Saturday, July 11, 2009

The vicar officiates at a wedding

Today I had the pleasure of officiating at the wedding of Zach Cundiff and Allyson Sultan. The wedding took place at Kiana Lodge, a marvelous setting right on the shores of Agate Passage. The weather was perfect, the bride was radiant, and the ceremony was grace-filled...and brief.

Allyson was raised in a Jewish family, but as an adult she has embraced the Christian faith. In order not to offend her family, who are observant Jews, she asked at the very start if I could do a wedding without using the name of Jesus.

I wasn't sure about that, never having done an interfaith wedding before. So I called a trusted advisor, a retired priest I respect. He pointed out that the Prayer Book offers a good deal of latitude in "An Order for Marriage" on p. 435. So I used the wedding service, offering the prayers in the name of God.

After the ceremony, members of her family thanked me for showing sensitivity for their beliefs. I answered by saying, "There is only one God, and we all worship the same God," to which they agreed.

It was a lovely ceremony and a lavish reception, a joyous occasion and a good start to a strong and fulfilling marriage.

2 comments:

  1. The service you performed for my nephew and his lovely bride was resplendent, lovely & spiritual! Thank you!

    Sincerely,
    Lucy Golden

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  2. Thank you! They're a lovely couple and I thoroughly enjoyed working with them. I'm glad I could officiate at their wedding.

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