nine years ago today

Marriage Ceremony for Paul and Stacy

November 7, 1998


Opening Words:

We have come together to witness the union of Paul and Stacy. Marriage is an estate which embodies all the warm and precious values which grow from human companionship and love and should be entered into in all seriousness with the knowledge that love is both humanity's highest achievement and life's most precious gift.

Marriage symbolizes the intimacy between two people, yet this union should not diminish but strengthen the individuality of each partner.

In this spirit you can create a partnership which will strengthen both and give new hope and strength to all who love you.

Blessing:

Let me now ask all of you gathered here today:

Do you who know and care for Stacy and Paul, give them your blessings now as they enter into this new relationship, and do you aspire in the days and years ahead to give them your deppest love, understanding, and support during both good times and bad?

Response: We do.

Introduction to Vows:

Love is a living thing, waiting within each one of us for an awakening touch. In this ceremony, we will celebrate love come to life. May this love grow sure and straight and strong. We rejoice in its presence among us.

Let us all join hands. The hand offered by each of you is an extension of self, just as is your mutual love. Cherish the touch, for you touch not only your own, but another life. Be ever sensitive to its pulse. Seek always to understand and to respect its rhythm. Amen.

Vows:

Please repeat after me:

In reaffirming the relationship

we have been building together,

I Paul take you Stacy

to be no other than yourself.

Loving what I know of you,

trusting what I don't yet know,

with respect for your integrity

and faith in your abiding love for me,

through all our years,

and in all that life shall bring us,

I choose you as my wife.


In reaffirming the relationship

we have been building together,

I Stacy take you Paul

to be no other than yourself.

Loving what I know of you,

trusting what I don't yet know,

with respect for your integrity

and faith in your abiding love for me,

through all our years,

and in all that life shall bring us,

I choose you as my husband.


Ring Ceremony:

(Caitlin and Webb have the rings)

The circle is the symbol of the sun and the moon and the universe. It is a symbol of holiness and of perfection and of peace. In these rings is the symbol of unity, in which your two lives are now joined in one unbroken circle, in which, wherever you go, you will always return unto one another.

Take this ring, Stacy, and place it on the third finger of Paul's left hand, saying these words: With this ring, I thee wed.

Take this ring, Paul, and place it on the third finger of Stacy's left hand, saying these words: With this ring, I thee wed.

Pronouncement:

We acknowledge that Paul and Stacy are now joined; we affirm their choice to be together as partners in life.

Let us pray:
Eternal Spirit, in thy name we are met together,
to witness and to bless the union of these two lives.
May they be a blessing and a comfort, each to the other,
sharers of each others sorrows, helpers of each other
in all the chances and changes of the world.
May they grow in understanding and love,
and may faithfulness to the good of each
become the unfailing virtue of both.

Amen.


Presentation of the Couple:

You may now embrace and kiss.

It gives me great pleasure to present to you who are gathered here today Paul and Stacy as partners in life.

Go in peace. Our ceremony is ended, but their shared life together has just begun.