Marriage is a public declaration of a man and a woman's love and commitment to each other, Christians believe that getting married in a church is a way for God to witness this ceremony and give them His blessing.
Marriage has been seen as Gods plan for humans, as it says in the bible.'What God has joined together let man not separate'Marriage is an ideal situation to bring up children and is the only place to have a sexual relationship, as Christians do not believe in sex before marriage. In marriage god expects a couple to be sexually faithful to each other (monogamous).There are a lot of things that have to be done before the actual wedding ceremony can go ahead.
The couple have to discuss their vows, "traditional or personal", hymns and flowers chosen but most important are the banns. The reading of the banns must be witnessed by the couple for three Sundays, three months before the wedding. This is encase of any objections that may be raised by the public.At the beginning of a Christian wedding the bride is walked down the isle by her father, then her hand is given to the groom.
The priest starts the service, which is in the presence of God and witnessed by two people. Then he tells everybody the three main purposes of marriage which are; to give each help and support through the ups and down, to have a monogamas marriage and to have children. After this the couple has to say their vows.'I .
.. take you ..
. to be my husband/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 cherish until death us do part.'This quote tells me that when you marry somebody it is meant to be forever no matter what problems occur you should stick by eachother until death parts you.Now the couple either exchange rings or the groom places a ring on the bride's finger.
The ring is a perfect circle which symbolises the couples love which is hoped will last and grow thought love and eternity. The ring is placed on the third finger of the left hand, it is believed that the vein in this finger runs all the way to the heart.There are two main variations of a Christian marriage service and the beliefs behind it. Roman Catholics and most other Christians believe that the wedding service is a sacrament.
This is a special service in which god passes on his blessing to the couple. Roman Catholics believe that during the ceremony which is called a nuptial mass the man and woman alone becomes a channel of gods blessing to each other. this makes the marriage a special sacrament. In other sacrament the blessing comes through the priest.In an orthodox church the service is called the crowning. This is because during the service crowns are placed on the couple's head through which they receive the power of the Holy Spirit to love each other and any children god blesses them with.
There are many internal features if a church used for the wedding some of which are;AltarThe altar is an important features in a church, especially in a Catholic church. In the beginning of the religion Judaism (where Christianity originated from) people would kill animals as a sacrifice to God on the altar. This showed how commited this person was to God, and could confess sins at the altar .in the Old Testament it says that sins can be forgiven if blood is shed.
Christians do not sacrifice animals because they believe when Jesus died on the cross that was the ultimate sacrifice. at the altar, bread and wine is blessed for Holy Communion. During the wedding service the couple would stand or kneel in front of the altar.PulpitThe pulpit is a small raised platform where the vicar gives his sermon, reads parts of the bible and talks to the congregation.
Gospel lesson are given from there, looking from the congregations point of view, the altar is on the left side of the church. This is why the left side is called the Gospel side. A member of the congregation can read a poem or give a speech here at a wedding.LecternA lectern is a stand for a bible, made from wood or brass and shaped like an eagle.
the eagle symbolises the word of God, being spread through out the world. During the wedding ceremony the lectern is used to rest the bible as the priest gives a reading from it.When a woman gets married it is tradition for her to wear white. During the day of 1840 queen Victoria started the trend as it symbolised great wealth but in the wedding ceremony white is said to symbolise purity and virginity. The priest may also wear a white stole because white is the colour of happy times in a church.
