Pastor Wedding Manual

Pastor Wedding Ceremony Manual
Pastor's Wedding Manual
The Pastor's Wedding Manual Jim Henry
Pastor's Manual For Funerals
Pastor's Wedding Manual Pdf

A collection of creative wedding ceremonies and helps to guide the pastor in making the wedding service a worshipful experience. Baker's Wedding Handbook Details If you are looking for tips on performing a wedding, this comprehensive guide can walk you through the process from start to finish. The Baker's Wedding Handbook is the standard for Christian ministers, lay leaders, and seminary students to discover how to perform ceremonies and services from eleven different.

A Christian Wedding Ceremony

Traditional Version
Marriage Service: Traditional

Annotated with practical suggestions for planning your own celebration

Most marriage services begin with music both to set the mood and to provide background as the wedding party marches down the isle of the church.
Prelude
Processional
Words of Gathering
God is love, and those who abide in love, abide in God, and God abides in them. This is the day the Lord has made; Let us rejoice and be glad in it.
Greeting
Dearly beloved, we are gathered here in God's presence to witness and to celebrate the marriage of _______ and ________, and to ask God to bless them so that they may be strengthened for their life together. We are called to rejoice in their happiness, and find in their love a reason to renew our own commitments to those whom are near and dear to each of us. God gave us marriage for the full expression of love between a man and a woman so that husband and wife may cherish and delight in one another; comfort and help each other in sickness, trouble and sorrow; provide for each other in temporal things; pray for and encourage each other in the things that pertain to God; and live together faithfully all the length of their days.
Opening Prayer (minister)
Almighty and ever-blessed God, whose presence is the happiness of every condition, and whose favor hallows every relation: We beseech you to be present and favorable unto these your servants, that they may be truly joined in the honorable estate of marriage, in the covenant of their God. As you have brought them together by your providence, sanctify them by your Spirit, giving them a new frame of heart fit for their new estate; enrich them with all grace, whereby they may enjoy the comforts, undergo the cares, endure the trials, and perform the duties of life together, under your guidance and protection; through Jesus Christ we pray. Amen.
Hymn or Song
First Reading
(From the Bible, poetry, literature, so something meaningful to the couple their family and friends.Such readings are a good opportunity to have friends and family participate in the service)
Musical Interlude
Second Reading
(The number of readings may vary, but will normally include at least one lesson from the Bible.)
Declaration of Intentions
(The minister to the groom)
_______, will you have this Woman to be your wife, and will you promise your life to her in all love and honor, in all duty and service, in all faith and tenderness, to live with her, cherish her, according to the ordinance of God, in the holy bond of marriage?
The groom shall answer: I will
(The minister to the bride)
_______, will you have this Man to be your husband, and will you promise your life to him, in all love and honor, in all duty and service, in all faith and tenderness, to live with him, and cherish him, according to the ordinance of God, in the holy bond of marriage?
The bride shall answer: I will
Here the Minister shall ask: Who gives this Man and this Woman to be married?
(There is a lot of variety in the ways people handle this. The traditional wedding has the father of the bride do this, but many variations are possible, including the father and mother of the bride saying, 'We do,' or all four parents doing so.)
Charge to Family and Friends
Marriage is not something that two people invent, or construct by themselves. It takes a far wider community of family and friends to make any marriage work. Each of you have been invited here today because you are a part of that community. Therefore, having heard _______ and _______ state their intentions to each other and to God in this Service of Marriage, do you, pledge to support their union and to strengthen their lives together, to speak the truth to them in love, and with them to seek a life of love for others?
The people (or the congregation) shall answer: Yes, we do
Minister's Comment (While it is appropriate for a formal sermon to be preached at this point, my own preference is for somewhat less formal comments by the minister.)

Marriage Vows
Here, the groom takes the bride's right hand with his right hand, and says, after the Minister:
I, _______, take you _______, to be my wedded wife; And I do promise and covenant; before God and these witnesses; to be your loving and faithful husband; in plenty and in want; in joy and in sorrow; in sickness and in health; as long as we both shall live.
Then the bride takes the groom's right hand with her right hand, and says likewise after the Minister:
I, _______, take you, _______, To be my wedded husband; and I do promise and covenant; before God and these witnesses; to be your loving and faithful wife; in plenty and in want; in joy and in sorrow; in sickness and in health; as long as we both shall live.
Exchange of Rings
Then the ring for bride shall be given to the Minister, who shall pass it to the groom, who shall then put it upon the bride's fourth finger, saying after the Minister:
This ring I give you; in token and pledge; of our constant faith; and abiding love.
Then the ring for the groom shall be given to the Minister, who shall pass it to the bride, who shall then put it upon the groom's fourth finger, saying after the Minister:
This ring I give you: in token and pledge: of our constant faith: and abiding love.
Wedding Prayer (the Minister)
Let us pray.
Most merciful and gracious God, in whom we live and move and have our being, bestow upon these your servants the seal of your approval, and benediction; granting unto them grace to fulfill, with pure and steadfast affection, the vow and covenant between them made. Guide them together, we ask, in the way of justice and peace, that, loving and serving you, with one heart and mind, all the days of their life, they may be abundantly enriched with the tokens of your everlasting favor, in Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
The Lord's Prayer (The minister leading the congregation)
Pronouncement of Marriage
Then the Minister shall say to all who are present:
By the authority committed unto me as a Minister of the Church of Christ, I declare that _______ and _______ are now Husband and Wife, according to the ordinance of God, and the law of the State; in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen
Then causing the bride and the groom and to join right hands, the Minister shall say:
Whom therefore God has joined together, let no one put asunder.
Benediction
The grace of Christ attend you, and the love of God surround you, the Holy Spirit keep you, that you may live in faith, abound in hope, and grow in love, both now and forevermore. Amen.
Then the Minister shall say: You many kiss the bride.
Recessional

Charles Henderson

This “cheat sheet” — a simple, concise guide to performing a basic, standard marriage ceremony — is included in your ordination credentials packet, and provides you with the framework for planning and designing a custom, personalized wedding ceremony with your couples.

Click here to download a copy of the Wedding Ceremony Cheat Sheet.

This is just a guide to get you started. Each ceremony is unique, so feel free to adapt the format to fit your situation.

Please note that this sample wedding ceremony script uses male and female pronouns; you may substitute other pronouns as appropriate for your ceremony.

Wedding Ceremony Basics

Please keep in mind that a marriage ceremony represents a legally-binding commitment between two people, and that it must be treated with dignity, sincerity and respect. To solemnize a marriage, you should follow this general procedure:

The parties to the marriage must themselves obtain a valid marriage license from the office of the county clerk (or from the designated issuing authority within their jurisdiction) and present it to the Wedding Officiant before the marriage ceremony.
The Wedding Officiant performs the marriage ceremony; an example of a standard ceremony is included on the back of this page. The ceremony may be personalized to meet the bridal couple’s preferences, and they may even write and exchange their own vows as long as those vows reflect their intentions to enter into a legally-binding commitment to each other.
The Wedding Officiant is responsible for completing the certificate portion of the marriage license and returning it to the proper issuing authority within the legally stipulated timeframe after solemnizing the marriage. Please read the marriage license instructions before the ceremony.

Wedding Ceremony Structure

As we’ve noted, and as you should keep in mind throughout the process, all wedding ceremonies are different, but the standard marriage ceremony format generally follows these basic steps:

Processional

The Groom, Best Man, Groomsmen and Officiant will generally assemble first at the altar, after which the Maid of Honor and Bridesmaids enter up the aisle, followed by the Flower Girl and Ring Bearer.

Finally, the Officiant invites the guests to rise as the Wedding March is played and the Bride is escorted to the altar.

Welcoming

The Officiant invites the guests to be seated, then welcomes everyone and announces the purpose of this gathering, which is to unite the Bride and Groom in matrimony.

Opening Reading or Prayer

The Officiant or a guest may read a passage from a favorite poem, story, prayer or sacred tract that has been chosen by the Bride and Groom.

(A favorite musical selection may also be performed or substituted for the reading.)

Declaration of Intentions

The Officiant explains that marriage is a legally binding commitment that both parties enter into with mutual consent, and that entering into a marriage changes the legal status of both parties and gives each new rights and obligations.

The Officiant then asks the Bride and Groom, in turn, if it is their intention to be married to each other at this time.

If each answers affirmatively, the Ceremony proceeds.

Exchange of Vows and Rings

The Officiant invites the couple to face each other and join hands with each other, then leads them through the exchange of vows. (A sample script with standard vows is included below on this page.)

The Bride and Groom may also, at this point, read or recite their own personal vows or expression of love to each other.

The Bride and Groom exchange rings, repeating “I give you this ring as a token and pledge of my constant faith and abiding love” as they place the ring on the other’s finger.

Pronouncement and Introduction

The Officiant makes the official public pronouncement of marriage, then introduces the couple to the guests for the first time as Husband and Wife.

(A sample script with the standard pronouncement is included below on this page.)

Recessional

Pastor Wedding Ceremony Manual

Following their introduction, the married couple exits down the aisle, followed by the Best Man and Maid of Honor, and the other members of the bridal party, generally in the reverse order of their entrance.

Legal Process

The Marriage is not legal and cannot be registered unless the Marriage License is signed by the Bride and Groom and witnesses (if required), and completed and returned to the issuing authority in a timely manner.

Do not leave the wedding ceremony venue without making certain that the Marriage License is correctly signed and completed!

Sample Marriage Vows

At minimum by law in nearly every jurisdiction, the ceremony must include language spoken (or repeated, or agreed to) by the parties to the marriage through which they acknowledge their binding mutual commitment to each other. The following is a sample of commonly-used wording that meets this requirement.

EXCHANGE OF VOWS

Officiant asks SPOUSE 1: “[SPOUSE 1’S NAME], do you take [SPOUSE 2] to be your partner in marriage, to live together in [holy] matrimony, to love, honor, comfort and keep in sickness and in health, forsaking all others, for as long as you both shall live?” (SPOUSE 1 responds, “I do.”)

Officiant asks SPOUSE 2: “[SPOUSE 2’S NAME], do you take [SPOUSE 1] to be your partner in marriage, to live together in [holy] matrimony, to love, honor, comfort and keep in sickness and in health, forsaking all others, for as long as you both shall live?” (SPOUSE 2 responds, “I do.”)

Officiant states to SPOUSE 1: “Please repeat after me: I, [SPOUSE 1], take you [SPOUSE 2], to be my partner in marriage, 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, for as long as we shall live.”

Officiant states to SPOUSE 2: “I, [SPOUSE 2], take you [SPOUSE 1], to be my partner in marriage, 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, for as long as we shall live.”

EXCHANGE OF RINGS

Officiant asks SPOUSE 1 to place the ring on SPOUSE 2’s finger and to repeat the following, “I give you this ring as a token and pledge of our constant faith and abiding love.”

(Repeat the same directions for SPOUSE 2.)

Pastor's Wedding Manual

PRONOUNCEMENT

Officiant asks the couple to join hands, then declares, “By virtue of the authority vested in me, and in accordance with the laws of the state of [STATE NAME], it is my honor to now pronounce that you are married to each other. You may now kiss each other to seal your vows.”

The Pastor's Wedding Manual Jim Henry

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