Contact: Dick & Diane Baumbach, Worldwide Marriage Encounter, 321-544-3440, dickanddiane66@bellsouth.net

SAN BERNARDINO, Calif., March 9, 2011 /Christian Newswire/ -- Longest Married Couple Project sponsored by Worldwide Marriage Encounter, the original faith based marriage enrichment program in this country, will continue on an annual basis, it was announced today by Scott & Karen Seaborn and Fr. Tom Griffith, SVD, the United States Leadership Team for WWME.

The leadership team also announced that a second major national project will be held during the month of July.  Details of the newest project will be unveiled over the next few weeks.

"The extremely positive local, regional and national media attention from the Longest Married Couple Project led us to conclude that the project should be continued on an annual basis," they said.  The project, which honors a national couple as well as 50 state winners, will start accepting nominations in October with the winners honored during February, 2012. 

The most recently conducted Longest Married Couple Project saw over 312 nominations made before a January deadline.  An additional 50 plus nominations were received after the cut off date.  "We are extremely pleased with the response we received from all parts of the country as we honored national and state winners from the project," they said. 

The second national project will involve Worldwide Marriage Encounter couples from all over the country participating in a unique event.

Worldwide Marriage Encounter has been offering weekend experiences for over 42 years and is considered the original faith-based marriage enrichment program.  The programs are continually updated to keep abreast of changes in society, and WWME now offers evening and half-day programs that are presented at parishes and other church facilities.  The weekend program, traditionally presented as an overnight experience at a hotel or retreat center, can also be presented at the parish where the couples return to their homes in the evenings.   WWME has a presence in over 90 countries, which makes it the largest pro-marriage movement in the world.  In North America, the WWME programs are presented in English, Spanish, French, and Korean languages.

Worldwide Marriage Encounter offers married couples the opportunity to spend time together away from the busyness of the world to focus on each other.  It offers tools for building and maintaining a strong, Christian marriage in today's world.  To learn more about the Worldwide Marriage Encounter weekends online, go to wwme.org, or you can call 1-800-795-LOVE (English) and 1-800-599-AMOR (Spanish), or contact the WWME Office at (909) 863-9963.