Benjamen and Darcy

Wedding Ceremony

Prayer

Initial Remarks –

We are gathered here in the sight of God and these witnesses to unite Shawn and Stacey in holy matrimony. Shawn and Stacey recognize that it was God who instituted marriage, and who said in Genesis 2, "It is not good for man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him." The God who made them also instituted this relationship they are about to enter into.

Shawn and Stacey the vows you are about to take are not to be taken without careful thought and prayer. For in them you are committing yourselves exclusively to one another, as long as you both shall live. This love is not to be diminished by difficult circumstances, and it is only to be dissolved by death.

Readings

Genesis 2:18 ESV

18 Then the Lord God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him.”

Genesis 2:21–24 ESV

21 So the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and while he slept took one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh. 22 And the rib that the Lord God had taken from the man he made into a woman and brought her to the man. 23 Then the man said, “This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.” 24 Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.

Ephesians 5:22–33 (ESV)

22 Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. 23 For the husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is himself its Savior. 24 Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit in everything to their husbands.

25 Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, 26 that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, 27 so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish. 28 In the same way husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. 29 For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church, 30 because we are members of his body. 31 “Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.” 32 This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church. 33 However, let each one of you love his wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband.

Personal remarks

It’s been such neat journey getting to know you two. From getting to meet Charlie at Day Camps and then to see Stacey and her mom start to bring the kids to church, and now to see God to lead you two to the point to want to honor Him in your relationship! To see all that God has done It’s been amazing to see how HE’s brought you to this point.

Declaration of Intent

Please face one another and hold hands. Stacey do you take Shawn to be your lawfully wedded husband, to have and to hold from this day forward, to love, honor, and cherish, in sickness and health, forsaking all others, as long as you both shall live?

Shawn, do you take Stacey to be your lawfully wedded wife, to have and to hold from this day forward, to love, honor, and cherish, in sickness and health, forsaking all others, as long as you both shall live?

Vows

Bride

“I, Stacey, take you, Shawn, 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 and cherish, till death do us part, according to God’s holy ordinance; I pledge myself to you.

Groom

“I, Shawn, take you, Stacey, 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 do us part, according to God’s holy ordinance; I pledge myself to you.

Rings

You have chosen to seal your vows by the giving and receiving of rings. The ring forms a perfect circle, without a beginning or an end, and is thereby a symbol of eternity and signifies the duration of the commitment you are making. The metal of which the rings are made signify the purity and value of the relationship into which you now enter.

Repeat after me:

Bride

I give you this ring, as a symbol of my love, and with all that I am, and with all that I have, I will honor you.

Groom

I give you this ring, as a symbol of my love, and with all that I am, and with all that I have, I will honor you.

Declaration of Marriage

Shawn and Stacey, you have pledged your faith to each other in front of God, and these witnesses. By the power vested in me as a minister of the gospel of Jesus Christ and according to the laws of the State of Montana, I now pronounce you husband and wife together, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.

Matthew 19:6 (ESV)

6 So they are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate.”

First Kiss

Shawn, you may kiss your bride.

Introduction

Family and friends, I am proud to present for the first time as husband and wife, Mr. and Mrs. Shawn McGowen.