Solemnization of Marriage – Form 2

After the processional, the officiant shall say:

Dear family members and friends,
We have come into God’s presence to join in marriage ____________ and ____________. In doing so, we seek to honor the will of God for marriage, the concern of the Christian church for its well-being, and the interest of the state in the orderly development of society. That we may do so, let us seek God’s favor and blessing upon this blessed ceremony.

Prayer of Invocation

God, our Father, we praise You for making and redeeming us to live together in love. We thank You for the love and trust which bring __________ and __________ to this, their wedding day. Favor them with the honor of Your presence, and unite them by Your Spirit, so that together they may reflect the love of Christ for His church and the church’s devotion to her Savior. We ask this in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Parting from Parents (giving of bride optional)

Today __________ and __________ leave their parents to establish a new home.

Do you, Mr. and Mrs. __________, give your blessing to them and promise to uphold them in their pledge of love and fidelity to each other?

They answer: We do (God helping us).

Do you, Mr. and Mrs. __________, give your blessing to them and promise to uphold them in their pledge of love and fidelity to each other?

They answer: We do (God helping us).

Optional: Who gives this woman to this man?

Father/guardian answers: I do (or: Her mother and I do, or We do).

Institution and Meaning of Marriage

Dear Christian friends, since we have received no lawful objections to this proposed union, it is fitting that we call to mind the institution, purpose, and obligations of marriage as taught in God’s Word.

The holy bond of marriage was instituted by God Himself at the beginning. God made man after His own image, and gave to him the blessing and task to exercise dominion over all things. In so doing, God said: “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him” (Gen. 2:18). And so God created woman of man’s own substance and brought her to the man. “Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh” (Gen. 2:24).

Our Lord Jesus Christ confirmed the blessedness of marriage, declaring it to be a lasting union, when he said, “What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate” (Matt. 19:6). The apostle Paul shows the exalted significance of marriage when he calls the union of husband and wife a symbol of the mystic union between Christ and His church (Eph. 5:31–32). Thus, we learn that marriage is well-pleasing to God and most honorable to all who maintain it with mutual love and fidelity.

In marriage, as instituted by God, a man and a woman covenant to live together in a lifelong, exclusive partnership of love and fidelity (Gen. 2:18; Matt. 19:5–6). If marriage is to be pleasing in the sight of God, those who enter into this covenant of life must share a common commitment to the Lord of life.

In putting His blessing on marriage, God’s purpose was to provide a context within which husband and wife can help and comfort each other and find mutual companionship before the Lord, a setting within which they may give loving and tender expression to the desires He gave them, a secure environment within which children may be born and taught to know and serve the Lord, a structure that enriches society and contributes to its orderly function, and a relationship that serves to further His kingdom and bring Him glory.

Indeed, when these purposes are prayerfully pursued in union with Christ, the kingdom of God is advanced, and the blessedness of husband and wife is assured.

The institution and purpose of marriage also brings with it obligations for each partner. In Ephesians 5, the apostle Paul admonishes all Christians to develop a mutual respect and love, when he says, “[Submit] to one another out of reverence for Christ” (verse 21). When he applies this to the marriage relationship, he instructs the wife to be subject to her husband as the church is subject to Christ, its head. He also instructs the husband to pattern his love for his wife after the example of Christ’s love for His body, the church. Paul says, “Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord” (verse 22), and, “Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her” (verse 25). In marriage, this requires that the husband and wife serve each other by providing the love, respect, and faith that will enrich their lives together and build a Christ-centered home.

Our sinful and selfish tendency to break down what God has built threatens marriage with tensions, anguish, and even broken bonds. People who marry in the Lord, however, may trust that He will lead them and graciously provide for their needs when they follow the biblical pattern for love. “Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends” (1 Cor. 13:4–8).

To desire marriage, as instituted by God and ordered according to his Word, then, means that we may not enter into it carelessly or from selfish motives, but responsibly and prayerfully. It also means that we must seek God’s grace in order that we might faithfully fulfill the obligations and privileges of marriage, both in life’s joys and in its trials.

Declaration of Intent

And now, __________ and __________, understanding that God has instituted, ordered, and blessed the holy union of marriage, do you affirm this biblical teaching, and do you commit yourselves to each other in accordance with it?

Each answers: I do.

Then the officiant says:

May the Lord confirm the desire and purpose of your hearts, and may your beginning be in the name of the Lord, our Creator and Redeemer.

Vows

To the groom (repeating after the minister):

I, __________, take you, __________, to be my wife. I promise before God, and all who are present here, to be your loving and faithful husband. I will love you and give myself up for you, as Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for her. I promise to be true to you in good times and in bad, in riches and in poverty, in sickness and in health. I will serve you with tenderness and respect, and encourage you to develop the gifts that God has given you, and never forsake you, as long as we both shall live.

To the bride (repeating after the minister):

I, __________, take you, __________, to be my husband. I promise before God, and all who are present here, to be your loving and faithful wife. I will love you and submit to you, as the church loves and submits to Christ. I promise to be true to you in good times and in bad, in riches and in poverty, in sickness and in health. I will serve you with tenderness and respect, and encourage you to develop the gifts that God has given you, and never forsake you, as long as we both shall live.

Exchange of Rings (optional)

To the groom:

__________, do you give this ring as a symbol of your constant faithfulness and abiding love?

Groom: I do.

To the bride:

__________, do you give this ring as a symbol of your constant faithfulness and abiding love?

Bride: I do.

Declaration of Marriage

Thereupon the officiant says:

According to the laws of the state and the ordinances of the church of Christ, I now pronounce you, __________ and __________, husband and wife, in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. What therefore God has joined together, let no one separate. From this day forward, as you travel life’s pathway together, may the Father of all mercies, who of His grace has called you to this holy state of marriage, bind you together in true love and faithfulness and grant you His blessing.

Pastor’s Message

Prayer Following the Ceremony of Marriage

Prayer Option A

Our Father in heaven, grant your blessing on __________ and ___________ in their union as husband and wife. We give You thanks for the vows they have spoken to one another and the pledge of love and fidelity in which they are now united. May they find Your love and fidelity to them the source and blessing for the promises they have expressed. We pray that Jesus Christ will ever reign as the acknowledged head of their home and the master of their lives. Gracious Father, equip them with the Holy Spirit, so that they may walk with one another in patience and serve You and each other sacrificially. Work Your grace in their marriage, so that, as husband and wife, they may express abiding kindness to one another. And grant to them a lasting trust in Jesus Christ our Lord, so that You are praised, whether in life’s abundance and joys or in life’s burdens and trials.

May their home, then, be a place of joy and security, and in times of difficulty a haven of healing and forgiveness. May they, and the children You may be pleased to give them, give constant thanks to You. Be pleased to bestow these blessings on them, our heavenly Father, who, with the Son and the Holy Spirit, our eternal God, is blessed and exalted forever. Amen.

Prayer Option B

Our most merciful and gracious God, the Creator of all life and all persons, we ask that You might be pleased to set Your seal of approval on the marriage our brother and sister have entered into today. Give them Your fatherly blessing; grant them grace and Your Holy Spirit to fulfill with pure and abiding affection their vows to one another. Guide them in the way of the gospel, of forgiveness, grace, peace, and charity, so that they may love and serve You with one mind and heart all the days of their life together. And may they be abundantly enriched with the tokens of Your everlasting favor in Christ Jesus our Lord. In all of life’s experiences, lift up Your fatherly favor on them, so that they may be thankful when life goes well and patient in adversity and trial. May their marriage be fruitful for this life and the life to come. Grant them, we ask, wisdom and strength to build a home that glorifies Your name and serves the coming of Your kingdom. May they live together many years, and in the hour of death may they part in the blessed hope of the everlasting celebration of the marriage of Christ and the church He loves. Hear our prayer, our gracious Father, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, and in the communion of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Optional: Invitation for the Groom to Kiss His Bride

Presentation of the Couple

Whereupon the officiant says:

Dear family members and friends, it is my honor to present to you, for the first time, Mr. and Mrs. __________.

(The recessional follows.)