This service of Christian marriage used at First United Methodist Church in Albion is provided for couples who wish to solemnize their marriage in a service of Christian worship. Everything about the service is designed to witness that this is a Christian marriage. Both words and actions consistently reflect the belief that husband and wife are equal partners in Christian marriage and that they are entering into the marriage of their own free will.
Those present are understood to be an active congregation rather than simply passive witnesses. They give their blessing to the couple and to the marriage, and they join in prayer and praise.
Holy Communion may or may not be celebrated. If it is, it is most important that its significance be made clear. Specifically: (1) The marriage rite is included in a Service of Word and Table. (2) Not only the husband and wife but the whole congregation are to be invited to receive communion. It is our tradition to invite all Christians to the Lord’s table. (3) There should be no pressure that would embarrass those who for whatever reason do not choose to receive communion.
Ethnic and cultural traditions are encouraged and may be incorporated into the service at the discretion of the pastor.
Any children of the man or the woman, other family, and friends may take a variety of roles in the service, depending on their ages and abilities. They may, for example, be members of the wedding party, participate in the Response of the Families and People, read scripture lessons, sing or play instrumental music, or make a witness in their own words.
GATHERING
While the people gather, instrumental or vocal music may be offered.
Here and throughout the service, the use of music appropriate for Christian worship is strongly encouraged.
The woman and the man, entering separately or together, now come forward with members of the wedding party. The woman and the man may be escorted by representatives of their families until they have reached the front of the church, or through the Response of the Families, at which time their escorts are seated.
GREETING
Pastor to people:
Friends, we are gathered together in the sight of God to witness and bless the joining together of Name and Name
in Christian marriage. The covenant of marriage was established by God, who created us male and female for each other. With his presence and power Jesus graced a wedding at Cana of Galilee, and in his sacrificial love gave us the example for the love of husband and wife. Name and Name come to give themselves to one another in this holy covenant.
DECLARATION OF INTENTION DECLARATION BY THE MAN AND THE WOMAN Pastor to the persons who are to marry:
I ask you now, in the presence of God and these people, to declare your intention to enter into union with each other through the grace of Jesus Christ,
who calls you into union with himself as acknowledged in your baptism.
Pastor to the woman:
Name, will you have Name to be your husband, to live together in holy marriage?
Will you love him, comfort him, honor and keep him, in sickness and in health,
and forsaking all others, be faithful to him as long as you both shall live?
Woman: I will.
Pastor to the man:
Name, will you have Name to be your wife, to live together in holy marriage?
Will you love her, comfort her, honor and keep her, in sickness and in health,
and forsaking all others, be faithful to her as long as you both shall live?
Man: I will RESPONSE OF THE FAMILIES AND THE PEOPLE Pastor to people:
The marriage of Name and Name unites their families and creates a new one.
They ask for your blessing.
Parents and other representatives of the families may respond in one of the following ways:
We rejoice in your union, and pray God’s blessing upon you.
or, in reply to the pastor’s question:
Do you who represent their families rejoice in their union and pray God’s blessing upon them?
We do.
or, children of the couple may repeat these or similar words, prompted line by line, by the pastor:
We love both of you. We bless your marriage. Together we will be a family.
If the woman and the man have been escorted by representatives of their families, their escorts, having blessed the marriage in the name of their families, may be seated.
Pastor to people:
Will all of you, by God’s grace, do everything in your power to uphold and care for these two persons in their marriage?
People: We will.
PRAYER *
SERMON OR OTHER WITNESS TO CHRISTIAN MARRIAGE
INTERCESSORY PRAYER *
THE MARRIAGE
EXCHANGE OF VOWS
The woman and man face each other, joining hands. The pastor may prompt them, line by line.
Man to woman:
In the name of God, I, Name, take you, Name, to be my wife,
to have and to hold from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, until we are parted by death.
This is my solemn vow.
Woman to man:
In the name of God, I, Name, take you, Name, to be my husband,
to have and to hold from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, until we are parted by death.
This is my solemn vow.
BLESSING AND EXCHANGE OF RINGS
The exchange of rings is optional. Other tangible symbols may be given in addition to, or instead of, rings.
The pastor, taking the rings, may say one of the following:
These rings (symbols) are the outward and visible sign of an inward and spiritual grace, signifying to us the union between Jesus Christ and the Church.
These rings (symbols) are the outward and visible sign of an inward and spiritual grace, signifying to all the uniting of Name and Name in holy marriage.
The pastor may bless the giving of rings or other symbols of the marriage:
Bless, O Lord, the giving of these rings (symbols), that they who wear them may live in your peace and continue in your favor all the days of their life; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
While placing the ring on the third finger of the recipient’s left hand, the giver may say (prompted, line by line, by the pastor):
Name, I give you this ring as a sign of my vow, and with all that I am, and all that I have, I honor you; in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
DECLARATION OF MARRIAGE
Pastor to husband and wife:
You have declared your consent and vows before God and this congregation. May God confirm your covenant and fill you both with grace.
The couple may turn and face the congregation.
Pastor to people:
Now that Name and Name have given themselves to each other by solemn vows, with the joining of hands, [and the giving and receiving of rings ,] I announce to you that they are husband and wife; in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Those whom God has joined together, let no one put asunder. Amen.
BLESSING OF THE MARRIAGE *
The husband and wife may kneel, as the pastor prays:
O God, you have so consecrated the covenant of Christian marriage that in it is represented the covenant between Christ and his Church.
Send therefore your blessing upon Name and Name, that they may surely keep their marriage covenant, and so grow in love and godliness together that their home may be a haven of blessing and peace; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
The Lord’s Prayer, prayed by all, using one of the forms in UMH 270 71, 894 96.
THANKSGIVING AND COMMUNION, if celebrated, uses the common liturgy of the United Methodist Church.
DISMISSAL WITH BLESSING *
Pastor to wife and husband:
God the Eternal keep you in love with each other, so that the peace of Christ may abide in your home. Go to serve God and your neighbor in all that you do.
Bear witness to the love of God in this world, so that those to whom love is a stranger will find in you generous friends. The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen.
The couple may greet each other with a kiss after which they recess out of the church followed by the wedding party.
Albion First 