"Receive this ring as a token of wedded love and trust"
Peace Lutheran Church, Galion, Ohio
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Thank you for coming to this page. As an excited couple looking toward the most
significant day in your life together, we are looking forward to assist you too. There is
hardly an occasion which you as a couple will approach with greater happiness, joy,
and anticipation than the wedding service and the events which surround it. There is
also hardly a responsibility which many of you approach with greater apprehension
than the planning and preparation of your Christian wedding worship service.
Jokingly, I would say that it is even more important than
serving their country in the military. In the military you have
a certain time of enlistment. In a marriage it is a life long
commitment! Together the journey you are about to take with
another person is not unlike the journey we are on that has to
do with eternal life...a much longer life than this.
So we ask what is the purpose that we come together in this place called Peace
Lutheran Church? Realizing the seriousness of this decision, it is good to consider
two questions. The first is why get married in this community of faith? Secondly,
"what is a Christian marriage?"
The first question of "why get married in this community of faith," appears to be the
easiest to answer. I am a member here. (That is one determining factor.) I like the
way the church looks. Driving past we thought it was a beautiful church. My parents
or grandparents were members here. My distant relatives belong here. All of these
are answers.
The pastoral ministry is to care for the spiritual needs of this community of faith.
The community of faith that gathers for worship includes the people of God who are
active in their faith through worshiping Him and who have been received as members
through the Sacrament of Holy Baptism. The beautiful appearance of the church,
although a wonderful legacy from the saints of the past here, becomes an opportunity
to raise deep spiritual questions at this significant crossroad in a couples life, and
their decision to be married. Just what is a Christian marriage?
Like the clothes we wear, or the furniture we place in a house, they contribute little
to what we are. There is something much deeper for a Christian marriage. This
brings us to the second question, "what is a Christian marriage?" It is initially, a
Baptized Christian, active in their faith. We define "active" as people of God who
attend worship regularly, received the Sacrament of Holy Communion regularly, and
expect to continue to do so as a married family. It is people of God who are aware of
God's love for them, and who have decided to ask for God's involvement in their
marriage from the very beginning and to bless this union. This is worship! It is a
Christian Marriage Worship Service.
This marriage worship service is unlike others. It is especially designed to place the
foundation of marriage on the person of Christ. Should the couple be blessed in
having children, the example from the very beginning of their marriage is that they
are not alone, it has become a journey together with Christ in the intimate context of
the church family.
This brings us to the pastoral care aspect of planning your Christian marriage. A
couple should plan their marriage worship service in consultation with the pastor at a
minimum of six months in advance. Baptismal certificates should be located and
brought to the office. During this time the pastor is more than willing to assist a
couple to have a very meaningful wedding worship service. Pastoral Counseling
consists of approximately six sessions and should be completed well in advance of the
date of marriage. There should be no assumptions made as to the pastor carrying out
the marriage until this is completed. Also commitments made for use of the church
until the pre-marital counseling is completed should be avoided. Planning ahead and
consulting with the pastor will assist in assuring adequate time for reserving places
for receptions, and possibly unnecessary loss of deposits because of assumptions made
unwisely.
A Christian marriage worship service is unique since "marriage is a holy estate,
ordained of God..."
As a worship service, the dress, and music are important. A worship service is not
meant to be a re-enactment of, i.e. Medieval costumes, roller skating, sky-diving, or a
hootenanny events. What we do is to glorify Christ. It is to celebrate our Lord's
entry into this union through marriage. A time of rejoicing, and thanksgiving. The
pastor and church musician are here to assist in doing just that!
Peace Lutheran Church rejoices in your decision, and our prayers continue to be with
you as you enter this Holy Estate of Matrimony. Together in the worship service of
marriage, once again we realize God's purpose to live for, God's people to live with,
God's principles to live by, God's profession to live out, and God's power to live on
each day.
The Church looks forward to celebrating your new life together in community with
His Church.
