The Elders at my church have decided that no marriage ceremonies in our church, will be performed unless the couple are members of the church.
This avoids having to deal with issues of DISCRIMINATION.
This church has a long list of do's and don'ts and how much it will cost.
Wow! It's also a historic landmark.
That looks good to me!
We also have most of these rules plus have put into place guidelines to keep marriage between a man and a woman.
I do wish that the church would allow just the father/daughter, mother/son dance at a reception but they won't do it.
I disagree with that but it isn't my call.
We have an open campus policy as well as a large open park-like area and get a lot of non-church folk asking us for permission to use the property and facilities for the service and reception.
Some time in the past couple-a-years we rewrote our constitution, specifically to protect the church in regards to same sex partnerships.
No problem with dancing (but the fact is that many of us don't
even clap in service)
I personally don't know about our drinking policy but don't think that would disqualify a group (Jesus made wine for a wedding party)
Will not marry anyone without counseling first - he's done video counseling when distance is a problem
Will marry unsaved individuals and will marry Christians (but will not marry a Christian to a non-christian)
I'll have to look for our written policy when I get home.
I only have a first draft proposal to be inserted in our constitution,
It simply defines marriage and doesn't include wedding protocols.
Not really worth posting it
Any major difference
- between a couple can become a major problem
Suppose a GI from San Diego, Calif marries a girl from Ft Drum, NY - Are they going to fight as to where they will live
after he gets out of the Army.
Suppose a white and black get married - but both families are against it.
Suppose a man wants to 8 kids - but his wife decides she does not want any..
Suppose she is used to having 4 or 5 TV's in her house - but he says TV is a sure way of destroying a family
Suppose he is a chain smoker - but she is allergic to smoke.
And one of the biggest problems in a marriage -
Finances......
The list can go on and on ----
and having multiple major differences ..........