Wedding Worship Service Preparation at Fairlawn-West United Church of Christ,
We offer our prayers for the planning of wedding worship
service and the preparation for your marriage.
We thank God for the love the two of you share. This love is not just between the two of you,
but is also shared with the wider world.
There are a variety of expectations as a service is
planned. Here at Fairlawn-West it is a
worship service to honor God, to give thanks to God and for you to covenant
with God in Jesus Christ to serve the world through your marriage. We ask that you attend worship here at least
once, if you do not already worship here, to connect with a portion of our
congregation and to gather a sense of our mission and vision as a church.
Weddings have become more social than spiritual in our
culture. It is important for us as the
body of Christ to be clear about what we value and honor. Our hope is that through this experience you
will know the presence of Christ more clearly individually and together.
As we talk about the planning of your service, the words
that are used, the music played and sung, how the sanctuary is decorated, how
pictures are taken or not taken, and behavior in our facility – all of this
reflects our faith in God and your call to serve Jesus Christ. We will talk about these in the conversation
with the Pastor.
You will take the PREPARE marriage inventory (www.lifeinnovation.com) and that will
become the center of conversation with the pastor and possibly another couple
about your marriage and your service.
The inventory includes categories of: marriage expectations, personality
issues, communication, conflict resolution, financial management, leisure
activities, sexual expectations and relationship, children and parenting,
relationships with family and friends, your roles in respect to each other, and
spiritual beliefs. After you take the
inventory, which can be done via email or taken at our bldg and sent in by us,
Life Innovation reviews and scores your inventory with an anonymous code
number. It is scored in respect to a
national pool of around 20,000 previous couples who have taken the inventory
and in comparison the two of you and your families of orgin. It will also evaluate how realistic are your
expectations about your relationship. It
will lift up three areas which are already strengths in your relationship and
three areas that call for more focus and growth in your relationship.
You are encouraged to read over the scriptures that have
been given you about marriage. Please
use these and pray about them in planning your service and particularly your
vows.
If you have any questions, please ask. Also, check out your assumptions. Too often there is an assumed understanding
of what a wedding is or should be, and what a church is or isn’t. What we want to do is to help you with
celebrating your marriage relationship in light of God’s gift of love between
you. Also, we want to honor God with your marriage and strengthen your vows
throughout your life together.
Other items:
1. The Fairlawn-West Wedding Coordinator assists the Pastor
and you with the rehearsal and the service.
If you plan to have someone else involved as a wedding
planner/coordinator, please clear that with us first.
2. The music staff of Fairlawn-West will help you plan your
music. If you wish to use another
musician, please clear that with us.
3. If you desire for another pastor to conduct your service
in the sanctuary here, please plan to have a conversation with our Pastor to
clear this. Our concern is that we not
simply function as a marriage hall and rent out our space. Also, weddings are part of the ministry of
this church so all the wider things described above are part of what we are
called to do.
4. Decorations in the sanctuary should not be overdone
(which is obviously a relative term).
Please talk with us before you make any arrangements on how you would
like to add decorations to the sanctuary.
The sanctuary is arranged and decorated already to enable all who are in
it to worship God. We assume that is why
you have chosen to have your wedding here and in it. We prefer that the chancel/front platform items
not be removed or have a major re-arrangement. We will set back some of our
band equipment and place the communion table to the side, if necessary. We will remove the tables in the sanctuary
and set the chair in rows, if you desire.
You will be able to put decorations on the ends of the rows along the
center aisle, if you desire. Any
decorations you add should enhance the worship of God and the celebration of
your marriage covenant with God.
5. The sanctuary will seat 300 people. The center aisle is 75 feet long.
6. For ushering, there should be one usher for every 50
guests.
7. Please make sure you give your photographer(s) and florist the information
sheets in sufficient time before the rehearsal.
8. We request that you not use bird seed or rice to throw as
the couple leaves the building through the gathered guests. There are other alternatives available.
8. Bring your marriage license to the rehearsal to give to
the Pastor.
Check List
__ Call the office to see about a tentative date for your
service. This will not be final until
you have met initially with our Pastor.
__
Schedule a time for an initial conversation with our Pastor. The Pastor will give you a book to use
together in preparation for your marriage.
__ Take the PREPARE pre-marital inventory.
__ Meet with the Pastor to review the indicators of your
PREPARE inventory. This may take more
than one time.
__ Contact the Fairlawn-West organist/music director to plan
out your worship music.
__ Attend at least one worship service at Fairlawn-West if
you are not already active in the life of this church.
__ Set the date for your rehearsal
with the Pastor.
__ Meet with the Pastor and the Fairlawn-West Wedding
Coordinator to plan out the wedding worship service.
__ Give the photographer and florist their information
sheets.
__ Pay the fees before the date of the rehearsal.
David Loar, Pastor, dloar@fairlawnwest.org
Karen Hodge, Office Coordinator, office@fairlawnwest.org
Anna Dusseau, Wedding Coordinator,
annadusseau@yahoo.com
330-864-2179