This section is still a work in progress, but please check out our wedding section for a complete order of service.
Table of Contents
Pentecost
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Thanksgiving
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Wedding
Prelude
Processional
Words of Institution
Dearly beloved, we are gathered together here in the sight of God, and in the presence of these witnesses, to join together this man and this woman in holy matrimony. Marriage is an honorable estate which God Himself made and it signifies to us the mystical union that is between Christ and His Church. This holy estate Christ adorned and made beautiful with His presence and first miracle at the wedding in Cana of Galilee. Marriage is also commended by Paul to be honorable among all men.
The union of husband and wife in heart, body, and mind is intended by God for their mutual joy; for the help and comfort given one another in prosperity and adversity; and, when it is God’s will, for the procreation of children and their nurture in the knowledge and love of the Lord. Therefore marriage is not to be entered into unadvisedly or lightly, but reverently, deliberately, soberly, in the fear of God, and in accordance with the purposes for which it was instituted by God.
Into this holy estate these two persons, BRIDE AND GROOM, come now to be joined. If any man can show just cause, why they may not lawfully be joined together, let him now speak, or else hereafter forever hold his peace.
I require and charge you both that if either one of you know any reason why your marriage goes against the laws of God, you now tell me. For you can be certain that if any persons are joined together otherwise than as God’s Word allows, their marriage is not lawful and they will give an account on the dreadful day of judgment when the secrets of all hearts will be revealed.
Declaration of Consent
GROOM, will you have this woman to be your wedded wife, to live together after God’s ordinance in the holy estate of Matrimony? Will you love her, comfort her, honor, and keep her in sickness and in health; and, forsaking all others, keep you only unto her, so long as you both shall live?
[Man: “I will.”]
BRIDE, will you have this man to be your wedded husband, to live together after God’s ordinance in the holy estate of Matrimony? Will you love him, comfort him, honor, and keep him in sickness and in health; and, forsaking all others, keep you only unto him, so long as you both shall live?
[Woman: “I will.”]
Who gives this woman to be married to this man?
[Father replies.]
Invocation
Let us pray. Almighty and ever blessed God, Whose presence is the happiness of every condition, and Whose favor makes holy every relation; We ask You to be present and to look with favor upon these Your servants, as together they make their covenant before 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. Pour out Your grace upon them so that they may enjoy the comforts, bear up under the cares, endure the trials, and perform the duties of life together under Your heavenly guidance and protection. May they be truly joined in the honorable estate of marriage, and may they know the salvation of the only true God. We ask these things through our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
[Pastor, Bride and Groom, Maid of Honor and Best Man, ascend to platform.]
Congregational Hymn*
Scripture Readings (please be seated)
The LORD God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.” 19 Now the LORD God had formed out of the ground all the beasts of the field and all the birds of the air. He brought them to the man to see what he would name them; and whatever the man called each living creature, that was its name. 20 So the man gave names to all the livestock, the birds of the air and all the beasts of the field. But for Adam no suitable helper was found. 21 So the LORD God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep; and while he was sleeping, he took one of the man’s ribs and closed up the place with flesh. 22 Then the LORD God made a woman from the rib he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man. 23 The man said, “This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called ‘woman,’ for she was taken out of man.” 24 For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh. 25 The man and his wife were both naked, and they felt no shame.
When Jesus had finished saying these things, he left Galilee and went into the region of Judea to the other side of the Jordan. 2 Large crowds followed him, and he healed them there. 3 Some Pharisees came to him to test him. They asked, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any and every reason?” 4 “Haven’t you read,” he replied, “that at the beginning the Creator ‘made them male and female,’ 5 and said, ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh’? 6 So they are no longer two, but one. Therefore what God has joined together, let man not separate.” 7 “Why then,” they asked, “did Moses command that a man give his wife a certificate of divorce and send her away?” 8 Jesus replied, “Moses permitted you to divorce your wives because your hearts were hard. But it was not this way from the beginning. 9 I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for marital unfaithfulness, and marries another woman commits adultery.” 10 The disciples said to him, “If this is the situation between a husband and wife, it is better not to marry.” 11 Jesus replied, “Not everyone can accept this word, but only those to whom it has been given. 12 For some are eunuchs because they were born that way; others were made that way by men; and others have renounced marriage because of the kingdom of heaven. The one who can accept this should accept it.”
Wives, be subject to your own husbands, as to the Lord. 23 For the husband is the head of the wife, as Christ also is the head of the church, He Himself being the Savior of the body. 24 But as the church is subject to Christ, so also the wives ought to be to their husbands in everything. 25 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her, 26 so that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, 27 that He might present to Himself the church in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that she would be holy and blameless. 28 So husbands ought also to love their own wives as their own bodies. He who loves his own wife loves himself; 29 for no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ also does the church, 30 because we are members of His body. 31 FOR THIS REASON A MAN SHALL LEAVE HIS FATHER AND MOTHER AND SHALL BE JOINED TO HIS WIFE, AND THE TWO SHALL BECOME ONE FLESH. 32 This mystery is great; but I am speaking with reference to Christ and the church. 33 Nevertheless, each individual among you also is to love his own wife even as himself, and the wife must see to it that she respects her husband.
Sermon
[A sermon should be preached here on the topic of marriage]
In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.
Exchange of Vows
[Groom and bride turn and face each other and join hands.]
[Groom takes bride’s right hand and repeats after me.]
I, GROOM, take you, BRIDE, to be my wedded 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, till death separates us, according to God’s holy ordinance, and to this I guarantee my faithfulness.
[Bride takes groom’s right hand and repeats after me.]
I, BRIDE, take you, GROOM, to be my wedded 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, cherish, and obey, till death separates us, according to God’s holy ordinance, and to that I guarantee my faithfulness.
Ring Ceremony
[Groom and bride turn, face each other. I say to Groom:]
GROOM, what keepsake do you give BRIDE of your promise to fulfill these vows you have made?
[Best Man gives ring to Pastor while Groom says, “This ring.” I give ring to Groom who takes Bride’s left hand and puts it on fourth finger. I ask the Groom to repeat after me:]
As a pledge and symbol of the vows we have made, with this ring I thee wed; In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
[I say to Bride:]
BRIDE, what keepsake do you give GROOM of your promise to fulfill these vows you have made?
[Maid of Honor gives ring to Pastor while Bride says, “This ring.” I give ring to Bride who takes Groom’s left hand and puts it on fourth finger. I ask the Bride to repeat after me:]
As a pledge and symbol of the vows we have made, with this ring I thee wed; In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Proclamation of Marriage
[Turn and face me.]
By the authority committed unto me as a Minister of the Church of Jesus Christ, I declare that GROOM AND BRIDE are now Man and Wife, according to the ordinance of God, and the law of the State of Indiana: in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
[Then, causing the Husband and Wife to join their right hands, the Minister says:]
Those whom God has joined together, let no man divide. GROOM, you may kiss the bride.
Congregational Hymn*
Prayer and Lord’s Prayer
Let us bow in prayer. Most merciful and gracious God, of Whom all fatherhood in heaven and earth is named: Bestow upon these Your servants the seal of Your approval, and Your Fatherly benediction; granting unto them grace to fulfill, with pure and steadfast affection, the vow and covenant between them made. Guide them together, we ask Thee, in the way of righteousness 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.
O Almighty God, Creator of mankind, Who only art the well-spring of life; Bestow upon these You servants, if it be Your will, the gift and heritage of children; and grant that they may see their children brought up in Your faith and fear, to the honor and glory of Your Name; through Jesus Christ our Lord, Who taught His disciples to pray, saying…
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 debts; As we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation; But deliver us from evil; For Thine is the Kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen.
Benediction
May God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit, bless, protect, and keep you; The Lord mercifully and with His favor look upon you with all spiritual blessing and grace; that you may live together in this life in such a way that you will have everlasting life in the world to come. Amen.
Presentation of Couple [Please turn and face the congregation.]
I now have the honor of presenting to you:
Mr. and Mrs. ________________________
Recessional
Dismissal
Funeral
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Commencement
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