Skip to main content

Wedding Bliss



Haven't been on for a few days... Partly because of a touch of RSI through using unfamiliar keyboards and mice for sustained periods of time, and partly because I was busy with a wedding - a full 2 day affair here with rehearsal, rehearsal dinner, the service and the reception, all marshalled by a mistress of ceremonies who kept us all in line... and as everyone knows, I respond so graciously to being told what to do... But everything seemed to go well in the eyes of the bride and groom, Liz Strong and Scott Merriman... Who have now jetted off to Disney World for their honeymoon... Appropriate given the film theme for their wedding reception.
Once again, it was a real privilege to be so deeply involved in the life of members of the congregation here... I wouldn't be so sure that people back in Ireland would be so happy to have an unfamiliar minister conduct their wedding, even if it were legally possible... which it isn't. But then I discovered that practically anyone can be licensed to perform a wedding here... All you have to do is purchase your ordination over the internet. Why did I bother with 3 years at Edgehill if all I needed was to join any one of a multitude of internet churches and hand over less than $100? No, seriously, why did I bother with 3 years at Edgehill!?!
Labels:

Comments

Becky said…
David ~ That's funny you mention that website...I had to go there and get my boss "ordained" so he could officiate his daughter's ceremony in Montana a couple of years ago! He loved to joke about how he was now a "reverend".
Monday, July 28, 2008 6:06:00 AM
Virtual Methodist said…
All part of the crazy joys of the separation of church and state... The US legislature refuses to have any "quality control" over whatever crazies claim religious ordination. Bizarre!
Monday, July 28, 2008 7:10:00 AM
Anonymous said…
Right or wrong, the U.S. government does not allow snake handling in churches without a permit. This is just one instance where they get involved when they feel like it. The lines can be blurred.

http://www.answers.com/topic/snake-handling
Monday, July 28, 2008 6:45:00 PM
Virtual Methodist said…
I stand duly corrected.
So... no one is allowed to handle snakes, but everyone is allowed to marry others...
I love America!
Monday, July 28, 2008 7:05:00 PM
Anonymous said…
What more do you expect from a country that refuses to use Metric and denies global warming?
Tuesday, July 29, 2008 5:52:00 AM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

A Woman of no Distinction

Don't often post other people's stuff here... But I found this so powerful that I thought I should. It's a performance poem based on John 4: 4-30, and I have attached the original YouTube video below. A word for women, and men, everywhere... "to be known is to be loved, and to be loved is to be known." I am a woman of no distinction of little importance. I am a women of no reputation save that which is bad. You whisper as I pass by and cast judgmental glances, Though you don’t really take the time to look at me, Or even get to know me. For to be known is to be loved, And to be loved is to be known. Otherwise what’s the point in doing either one of them in the first place? I WANT TO BE KNOWN. I want someone to look at my face And not just see two eyes, a nose, a mouth and two ears; But to see all that I am, and could be all my hopes, loves and fears. But that’s too much to hope for, to wish for, or pray for So I don’t, not anymore. Now I keep to myself And by that
2 comments
Read more

Psalm for Harvest Sunday

A short responsive psalm for us as a call to worship on Harvest Thanksgiving Sunday, and given that it was pouring with rain as I headed into church this morning the first line is an important remembrance that the rain we moan about is an important component of the fruitfulness of the land we live in: You tend the land and water it And the earth produces its abundance. You crown each year with your bounty, and our storehouses overflow with your goodness. The mountain meadows are covered with flocks and the valleys are filled with corn; Your people celebrate your boundless grace They shout for joy and sing. from Psalm 65
3 comments
Read more

Anointed

There has been a lot of chatter on social media among some of my colleagues and others about the liturgical and socio-political niceties of Saturday's coronation and attendant festivities, especially the shielding of the anointing with the pictured spoon - the oldest and perhaps strangest of the coronation artefacts. Personally I thought that was at least an improvement on the cloth of gold canopy used in the previous coronation, but (pointless) debates are raging as to whether this is an ancient practice or was simply introduced in the previous service to shield the Queen from the TV cameras, not for purposes of sacredness, but understandable coyness, if she actually had to bare her breast bone in puritan 1950s Britain. But as any church leader knows, anything performed twice in a church becomes a tradition. All this goes to show that I did actually watch it, while doing other things - the whole shooting match from the pre-service concert with yer wumman in that lemon-
2 comments
Read more