Order for Marriage

This is the Order for Marriage usually used. Additions of music, lighting of a unity candle, etc are normally acceptable, following consultation with the pastor.

PRELUDE

ENTRANCE

GREETING

Pastor: Love comes from God. Everyone who truly loves is a child of God. Let us worship God.

INTRODUCTION

Pastor: Dearly beloved, we are gathered here as the people of God to witness the marriage of BRIDE and GROOM. We come to share in their joy and to ask God to bless them.

Marriage is a gift of God, sealed by a sacred covenant. God gives human love. Through that love, husband and wife come to know each other with mutual care and companionship. God gives joy. Through that joy, wife and husband may share their new life with others as Jesus shared new wine at the wedding in Cana.

With our love and our prayers, we support GROOM and BRIDE as they now freely give themselves to each other.

PRAYER

Pastor: Gracious God, always faithful in your love for us, we rejoice in your presence. You create love. You unite us in one human family. You offer your word and lead us in light. You open your loving arms and embrace us with strength. May the presence of Christ fill our hearts with new joy and make new the lives of your servants whose marriage we celebrate. Bless all creation through this sign of your love shown in the love of GROOM and BRIDE for each other. May the power of your Holy Spirit sustain them and all of us in love that knows no end. Amen.

READING OF SCRIPTURE

SERMON

DECLARATION OF INTENTION

Pastor, addressing the couple: Before God and this congregation, I ask you to affirm your willingness to enter this covenant of marriage and to share all the joys and sorrows of this new relationship, whatever the future may hold.

Pastor, addressing the groom: GROOM, will you have BRIDE to be your wife, and will you love her faithfully as long as you both shall live?

GROOM: I will, with the help of God.

Pastor, addressing the bride: BRIDE, will you have GROOM to be your husband, and will you love him faithfully as long as you both shall live?

BRIDE: I will, with the help of God.

PLEDGE OF SUPPORT

Pastor, addressing the families: Will the families of GROOM and BRIDE please stand in support of this couple. Do you offer your prayerful blessing and loving support to this marriage? If so, please say, "I do."

Family members: I do. Family members sit.

Pastor, addressing the congregation: Do you, as people of God, pledge your support and encouragement to the covenant commitment that BRIDE and GROOM are making together? If so, please say, "We do."

People: We do.

Pastor: God of our mothers and fathers, hear our pledges encouraging and supporting this union of GROOM and BRIDE. Bless us as we offer our prayerful and loving support to their marriage. Bless them as they pledge their lives to each other. With faith in you and in each other, may this couple always bear witness to the reality of the love to which we witness this day. May their love continue to grow, and may it be a true reflection of your love for us all; through Jesus Christ. Amen.

VOWS OF THE MARRIAGE COVENANT

Pastor: As GROOM and BRIDE make their promises, I invite those of you who are sitting next to your spouse, to join hands and reaffirm your commitment to one another.

Bride: GROOM, I give myself to you to be your wife. I promise to love and sustain you in the covenant of marriage, from this day forward, in sickness and in health, in plenty and in want, in joy and in sorrow, as long as we both shall live.

Groom: BRIDE, I give myself to you to be your husband. I promise to love and sustain you in the covenant of marriage, from this day forward, in sickness and in health, in plenty and in want, in joy and in sorrow, as long as we both shall live.

EXCHANGE OF SYMBOLS

Pastor: Now GROOM and BRIDE come to exchange rings to symbolize their love. As often as you see these rings upon your fingers, may you remember the vows you made today, and may you renew your determination to make your love last and your relationship grow.

Attendant gives rings to Pastor.

O God, bless these rings that as they are given and as they are worn, they may serve to remind us that though we may fail, love never does. By these symbols of covenant promise, gracious God, remind BRIDE and GROOM of your encircling love and unending faithfulness that in all their life together they may know joy and peace in one another. As the circle of these rings knows no end, so may the love declared this day never end. Amen.

Groom: BRIDE, I give you this ring as a sign of my love and faithfulness, encircling you with my love.

Bride: GROOM, I give you this ring as a sign of my love and faithfulness, encircling you with my love.

UNITY CANDLE (OPTIONAL)

Pastor: GROOM and BRIDE, together as you light the unity candle, you symbolize the flame of your own individual selves joining in one relationship, a life-long partnership.

ANNOUNCEMENT OF MARRIAGE

Pastor, addressing the couple: BRIDE and GROOM, you have committed yourselves to each other in this joyous and sacred covenant. Become one. Fulfill your promises. Love and serve God, honor Christ and each other, and rejoice in the power of the Holy Spirit.

Pastor, addressing the congregation: By their promises made before us this day, GROOM and BRIDE have united themselves as husband and wife in sacred covenant. Those whom God has joined together let no one separate.

BLESSING

Pastor: The grace of Christ attend you; the love of God surround you; the Holy Spirit keep you that you may grow in holy love, find delight in each other always, and remain faithful until your life’s end. Amen.

PASSING THE PEACE

Pastor: At this time, I invite those who are able to stand and greet each other with a sign of God’s peace.

PRAYER OF THANKSGIVING

Pastor: Let us pray. Most gracious God, we give you thanks for your tender love. You sent Jesus Christ to come among us, to be born of a human mother, and to make the way of the cross into the way of life. We thank you, too, for consecrating the union of a man and a woman in Christ’s name.

By the power of your Holy Spirit, pour out the abundance of your blessing on GROOM and BRIDE. Defend them from every enemy. Lead them into all peace.

Let their love for each other be a seal on their hearts, a mantle about their shoulders, and a crown on their heads.

Bless them in their work and in the companionship, in their sleeping and in their waking, in their joys and in their sorrows, in their lives and in their deaths. Nurture them in a community of the faithful gathered about you.

Finally, in your mercy, bring BRIDE and GROOM to that table where your saints feast for ever in your heavenly home; through Jesus Christ our sovereign Savior who, with you and the Holy Spirit, lives and reigns, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

PRAYER OF OUR SAVIOR

Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.

BENEDICTION

Pastor: May God bless you and keep you. May God’s face shine upon you and be gracious to you. May God look upon you with kindness and give you peace. Amen.

INTRODUCTION

Pastor: It gives me great pleasure to introduce this newly married couple: BRIDE and GROOM.

POSTLUDE