A Sample of our Marriage Rite is set forth below: This may be modified with the consent of the pastor provided that the ceremony remains solem, and accordance with the beliefs and teachings of the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod.
Celebration of Holy Marriage of
Eve Jane Doe
To
Adam John Smith
Friday, June 11, 201X
Zion Lutheran Church,
1924 St. Charles Avenue,
New Orleans, Louisiana 70130
Reverend Robert H. Belknap, J.D. Pastor
Ushers Mr. John Putin Seat Mr. Edward Escort
Best Man Scott Smith
Maid of Honor Lori Doe
Ring Bearer Master Mason Smith
Flower Girl Lindsey Doe
Groomsman Mr. Charles Smith
Mr. Scott Smith
Bridesmaids Miss Samantha Doe
Miss Madison Doe
Please rise as the wedding party enters:
(When the wedding party has come to the foot of the altar), The Pastor says:
We begin in the name of the Father and of the E Son and of the Holy Spirit.
Congregation: Amen
Pastor : We are gathered here in the sight of God and of his Church to witness and bless the joining together of this man and this woman in holy marriage. This is an honorable estate, which God Himself has instituted and blessed, and by which He gives us a picture of the very communion of Christ and His bride, the Church. God has both established and sanctified marriage and has promised to bless therein all who love and trust in Him and who seek to give Him their faithful worship and service, for the sake of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Pastor: 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 inadvisedly or lightly, but reverently, deliberately, and in accordance with the purposes for which it was instituted by God.
Pastor: A reading from the Book of Genesis, chapter 2, verses 18-24:
The Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.” 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. So the man gave names to all the livestock, the birds of the air and all the beasts for the field, But for Adam no suitable helper was found. So the Lord God caused the man to all into a deep sleep; and while he was sleeping, he took one of the man’s ribs and closed up the place with flesh. Then the Lord God made a woman from the rib he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man. 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.” For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh.
Pastor Belknap: This is the Word of the Lord
Congregation: Thanks be to God
Pastor Belknap: The Epistle is from Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians, the thirteenth chapter:
1 If I speak in the tongues [a] of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. 3 If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, [b] but have not love, I gain nothing. 4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. 8 Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. 9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part, 10 but when perfection comes, the imperfect disappears. 11 When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me. 12 Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known. 13 And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.
Pastor Belknap: This is the Word of the Lord
Congregation: Thanks be to God
(Please Stand)
Pastor: The Holy Gospel according to St. Matthew the nineteenth chapter:
Congregation: Praise to You, O Lord.
4 Haven't you read," [Jesus replied to the Pharisees], "that at the beginning the Creator 'made them male and female,' [a] 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' [b]? 6 So they are no longer two, but one. Therefore what God has joined together, let man not separate."
Pastor: This is The Gospel of the Lord:
Congregation: Praise to You, O Christ.
(Please be seated)
Homily: Pastor Bob Belknap, J.D.
Pastor: Adam John Smith will you have Eve Jane to be your wife, to live with her in holy marriage according to the Word of God? Will you love her, comfort her, honor her, and keep her in sickness and in health and, forsaking all others, be husband to her as long as you both shall live?
Adam John Smith: I will.
Pastor: Eve Jane Doe, will you have Adam John to be your husband, to live with him in holy marriage according to the Word of God? Will you love him, comfort him, honor him, and keep him in sickness and in health and, forsaking all others, be wife to him as long as you both shall live?
Eve Jane Doe: I will.
Pastor leads bride and bridegroom to the altar.
I, Adam John Smith, in the presence of God and these witnesses, take you, Eve Jane Doe, to be my 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, until death parts us, and I pledge you my faithfulness.
I, Eve Jane Doe, in the presence of God and these witnesses, take you, Adam John, to be my 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 death parts us, and I pledge you my faithfulness.
(Exchange of rings)
Pastor blesses the rings:
Adam and Eve say to each other: “Receive this ring as a pledge and token of wedded love and faithfulness.”
Pastor: Grant your blessings, O Lord, to your servants Jennifer and Kevin that they may be ever mindful of their solemn pledge and, trusting in your mercy, abound evermore in love all their days; through Jesus Christ, our Lord.
Congregation: Amen.
The bride and bridegroom kneel, and Pastor says:
Now that Adam and Eve have consented to be joined together as husband and wife in holy marriage, and have given themselves to each other by their solemn pledges, and have declared same before God and these witnesses, I pronounce them to be husband and wife, in the name of the Father and of the E Son and of the Holy Spirit.
What God has joined together, let no one put asunder.
Congregation: Amen.
Pastor: The almighty and gracious God abundantly grant you His favor and sanctify and bless you with the blessings given our first parents in paradise that you may please Him in both body and soul and live together in holy love until your life’s end.
Congregation: Amen.
Pastor: Let us pray (please stand)
Almighty, everlasting God, our heavenly Father, grant that by your blessing Adam and Eve may live together according to your Word and promise. Strengthen them in faithfulness and love toward each other. Sustain and defend them in all trials and temptations. Help them to live in faith toward You in the communion of Your Holy Church and in loving service to each other that they may ever enjoy your heavenly blessing; through Jesus Christ, your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.
Congregation: Amen.
Congregation and all pray the Lord’s prayer.
Pastor: The eternal God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, grant you his Holy Spirit, be with you, and richly bless you now and forever.
Congregation: Amen.
