If you are interested in having your wedding at United Christian Church, please read the attachment at the bottom of this article.  We will be happy to offer you a tour of our facility and answer your questions.
 

Traditional Order of Wedding Ceremony/Blessing of Union
Weddings held in a church are religious ceremonies that should honor God and celebrate the covenant relationships of God's children. God's children are diverse and colorful people. Weddings may reflect that diversity. However, the following order of ceremony is a traditional, time-tested order that provides dignity and beauty to a wedding.

Prelude

Chiming of the Hour

Processional Music
• Seating of the Families

Greeting
• Officiant: Dear Friends, we are gathered here today to celebrate the marriage [bless the union] of _______ and _______. We gather as witnesses, echoing the traditions of our society. We gather as friends, brimming with excitement. We gather as family members, bringing long lines of love and concern for both _______ and _______. We gather as people of faith, seeking the blessings of the God of Love and Grace. With that in mind, let us pray.

Invocation
• Officiant: Gracious God, You call us to live in community and in covenant with each other. And so, we thank you for _______ and _______ as they, today, enter into this covenant of marriage, gathered in the community of this company. Be with _______ and _______ in this moment. Abide with them in all the coming days they will share together. We thank you for Your presence with us today and at all times. Through our participation in this ceremony, may each of us feel compelled to renew our own covenants of marriage, of family, of community one with the other in Your name. Amen.

Charge to Bride and Groom
• Officiant: _______ and _______, I charge you both to declare now your intent to this marriage. Will you have_______ to be your wife/husband, to love her/him, comfort her/him, honor, and keep her/him, and, forsaking all others, be faithful to her/him, as long as you both shall live?
• Bride/Groom: I will.

Presentation (optional)
• Officiant: Who presents _______ to be married to_______.
• Family Member/s: I/we do.

Scripture Reading
• A variety of scriptures provide meaning and inspiration to a wedding. Among them are: Ruth 2:16-17 (entreat me not to leave you...), Jeremiah 29:11 (I know the plans I have for you...), I Corinthians 13: (Love is patient, love is kind...). These may read by the minister or a reader.

Homily
• Brief words from the officiant interpreting the scripture particularly for the couple.

Vows
• Officiant: Now, _______ and _______, please turn and face each other. Please repeat after me: I, _______, take you, _______, to be my wife/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.

Exchange of Rings
• Officiant: The vows you have spoken are inward, but words are fleeting and, too often, quickly forgotten. And so you have chosen rings as outward, invisible tokens of your love and covenant. With their never-ending circles, they represent eternal love. With their open centers they represent room for growth. With their precious metals they represent the finest you have to offer to each other. As you wear them, may you abide in the peace of God. _______, place the ring on _______'s finger and repeat after me: I give you this as symbol of my vow. And with all that I am and all that I have , I honor you.

Prayer
• Officiant: Let us pray: Eternal God, Giver of Goodness, and Lover of Life, we pray with hope for this _______ and _______. As they have been blessed, may they be a blessing. As they have been loved, may they gladly love. As they have bountifully received, may they graciously give, so that their marriage, their home, their life together may be for world in need haven of blessing and of peace. Amen.

Pronouncement
• Officiant: _______ and _______, now that you have declared your intent to this marriage before God and these friends, have heard words from the scripture, have prayed for God's blessings, have spoken vows one to the other, and have exchanged rings as symbols of those vows, it is my pleasure to pronounce that you are husband and wife. You may seal you marriage with a kiss.)

Blessing
• Officiant: May God bless you and keep you. May God's countenance be lifted upon you and give you peace. May God's face shine upon you. May God be gracious unto you, this day and forevermore. Amen.

Presentation
• It is my pleasure to present _______ and _______.

Recessional

Attachments:

File	Description	File size
Wedding Policy-February2009.pdf	wedding policies at UCC	75 Kb