Sample Wedding Ceremony - Mark Kurnow

Text Box: SampleWedding Ceremony Reverend Mark Kurnow … the two of you have come here to start a new beginning in your lives and to make a commitment of marriage … And from this day forward you will walk together… bringing new wisdom, strength, and your own personalities into your marriage. May you look forward to the years that are ahead of you in growing together, nurturing, and caring for each other, and getting to know each other more intimately, and learning how to effectively communicate. May you truly open your hearts for this opportunity of loving each other like you have never loved before. Marriage is a gift from God and it is sealed by a sacred covenant. The gift is the love that you share between your hearts. God has given it so that you can know each other with mutual care and companionship. God’s gift is also joy so that you can share in your new marriage with your family and friends. And now we are here to give you support as you freely give yourselves to one another. Before you say your vows, and because we are in the beautiful islands of Hawaii, I would like to share with you a Hawaiian custom. The Hawaiian people have a custom called “Ho’o’pono’pono.” The meaning of this is to make right. It deals with communicating with each other effectively. The way that we have a “Ho’o’pono’pono” is when we are having a discussion we try to listen and understand how our mate is thinking and feeling. We do not end this type of communication until we find some resolve. We call this “pono.” On any given day it may take you a while to reach pono. What you are trying to do is build on a love relationship that you have already established between each other. Love will grow tremendously as It is nurtured and cared for. I like what it says in the Bible in Corinthians 13, verses 4-7: Love is patient … Love is kind … Love is not envious or vain… Nor does love behave itself unseemingly It is not self-seeking … Or easily provoked … Nor does love think evil … Love does not rejoice in wrong doing … Rather, it rejoices in the truth…Love will bear all things…Believe all things…Hope and endure all things ...Love never fails My prayer is that you will begin in this marriage covenant realizing that it takes good communication and a commitment of loving each other unconditionally. Vows I, _________, take ________, to be my wife/husband. I promise to love you, honor you, and cherish you, and to be a companion to you. I will share my strengths and weaknesses, my achievements and disappointments, and I promise to respect you, be a friend to you, for better or for worse, for richer or poorer, in sickness and in health, as long as we both shall live, so help me God. Rings These rings, being circles, have no beginning or end. They represent the eternal nature of true love. As you wear your rings let them be a reminder that you are both encompassed by each other’s love and care. The rings are also made with a precious metal symbolizing your marriage as a divine union in the sight of God. I give you this ring as a token of my love to you, and as a symbol of my God given responsibility of love and faithfulness to you and to you alone. Closing Prayer and Hawaiian Blessing Imau aku kaloko maika’i o ka haku o Iesu Cristo me kealoha o keakua a me ka launa puana o ka’uhane hemolele me kakou apau. May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the communion of His spirit be with us always and may the lord bless you, keep you and make His face to shine upon you. Pronouncement You may now seal your vows with a kiss

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