wedding process operating procedure

Purpose

The purpose of this operating procedure is to establish and communicate the process for requesting, planning, performing, and evaluating wedding ceremonies at YOUR CHURCH.

Scope

The wedding operating procedure should be used to process any request to have a YOUR CHURCH pastor perform a wedding ceremony. The process begins with the completion of a request form and ends with an evaluation of the process by the wedding participants.

Responsibility

As with all procedures and other documentation contained in the Management System, it is the responsibility of all Ministry Area Leaders to ensure the details of this process are known and followed by all YOUR CHURCH paid staff and ministry area volunteers. The primary responsibility for this process rests with the Outreach Pastor.

Procedure

(1) Complete Wedding Request Form

(1.1) Any person requesting to have a YOUR CHURCH pastor perform their wedding ceremony is asked to complete a Wedding Request Form available on YOUR CHURCH’s website under Pastoral Care.

(1.2) The request form is reviewed by the Outreach Pastor.

(2) Review Wedding Request

(2.1) Upon receipt of a request, the Outreach Pastor conducts a review and if necessary contacts the requester for clarification.

(2.2) The following criteria should be used when determining if the request will be approved or denied:

- At least one party has been attending YOUR CHURCH for six months or more.
- The person who has been attending YOUR CHURCH has been immersed.

(2.3) If the recommendation of the Outreach Pastor is to deny the request, this decision must be communicated to the Executive Pastor prior to it being communicated to the requester. In some cases (depending on the specific circumstances) it may be necessary to involve the Senior Pastor before denying a request.

(2.4) If the request is denied, the requester is contacted to explain the denial and what, if any, next steps might be needed before another request will be considered.

(3) Schedule Pastor to Perform Wedding Ceremony

(3.1) Pastors are selected to perform wedding ceremonies based on a rotation schedule maintained by the Outreach Pastor. All Ministry Staff members, other than the Senior Pastor, will be part of the rotation.

(3.2) If the requester asks to have a specific pastor perform the ceremony, the following steps will be taken:

- Outreach Pastor contacts the requested pastor.
- If the pastor is available and has a desire to perform the ceremony, they are scheduled and the requester is notified.
- If the pastor is unavailable or otherwise does not desire to perform the ceremony, the pastor next in the rotation will be scheduled to perform the ceremony and the requester is notified.

(4) Conduct Planning Meeting

(4.1) Once a pastor has been scheduled to perform the wedding ceremony, a meeting is setup with the wedding participants and the pastor.

(4.2) In addition to planning logistics (wedding date, location, etc.), the couple is asked to sign the Wedding Agreement Form as part of the planning meeting. By signing the form the couple agrees to the following:

- To pay a fee of $500 to the pastor performing the ceremony. At the discretion of the pastor, the fee may be waived.
- To complete six weeks of pre-marital counseling.
- To schedule three follow up counseling sessions. The counseling sessions must be set for three months, six months and 12 months after the wedding day.
- To remain apart sexually if the couple is living together and/or sexually active.

(4.3) The Wedding Planning Form can be used as a guide for planning the wedding.

(5) Complete Pre-Marital Counseling

(5.1) Six weeks of pre-marital counseling must be completed at least two months prior to the wedding date.

(5.2) Counseling must be performed by a Christian counselor licensed in Your State.

(6) Receive Letter of Completion

(6.1) At the conclusion of the counseling sessions, the counselor is required to send a letter of completion to the pastor performing the ceremony. The letter must be received by or before 45 days prior to the wedding ceremony.

(6.2) The pastor reviews the completion letter to verify successful completion of counseling.

(6.3) If the counseling sessions were not successfully completed, the couple is contacted and next steps are identified.

(7) Conduct Meeting to Finalize Plans

(7.1) A few weeks prior to the wedding ceremony, a meeting is conducted to finalize plans.

(7.2) The next meeting is the wedding rehearsal.

(8) Perform Wedding Ceremony

(8.1) It is the responsibility of the couple to obtain the marriage license prior to the wedding day. The solemnization pastor will be responsible for sending the signed marriage license to the county in which the ceremony was performed.

(8.2) On the day of the ceremony the pastor will arrive approximately 45 minutes prior to the service.

(8.3) After the ceremony is completed and the marriage license is signed, it is at the discretion of the pastor whether or not to participate further in the wedding activities.

(8.4) An example of a wedding ceremony is outlined in the typical Wedding Ceremony Example.

(9) Complete Evaluation

(9.1) After the wedding, the couple is sent a wedding evaluation form to complete and return to the pastor.

(9.2) Upon receiving the completed wedding evaluation form, the pastor will review the responses and communicate feedback to the Outreach Pastor.

(9.3) The completed wedding evaluation form is then filed for future reference.