Alexander House Apostolate | Greg & Julie Alexander Minister to Marriages
Don’t you wish that there was an instruction manual to help you in your marriage? Unfortunately, there isn’t one perfect roadmap, but there is The Alexander House, an apostolate strengthening marriages throughout San Antonio and South Texas. The Alexander House was birthed by Julie and Greg Alexander out of their passion to share their experience after their marriage on the brink of divorce was miraculously restored. Julie and Greg began telling their story, speaking and mentoring others in 1999.
Twenty-four years ago, the Alexanders were ready to file for divorce. As they sought dissolution and annulment counseling for their Catholic marriage with the Tribunal Vicar, they realized they didn’t even have a basic understanding of God’s design for marriage, much less how to live it out. Through the vicar’s challenge, they realized they needed to learn how to forgive, serve and be each other’s helpmate. Now the Alexanders walk with other hurting couples and show them the tools they applied to live out their marriage successfully.
“Number one, we help people understand forgiveness in marriage,” Julie said. “We hurt each other even when we don’t intend to.” They also model good communication and address proper sexuality, noting the culture and environment of promiscuity and infidelity negatively affect marriage.
“Marriage is the hardest thing you’ll ever have to do,” Julie said, “but we promised God that we’d care for the other person at the altar. We’ll be held accountable to that when we see Him face to face.”
Not only did the Alexander family remain intact, but the entire trajectory of their lives changed. After experiencing such transformation in their most fundamental relationship, Julie and Greg left their former occupations to invest their lives full-time into creating the Alexander House.
As they repented and reconciled, they eventually added five more children to their family after Greg reversed an earlier vasectomy. Two of their daughters now join them in their ministry. Lauren, married and the mother of four children, serves as operation manager. Katharine handles the ministry’s social media and community relations. Four other children aged 11-17 still live at home.
The Alexander House provides all client services at no cost. Their funding comes from personal donors as well as grants from other private foundations. They told attendees at their annual fundraising dinner recently that a gift of “$240 is enough to save three marriages from divorce.”
One woman shared why she and her husband personally support the Alexander House. Kristan Nowland met the Alexanders through their daughters’ friendship forged at the families’ parish, St. Joseph’s Honey Creek. Kristan and her husband have been married for 34 years, but she knows the personal heartache of growing up in a divorced family. Her thrice-married mother involved Kristan in divorce twice.
“It was difficult growing up as a Catholic in a divorced family,” she said. “The work of the Alexander House really resonates with me. There’s a ripple effect of keeping the family unit together not only for the family but for generations.”
“Marriage is the hardest thing you’ll ever have to do, but we promised God that we’d care for the other person at the altar. We’ll be held accountable to that when we see Him face to face.”
The Alexanders devote much of their energy to personally discipling couples in crisis. Technology like video conferencing and Skype allows their impact to extend worldwide. They have helped thousands preserve their marriage covenants, build stronger families and lower the divorce rate.
The impact on even one marriage is immeasurable. Katharine shared how a high school classmate recognized her last name at a chance meeting and credited Julie and Greg with saving her family. “The Alexander House was exactly what this world needed to choose God and save families,” Katharine said, as she encouraged others to help her parents “realize their dream to end divorce once and for all.”
The need is growing. COVID brought in a whole new depth of wounds and division, Julie reported. There was job loss, anger, and increased use of pornography. Parents had to deal with their children’s struggle with the lack of social outlets and activities.
“While some families did seize the opportunity to spend more time playing games, walking, or riding bikes outside together, so many couples were living in fear and had so much to deal with but were not equipped with the tools to navigate alone in this time of great distress,” she said.
The Alexanders’ work mentoring couples continues to increase. They moved their headquarters and personal residence to 10.5 acres in the Hill Country of Bulverde in May of 2021 to create space for a wide range of programs and services for couples and families. The property includes a tree-covered prayer garden, the Holy Family outdoor pavilion, Heavenly Grounds Coffee House, St. Joseph’s Workshop for presentations, a main building that houses operation offices, Cana café that doubles as a presentation room, and an audio and video studio. Julie and Greg join Teresa Tomeo on Catholic Connections monthly for her Mornings on Marriage show. You can hear them locally on Guadalupe Radio and online at Ave Maria Radio / EWTN Radio.
In the spring of 2022, the Alexander House began offering monthly family night activities, Bible studies and worship, miscarriage and post-abortion healing and reconciliation programs at the new site. In June, they resumed in-person Marriage Disciple training classes and marriage retreat workshops.
Julie and Greg mentor and train the marriage champions who will become leaders of the Marriage Disciples program that helps others deepen and enrich their marriages. The process equips couples with tools to use “till death do them part,” and is designed for those who desire, as a couple, to work on their Marriage. They describe the program as “jam-packed with great learning, fun, and inspiration. Couples reconnect with each other, grow closer through prayer, and improve communication as they learn God’s plan for marriage…. Whether your marriage is fantastic or faltering, you will gain a renewed sense of hope and purpose for your marriage,” from the website.
The curriculum created by Greg and Julie addresses God’s plan for marriage, forgiveness and healing, the servant spouse, God’s plan for chastity, communication, and spirituality. Robin Zamora, who along with her husband, George, has served as a Marriage Disciple for 12 years, oversees the six-session training process and the Marriage Disciples outreach. More than 5,000 couples have transformed their marriage by participating with Marriage Disciples. The ministry notes the Marriage Disciples’ 99% success rate. They credit the program’s success to the power of the Holy Spirit and God’s grace when married couples understand God’s plan for marriage and agree to work on the specifics with the tools provided. “We see transformations happen right before our eyes!” Julie said.
Currently eight Marriage Disciple couples from across the country work one-on-one with others, including Serio and Anjelica Morales, who coordinate programs and services in Spanish. Another Spanish-speaking couple, Tomas and Ivonne Ream, participate from their home in the Woodlands. Like the Alexanders, their passion to serve was birthed out of their own experience with marital brokenness and restoration. In fact, the couple, originally from Leon, Mexico, was divorced for five years. “Thanks to the ministry, we’re back together,” Tomas said. They saw the Alexanders on EWTN and “liked their charisma and authenticity and how they were true to the faith,” he said. The Reams considered reconciling, then attended the Alexander House retreat and worked one-on-one with Greg and Julie for a year before they were recruited to share what they learned with others.
Online Resources
Greg & Julie Alexander
For those who wish to dip a toe in the water and connect with the Alexander House without committing to a class or workshop, the Alexander House Marriage Community provides online content to “inspire, educate and introduce you and your spouse to ‘life lessons’ that will assist you in living a loving and lasting relationship,” according to the website.
“This Marriage Community will help you discover or rediscover the passion, plan and purpose that God designed marriage to be” and was created from insights acquired over the past 20 years working with couples through the Alexander House’s Marriage Disciples outreach.
Join Julie and Greg on their mission to put God’s love into action by strengthening marriages, forming families, building community, and offering hope. Find them at the Alexander House website .
Find more inspiration and resources including testimonies from couples and trusted professionals, marriage events, date night suggestions, and more.
