TWENTY-FIFTH ANNIVERSARY CEREMONY OF IRA AND VONCILLE VEAZEY
#649 25TH ANNIVERSARY CEREMONY OF IRA AND VONCILLE VEAZEY
PRAYER
When a man and woman come to choose for themselves the estate of marriage, they do, whether knowingly or unknowingly, choose unto their united life, that which is a product of the love and grace of God. Whatever the level of their spiritual experience, they enter into a contract of which it is God’s purpose to bless As early as the second chapter of Genesis, the first book in God’s Word establishes the intent of God. Of the creation encounter we are taught, “The Lord God said, It is not good that man should be alone; I will make him an helpmeet for him.”
It is a happy experience to look with eyes of faith through the pages of holy scripture, and to discover, again and again, the positive blessings of God which are associated with marriage. Though our Lord, Himself, did not marry, He graced its meaning by choosing a wedding feast in Cana of Galilee for the occasion of His first miracle. On such a happy event as this, as surely as at His baptism, He announced His Messiahship and His miracle-endowed ministry.
The primary impact of Jesus’ teaching on the subject of marriage was clearly established. Both Matthew (19) and Mark (10) record the basis of marriage as the foundation stone upon which the social culture of family life is to be built. Jesus said, “For this cause shall a man leave His father and mother, and cleave to his wife; and they twain shall be one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let no man put asunder.”
There had been other Old Testament passages that had formed the nucleus of Jesus’ teachings. It was a broad principle stated by Solomon in Ecclesiastes 4:9. “Two are better than one.” He had stated the principle much more meaningfully in Proverbs 18:22. “Whoso findeth a wife findeth a good thing, and obtaineth favor of the Lord.” Solomon’s experiences teach us also what he learned in the retrospect of having lived counter to the principle. One of the most beautiful Old Testament passages is in The Song of Solomon where the lovely Shulamite woman rejects all of the pursuits and advances of the king because of her love for the one whom she would ultimately marry.
There is yet another dimension of the holy estate of matrimony presented in the scripture The New Testament epistles speak of the church as the bride of Christ. This One who is Lord is pictured as giving His life for His one true love. Paul in the Epistle to the Ephesians reminded the believing husbands that they “were to love their wives, nourishing and cherishing the relationship, even as the Lord the church.”
As the imprint of the intent of God is found almost from the first page of scripture, it is seen finally in the last book and near the last chapter. The revelator, John, records in Chapter 19, “blessed are they which are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb.” Though it is not an issue here, the believing husband or wife is encouraged to believe that their witness will be effective in bringing an unbelieving spouse to faith. (I Corinthians 7:14)
We have come together here this evening, not to unite in matrimony, but to consecrate a union in matrimony, but to consecrate a union in acknowledgement of the attainment of the Twenty-fifth Anniversary. This acknowledgement declares to all who care to take notice that the years yet to be are even more important than the ones that have been. On the occasion of this anniversary, you are surrounded by the friends who have walked with you through both sad and glad. Others here are themselves the result of your marital trust.
You stand before me as two already united in the eyes of the state, and considered so by your friends and loved ones. It is an ennobling act of faith which seeks to commemorate this happy event in the presence of these who know and love you.
We are told that “Where two or more are gathered together in the name of the Lord, He is present there with those who are His.” (Matthew 18:20) What more significant gathering of two or more of His own than to accommodate a believing couple in their desire to sanctify their union for these important years ahead.
It is then, not with symbolic candles that we come to express the meshing together of your individual lives. It is not to sign the necessary but too often meaningless documents of State. It is not even to give renewed meaning to the rings of ceremony already shared. It is simply to restate the vows of union.
I request that you join right hands, face each other, and repeat these vows:
“I thank God for the holy estate of matrimony.
“I praise His Name for the fusing of my life with yours.
“I bless His Name and for His will expressed lovingly through our lives.
“I am pledged in wedded love to you alone for so long as we shall live.”
PRAYER
WEDDING CEREMONY OF THOMAS A. MICHELLI AND VICKIE LYNN SMITH
#071 WEDDING CEREMONY of THOMAS A. MICHELLI AND VICKIE LYNN SMITH
Prepared by Lamar Skinner November 21, 1987
Marriage has historically been one of life’s greatest celebrations. Every culture has had its very own means to this end. The processes, whether primitive or exacting, have enabled the two contracting parties to form a normative relationship. These individuals would, in this manner, disassociate themselves from the vestiges of the single life, and begin the experience of shared intimacy. Life takes on the different hue of sharing. There are now two hands on the tiller of faith and circumstance.
The declaration made here is all the more significant because there are already two others who stand to gain greatly by this association. It is all the more significant then, that we enter into this celebration prayerfully.
You will bow with me, please, for prayer.
PRAYER
We are assembled here, in the home of friends to joyfully share in this celebration of marriage. Our minds, hearts, and spirits join with those of
Tommy Michelli
and
Vickie Smith
to enjoin the spiritual oneness of marriage. We acknowledge responsibility, responsibility first to God, Himself. Responsibility to other family members who surely are affected by this decision. Marriage, in its fullest dimension, is the achievement of God alone. We are to look to Him for the greater fulfillment of family. We are surely to praise Him for the opening of doors that led upward to this celebration. You have prayed about your own decision. Others, who love you devotedly, have prayed for you. As great significance is seen in prayer for the wedding, even greater significance is determined for marriage. No more measured circumstance could come out of your wedding here today than that of determining that God will hold the place of honor in your individual and collective lives.
As the years have passed, Tommy, Vickie, you have meandered down separate trails toward a destiny that you could not imagine. You were guided through your own childhood, but the day came when more assertive decisions became your lot. Events of magnitude have occurred. You have experienced both happiness and grief. Stumbling steps have reached toward selfhood, toward becoming the person you can, and ought to be. There have been many times when your steps were the steps of a person alone. When you turn from this place, the sands of time will reveal partnered steps. Work with all your heart and soul to keep it just that way. Look to God as the source of your strength.
Marriage is not innovative. It is not unique. It is simply acquiescence to a greater divine plan.
“And the Lord God said, ‘It isn’t in man’s best interest for him to be alone; I will make another person to complement him. They will be suited to each other’s needs.’ Then the Lord . . . brought this woman to the man. This explains why the man . . . is joined to his wife in such a way that the two become one person.”
To this end we are gathered here. It is toward what we believe to be the will of God that we here move. We do little more than add man’s prose to God’s promise. For it is the promise that sends faith to replace the fantasy of the dreamer.
Because you have indicated to me that these goals to be shared are your desire. As you want this spiritual priority to guide your relationship, I then request that you join your right hands and repeat these vows.
I Tommy take you Vickie to be my wedded wife, to have and to hold, from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer or poorer, in sickness and health, to love and to cherish, till death do us part.
Vickie, your vow is no more nor any less than that of the one who here becomes your husband.
I Vickie take you Tommy to be my wedded husband, to have and to hold, from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer or poorer, in sickness and health, to love and to cherish, til death do us part.
Now, as a sign of the confirmation of these vows, you will share together the rings of covenant. The ring has had other uses throughout history. But none match the holy estate of their importance in marriage. The symbolism of pure metal and unique form address the purity that is to attend your relationship, and the eternality of your covenant.
Do you, Tommy/Vickie, give this ring to Vickie/Tommy, as an eternal covenant of your love?
Each responds “I do!”
Do you receive the ring, Vickie/Tommy, as such a token of love, and do you so promise to wear it as it has been thus intended?
Each answers “I will!”
Those of us gathered here by your invitation have heard you pledge your love each to the other. We have watched as you sealed the contract of your marriage with the rings you have shared with the other. I therefore, as your pastor friend, and as an agent of this state empowered to do so, happily acknowledge your new station as husband and wife. Take care that this holy covenant remains so. Become the family, father, mother, and two daughters, Jessica and Lindsey, loved fully by you both.
Tommy, you may kiss your wife.
WEDDING OF ROBERT CARLTON DINWIDDIE and FRITHA LYNN SKINNER
#715 WEDDING
OF
ROBERT CARLTON DINWIDDIE
AND
FRITHA LYNN SKINNER
At
First Baptist Church
Bernice, Louisiana
April 22, 1989
Prelude
Duet “O, the Deep, Deep Love of Jesus” Larry and Laurie Thompson
Reading Jeremiah 33:10f Robert Burns
“There shall be heard in this place, . . . the voice of joy, and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, the voice of them that shall say, Praise the Lord of hosts: for the Lord is good; for His mercy endureth forever: and of them that shall bring the sacrifice of praise into the house of the Lord.”
The Processional Worship Medley Betty O’Bannon
Mothers are seated
Presentation of the Bride
Rob Burns: “Who gives this young woman in marriage?”
Lamar Skinner: “Her mother and I!”
Solo “The Prayer of St. Francis of Assisi” Larry Thompson
The Declaration
The time comes round for all of us when deeply significant decisions are to be made. Questions demanding answers come upon us in ways that require the total commitment of every resource of our personhood. Such times require an unfailing trust in the other people who are affected by such decisions. Marriage is not the only determination of such merit, but it surely is one of the more important. Thus, have Robert Dinwiddie and Fritha Skinner decided.
Having chosen, Bob and Fritha seek oneness and happiness in the will of God. They invite the congregation to join them in singing the hymn,
Congregational Hymn “Love Divine, All Loves Excelling” #2
We all have deep feelings and life-encompassing needs, but are such feelings enough? It is no wonder then that the challenge of marriage charms us by the anticipation of such noble purpose to be shared.
For the two of you, there has been all of this, and more. There has been mutual trust. There has been respect for the attitudes of friends and loved ones who shared the intensity of this coming to oneness. There has been faith in God as the ground of being. Surely now, there is for you both, a sense of assurance and anticipation that these months and months of friendship and deepening love will result in the continued intensity of all of these feelings of which marriage consists.
So, we have come to this place today to share with Robert and Fritha on the occasion of their marriage. Because it is a most happy event in their lives, it is their desire to share such a moment with those dearest to them. They do herewith give indication that this brings fulfillment for their individual lives and for their collective life as husband and wife.
I invite you then to bow with them and with me in prayer. While it is the prayer of dignity in assured and committed lives, it is also the deeply penetrating prayer for the judgment of God’s love upon our lives.
Prayer Pastor
Do I need to remind you that the last of the creative acts of God was the provision of an helpmeet for a friend of God whose name was Adam? With this wife, spouse, helpmate, friend, he was to live in a relationship of conjugal sharing. The man was not pictured as master, but as loving husband with the responsibility of protection and provision. The woman was not pictured as of less worth and consequence, but as the molder of meaningful family relationship. To deny these goals is to deny scripture, and to deny God. It remains God’s intent, as we understand His Word, for the husband, spiritually, to be the head of the home. He cannot, however, appropriate God’s ideals in the home until he has appropriated God’s spirit in his life.
It was of this relationship that Jesus declared what He knew to be the intent of God. His statement is one of breaking forth, of faith, of family. His words were, “For this reason, a man shall leave father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they two shall become one.”
With particular appropriateness Jesus has spoken. You are admonished to make other human relationships secondary to your relationship to each other. The only responsibility exceeding this one is that responsibility both of you owe to God. It is in thus walking with Him that you find true prosperity in each other, and therein life takes on its grandest meaning. Elizabeth Barrett Browning shares such a thought.
“Earth’s crammed with heaven, and every common bush afire with God. But only those who look take off their shoes. The rest sit round and pluck blackberries.”
So, Bob, Fritha, you have so chosen. Your intent is to be one, and in that oneness to find your happiness in the will of God.
The apostle Paul has given us a wonderful insight to marriage. “Marriage was to be held in honor by all,” he wrote; and in another place he constrained the Christian husband “to love his wife as Christ loved the church.” Therein is the husband constrained, and the wife challenged, to be the inspiration of such love.
Reading I Corinthians 13:1-13 Rob Burns
“If I speak with the eloquence of men and of angels, but have no love, I become no more than blaring brass or crashing cymbal. If I have the gift of foretelling the future and hold in my mind not only all human knowledge but the very secrets of God, and if I also have the absolute faith which can move mountains, but have no love, I amount to nothing at all. If I dispose of all that I possess, yes, even if I give my own body to be burned, and have no love, I achieve precisely nothing.
“This love of which I speak is slow to lose patience—it looks for a way of being constructive. It is not possessive; it is neither anxious to impress nor does it cherish inflated ideas of its own importance.
“Love has good manners and does not pursue selfish advantage. It is not touchy. It does not keep account of evil or gloat over the wickedness of other people. On the contrary, it is glad with all good men when truth prevails.
“Love knows no limit to its endurance, no end to its trust, no fading of its hope; it can outlast anything. It is, in fact, the only thing standing when all else has fallen.
“For if there are prophecies they will be fulfilled and done with, if there are ‘tongues’ the need for them will disappear, if there is knowledge it will be swallowed up in truth. For our knowledge is always incomplete and our prophecy is always incomplete, and when the complete comes, that is the end of the incomplete.
“When I was a little child I talked and felt and thought like a little child. Now that I am an adult my childish speech and feeling and thought have no further significance for me.
“At present we look at puzzling reflections in a mirror. The time will come when we shall see reality whole and face to face! At present all I know is a little fraction of the truth, but the time will come when I shall know it as fully as God now knows me.
“In this life we have three great lasting qualities—faith, hope, and love. But the greatest of these is love.”
It seems appropriate somehow for the two of you, to bring Sidney Lanier off the shelf and to allow his salient pen to speak a word of vision. In his “Song of the Future” of a bird set free,
“My brain is beating like the heart of Haste: I’ll loose me a bird upon this Present waste; . . . Thou’rt only a gray and sober dove, But thine eye is faith and thy wing is love.”
Isn’t it wonderful what “gray and sober” doves can become in the “eye” of faith, and on the “wing” of love?
I request that you join right hands and prepare to share the vows of ceremony and commitment. To others of us, they are ceremonial. To you these vows are a fundamental statement of your commitment.
Bob/Fritha repeat:
In the name of God, I, _______, take you, _______, to be my wife/husband, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better for worse, for richer for poorer, in sickness and in health, to honor and to cherish, until we are parted by death. This is my solemn vow.
Ring ceremony:
And now as a constant reminder of this hour and these vows, we shall take the rings of ceremony and confirm to all that you belong each to the other. It is significant that the ring has come to be used in this way. Just such bands of gold have been used throughout history in various meaningful ways. It was for a time a signet to be worn by the monarch with which important documents of state were sealed. It was used during another period as a bond of friendship in which brotherhood was often established. It was thought by some to have the magic powers of a talisman. But used as a symbol of marital union, the ring attains its most significant worth.
The purity of content describes the relationship that you share. The form declares permanence. Remember please, that God’s moderating Spirit is the conductor of marital harmony.
Do you, Robert, give this ring to Fritha as a token of your love for her? Do you accept this ring, Fritha, as a token of Bob’s love, and will you wear it as a sign of your love for him?
Do you, Fritha, give this ring to Robert as a sign of your love for him? Do you, then, Robert, accept Fritha’s ring, and promise to wear it as a sign of your love for her?
Pronouncement:
Having pledged your love with these vows, and having sealed your vows with these rings, I do now acknowledge your marriage as a binding contract of commitment to each other, and in doing so, pronounce you to be husband and wife.
We have been witnesses to this treasured moments in your lives. Daily seek God’s presence to bring His intensity to your union. Let all take care that this covenant remain sacred. May the God who cherishes His children hold you always in the embrace of His love. May those who love you, love you yet the more.
Benediction Romans 15:4-7 Dorothea Gatlin
“For all those words which were written long ago are meant to teach us today, so that we may be encouraged to endure and to go on hoping in our own time. May the God who inspires men to endure, and gives them constant encouragement, give you a mind united with one another in your common loyalty to Christ Jesus. And then, as one, you will sing from the heart the praises of God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. So open your hearts to one another as Christ has opened His heart to you, and God will be glorified.”
Prayer Ms. Gatlin
Congregational Hymn “God, Our Father, We Adore Thee” #5
Recessional “The Master Hath Come” Betty O’Bannon
Rob Burns Invitation to Reception