weddings
Nontraditional weddings have become the norm
Part of me admires couples who don't pretend to be religious on their wedding day.
The Century on weddings
When Nadia and I got married, we really went all out on the worship planning. She spread out multiple worship books, adapting her favorite parts and writing collects and petitions from scratch. I recruited not one or two but ten friends to lead the music and then got to work writing original service music, reharmonizing hymns, and notating all of it to match in the bulletin.
About that bulletin: it was epically thick.
Church(y) weddings: When worship is the main event
In a culture of personalized weddings, is a very liturgical ceremony simply the church nerd's niche? Or might it function as a corrective?
Blessings all around: When my parishioner got ordained online
I realized that she wasn't looking for my help finding a way out of officiating her friends' wedding. What she wanted was my blessing.
Tying knots: A pastor's wedding adventures
The bride wore a white dress with pearls, a veil and a big red nose. The groom had a rainbow wig, and instead of patent leather shoes, floppy brogues as big as boats, which were coming apart at the toes. All around them a raucous band of clowns held forth on tubas and big bass drums. “Do you, Gilbert, take Glenna to be your wife?” “I sure do.” “Do you, Glenna, take this clown to be your husband?” “I do,” she smiled, and someone honked a horn.