Kerry Urdzik is a Catholic marriage and family life consultant and speaker. She has been married to Chris since 1988 and they have seven children and one grandchild (so far!)

Kerry holds a pontifical Bachelor of Divinity degree, with Christian Marriage the subject of her dissertation. While working for the Catholic Diocese of East Anglia as Marriage and Family Life coordinator, she co-authored the  official diocesan marriage preparation program – So Great a Mystery. In addition, she is the author of the CTS published book ​Cherishing Your Wedding.

Kerry has over ten years’ experience working with engaged couples as they prepare for marriage, presenting workshops on the Theology of the Body, Natural Family Planning, Communication, and Conflict Resolution. In addition, she has delivered talks to parents of children in various settings on raising a Catholic family, provided formation in marriage and family to seminarians at the Venerable English College in Rome, and facilitated discussions on the vocation of marriage to high school students.

Kerry currently offers workshops at Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church in Raleigh, and delivers the Sexual Intimacy talk to engaged couples at the Raleigh Diocesan marriage preparation sessions as well as other talks by request.

Pope St John Paul II in ​Familiaris Consortio ​ stated that ‘the family finds in the plan of God the Creator and Redeemer not only its identity, what it is, but also its mission, what it can and should do’ (17). Our challenge is to explore more deeply this calling, to discover who we are and God’s plan for us. It is in the context of family life that we first learn who God is, where we first experience love, and where we begin to learn virtues. ‘Families are, so to speak, the domestic church’ (LG 11).

Marriage is a unique relationship. It is richly rewarding and brings a deep love and joy into the lives of the couple. But both marriage and family life are not without their challenges and heartaches, and it is by embracing this complexity that we learn to grow in holiness. Nothing substitutes for the good which comes from strong stable families. For this reason, the family should be supported and strengthened, for the good of the spouses, for the good of the children and for the good of society. It is this conviction which underlies Kerry’s work.

The mission of married couples is to embrace their vocation to love fully and sacrificially. By responding to God’s grace which builds on our human nature we grow in holiness. By loving fully and sacrificially, we grow in virtue.

With knowledge, tools and good humor, we are able to fulfill this noble calling, to meet the challenge of Pope St John Paul II: ‘Families, become what you are.’