage enrichment program United in Love, United in Christ, and planned and spoke at retreats nationwide during their thirteen years as co-directors of the Willwoods Community Faith & Marriage Apostolate.

Jason earned a Master of Theological Studies degree from the Pontifical John Paul II Institute for Studies on Marriage and Family at the Catholic University of America. His experience includes high school campus ministry, teaching theology at the high school and college levels, Catholic podcasting, and co-hosting Faith and Marriage Today and several other monthly television series on WLAE.
Kelly Krapes is an experienced Parish Marriage and Family Coordinator. The importance of strong marriages for healthy families encouraged Kelly and colleagues from other local parishes to coordinate a yearly retreat, No Greater Love, that focuses on supporting marriages on a shoestring budget. Their eighth No Great Love retreat is planned for this fall.