My Most Meaningful Wedding Experience

Ronny and Peggy were in their early twenties when I met them. They dropped by the church where I served to ask about having their wedding there. I explained to them that we had certain requirements for non-members which included having the couple attend the church a couple of Sundays and they would need to meet with me for a few sessions. They agreed to the requirements. After attending worship at Mount Hope, they discovered that they liked the community and soon became active members. It wasn't long after first meeting the two that Ronny was diagnosed with melanoma that had spread to his liver and lungs. He began aggressive treatments and the wedding was postponed. Soon it became clear that his prognosis was not good and there were many conversations held about whether or not marriage was the best option for them. After Ronny became terminal, the cancer having spread to his brain, they both came to me with the desire to have a wedding.

We decided to have the ceremony during a regular Sunday worship service. It was easier on them and it seemed important to me that this young couple know that we, as their new church home, were their family and that we supported them and would care for them as they married and as they faced whatever the future held.

The entire service was about love and the commitment required in marriage and from community. The choir sang love songs and the congregation sang hymns celebrating the family of God. The children's sermon was about marriage and my sermon was based on a psalm that begins, "Though I walk in the midst of trouble," and goes on to say, I will trust in God's steadfast love. And I spoke about choosing to walk together even if the path is laden with trouble and difficulty. I charged the congregation to walk with them and that we would go this way together and in love. I spoke openly about Ronny's condition and about the love the two of them shared as well as the love we had for them. There were tears of joy and sorrow and I will never forget the intimate and deep connection I felt with the couple, with the gathered community. I felt like the church was really being church. Later, we enjoyed a lovely time of fellowship and of course, cake.

It wasn't too many months later that Ronny died, his wife at his side. It is my only experience of baptizing, marrying, and burying a person. And this all occurred in the span of one year.

In Peace,
Lynne Hinton