What Do We Mean By Interfaith?

Hawaii Interfaith Marriage Encounter is not promoted by any particular "religious denomination." It might be most accurately described as an ecumenical, or interfaith, expression of Marriage Encounter. As such, it is effective for Catholic, Protestant, Jewish and other faith expressions.

People who serve as facilitators for the weekend usually have a strong faith in God, and you will hear them share their faith and the role of faith in their lives. Because of the ecumenical/interfaith emphasis, you will often see couples of various faiths working side by side to put on a weekend for participants. You will also see couples of "mixed religion" marriages and couples with divorce as part of their background.

We believe that Marriage Encounter has a ministry of meeting couples wherever they are at any given time, whatever their present situation. We do not judge or categorize people, and on a Marriage Encounter weekend, you might find Christians, Jews, Muslims, atheists, and people of other positions of belief or unbelief. The emphasis of the weekend is to enrich their marriage and their relationship with God.