ONE NIGHT

Encounter events are a way to get all the women in your parish to come together for ONE NIGHT  to grow in Faith + Community .  

This is done one night in Advent and one night in Lent.  

In 2024 the Sunday night before Ash Wednesday coincides with the SuperBowl. Women at Well decided they wanted to provide a distraction free experience for the women so they moved the event to the Sunday AFTER Ash Wednesay on February 18, 2024. 

It is suggested that Encounter events be held on the scheduled night with Live Access to the Virutal Guest speaker. 

 This is to form unity and solidarity. Consider partnering with other area parishes if your parish or your priest are not available that night.

Women at Well creates an Abide IN Daily Prayer journal for the Encounter events. 

These guided prayer journals will take the women through each Sunday's Gospel reading for the season with space to journal and pray in an effort to build a habit of prayer during the liturgical season.   The content is geared towards women in all stages of their Faith. 

Speak with your parish about purchasing the books in bulk for a discounted rate and if you will need to recoup the costs for the books then discuss how much each attendant should be asked to pay. 

It is perfectly fine to choose a different book for the women in your parish to journey through together. We just ask that you have some Abide IN Journals on hand fo the women to purchase at the event. 

Yes, in order for your event to be an official Women at Well Encounter event it has to offer adoration + confessions. If you are having trouble securing a priest to offer this consider partnering with other area parishes to do the events together and utilize their priests. 

It is  a good idea to meet with your parish priest about a month beforehand to discuss the details and what his duties will be. You can ask him: 

• Will the parish be able to cover the costs of the virtual speaker and pay for the upfront costs of purchasing the journals with anticipation that women will purchase the journals  at the event. 
• If hosting a social, ask if it is appropriate to bring in wine to serve for the event. 
• Will we need to collect RSVPS to plan on how many priests will be needed for confessions. 
• Should the parish priest call other area priests to hear confessions or would he like me to? 
• A priest can hear 10-12 confessions/hour and we are anticipating ______ women in attendance, so we will need ______ priests to come from 8:00-9:00 PM 
• Can the priest expose the Blessed Sacrament with opening prayers and then lead a Benediction & closing prayer at 9:00PM 
• Can the priest arrange where each priest will be to hear confessions?