Marriage can be one of the greatest and most joyous decisions of life. An
important goal of Christ Church Westshore is to help build the strongest possible marriage commitment leading to a “life-long, Christ-centered union between husband and wife.”
Persons desiring to be married at Christ Church should contact a pastor as early as possible to ensure that he is available for your wedding date and to allow adequate time to complete the pre-marital counseling process. Please allow at least six months between the time of initial contact and the actual wedding. Christ Church members will be given priority, based on the availability of our pastors.
If you wish to have a Christ Church pastor conduct your wedding, our guidelines are:
Initial Meeting with the Pastor: Generally, our pastors will not be able to confirm with certainty that he will perform the wedding until he has an initial meeting with the couple. In the qualifying session, you should expect the minister to ask you about:
- Your Christian faith: When did you become Christian? What does it mean to be a Christian? What is the place that Christian faith has in your life? Are you both actively involved as members in a local church?
- The nature of your relationship: What is the history of your relationship? How do your friends and family feel about it? What do you perceive to be the greatest strengths and greatest weaknesses of the relationship? Are you living together? Have you maintained sexual purity? Have there been relationships in the past that are unreconciled (i.e., if you’ve been married before)? If there is a divorce situation, Christ Church must receive permission from the Bishop after the initial counseling meeting to perform the weeding. A minimum of six months must pass after the final divorce decree is granted before the bishop will act up on the request.
Pre-marital Counseling: Depending on the couple’s level of readiness, a minister will provide seven counseling sessions with the couple. The couple must attend the pre-marital course with one of the Christ Church ministers. The course entitled “Preparing for Marriage” is a 7 -session course which discusses the meaning and purpose of marriage, the qualities necessary to have a healthy marriage, the true nature of love and how to effectively express it, communication and conflict resolution, role relationships and sexuality in marriage. It involves reading assignments, one-on-one interactions with the engaged couple.
- We desire that both the bride and groom understand the essence of Christian marriage as taught by the Holy Scriptures and the Anglican Church. In witness thereof, they will sign a “Declaration of Intention” agreeing to enter into the covenant of Christian marriage by making a life long commitment to each other.
- Clergy from Christ Church will always preside at weddings in Christ Church, although other clergy may participate in the service.
- Weddings at Christ Church are scheduled on Saturdays, with rehearsals on Fridays. Friday weddings are a possibility, if the church calendar demonstrates no conflict.
- To schedule an appointment with one of the ministers, or for more information, please contact the church office at 440-899-7151.
Piper, Carson, and Keller on Sustaining the Covenant of Marital Love from The Gospel Coalition on Vimeo.