Donors help raise $100,000 for Catholic marriage ministry initiatives across western Kentucky

By Elizabeth Wong Barnstead

OWENSBORO, Ky. (OSV News) -- Contributions of $50,000 enabled the Owensboro Diocese to receive a $50,000 matching grant from the national Catholic Marriage Initiatives Fund for marriage ministry in western Kentucky.

Danny May, director of the diocese's Office of Marriage and Family Life, credited multiple "community and ministry partners" as well as "many generous donors who believe in strengthening marriages" for helping his office raise its part of the match via "new money."

"In other words, we couldn't just move money around in our budget. We had to go out and raise it," May stated in a press release.

The $50,000 raised by May's office came from a variety of community members, including the Michael Horn Family Foundation; 14 local Knights of Columbus councils; the Catholic Foundation of Western Kentucky, which is supported by the diocese's annual Disciples Response Fund; an Owensboro Health Community Health mini-grant; and 14 private donors.

The Diocese of Owensboro was one of the first five dioceses in the country to be selected in the first round of funding from the Catholic Marriage Initiatives Fund in 2022. Grant applications had to demonstrate that the marriage ministry initiatives in the grant project need to have a balance of "vision, skills and support" across marriage preparation and marriage enrichment.

The initiatives fund was begun in response to the U.S. bishops' approval in June 2021 of a document titled "Called to the Joy of Love: National Pastoral Framework for Marriage and Family Life Ministry." To help implement the framework, the Catholic Marriage Initiatives Fund, seeded with $1 million, was established.

"Between 2022 and 2023, the CMI awarded a total of $710,000 in grants to 15 dioceses/archdioceses to assist them in implementing new and expanded marriage and family ministries," according to the fund's website, www.catholicmarriagefund.org. The fund recently set aside $500,000 to be awarded in 2024 and 2025 for grants ranging in size from $10,000 to $50,000 to up to 10 archdioceses and dioceses "who are serious about implementing new and/or enhanced marriage ministry programs wich are in alignment" with the bishops' pastoral framework.

"It's important to focus on keeping 'good' marriages healthy through accompaniment," Bishop William F. Medley said in the press release about the grant for diocesan marriage ministry. The Church has long called for marriage formation to be on-going, continuing after marriage preparation and the Sacrament of Matrimony, dating back to John Paul II's encyclical, 'Familiaris Consortio' (1981)."

The grant, spread over three years from Jan. 1, 2022 to Dec. 31, 2024, and has already helped fund marriage enrichment projects such as Grace Marriage, a parish-based, ongoing, small group model in which couples spend intentional time together to assess, engage and grow in their marriage.

Renea Estes, a Catholic marriage ministry consultant with Grace Marriage, called the grant "a huge blessing to help establish marriage ministry" within the Diocese of Owensboro's parishes.

"The example that our diocese is setting is encouraging other dioceses to be proactive in marriage enrichment," Estes told The Western Kentucky Catholic, Owensboro's diocesan newspaper. She added that the generosity of those supporting local marriage ministry "will have a generational impact."

May agreed, explaining that to date, 200 couples within the diocese have participated in at least one year of Grace Marriage. Within the first quarter of 2024, three more locations are going to start offering Grace Marriage.

May said that to accomplish this, his office held "come and see" events in four locations across the diocese, funded by grant money, and then trained parish teams in those locations.

"Once we did that, we hit the tipping point and other parishes started reaching out to us to build a marriage ministry using Grace Marriage," he said.

Leonard Walther, a Knights of Columbus field agent based in Bowling Green, helped connect May with local councils willing to support the matching grant.

"As a Knights of Columbus field agent, I get the privilege of attending a lot of council meetings and council events," he said. "During those council meetings I hear the good work the Knights are doing, and I knew this would be a cause they could get behind. Vivat Jesus."

Valeria Vessels, the diocese's director of stewardship and development, helped guide May through the grant application process. She thanked donors for sharing their "blessings" through their "selfless contributions," which said she "will guide and strengthen the bonds of marriages throughout the diocese."

In addition to expanding Grace Marriage, other grant projects included launching Red Bird Ministries, a ministry for child loss; launching Life-Giving Wounds, a ministry for adult children of divorce and separation; expanding marriage retreats in Spanish; and incorporating a balance of vision, skills, and support in existing marriage preparation and marriage enrichment programs.