Weddings, Funerals, and Special Events

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As pastors we have the best seat in the house; we witness pointblank the tender exchange of a loving couple's commitment before God, their family, and friends.
R. Kent Hughes

Almost everyone has a "wedding story" to tell, and it's usually slapstick. From the twenty years I have performed weddings, I have my share.

I've seen grooms so wobbly-kneed they had to be propped in a chair to finish the ceremony.

On other occasions, despite my traditional caveat to the wedding party not to lock their legs lest circulation be cut off and someone pass out, that warning seems only to function as a "sure word of prophecy." At one of those times, a garden wedding, the groom's brother crashed into the ivy during the prayer and did not wake up until after the kiss. The next week I dramatically warned another wedding party, using my fresh illustration. The result? The bride's brother passed out, also during the prayer, and actually bounced on the slate floor, again missing the nuptial salute! The best-laid plans …

Another time the groomsmen and ushers were shorted a couple of bow ties by their tuxedo service, which created a comical Laurel-and-Hardy foyer as they frantically exchanged ties as their duties came up.

Weddings, because they are idealized and romanticized, provide ample occasion for such "disasters," which invariably become fond memories as the years pass. "Remember when Uncle Joe hit the ivy?" "Yeah, it was great!"

Yet for the most part, weddings are wonderfully uneventful, and the pastor's participation a pleasant remembrance. As pastors we have the best seat in the house; we witness pointblank the tender exchange of a loving couple's commitment before God, their family, and friends. We see the flushed cheeks, moist eyes, trembling ...

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