Marriage Service
Michael Montgomery Mason
Ann Elizabeth Rickhoff
Saturday July 22nd, 2000
Tom
We are gathered here together in the sight of God to unite Michael and
Ann in the bonds of holy matrimony.
Pam
Now you will feel no rain, for each of you will be shelter for the other.
Now you will feel no cold, for each of you will be warmth to the other.
Now there will be no loneliness, for each of you will be companion to the other.
Now you are two persons, but there is only one life before you. May beauty
surround you both in the journey ahead and through all the years.
May happiness be your companion and your days together be good and
long upon the earth.
Bonnie
Treat yourselves and
each other with respect, and remind yourselves often of what brought you
together. Give the highest priority to the tenderness, gentleness and kindness
that your connection deserves. When frustration, difficulty and fear assail your
relationship - as they threaten all relationships at one time or another -
remember to focus on what is right between you, not only the part which seems
wrong. In this way, you can ride
out the storms when clouds hide the face of the sun in your lives - remembering
that even if you lose sight of it for a moment, the sun is still there.
And if each of you takes responsibility for the quality of your life
together, it will be marked by abundance and delight.
Tom
Who gives this woman to this man?
Jim
Her mother and I do.
Jim
Do you Michael take Ann to be your
wedded wife, to live together in the covenant of marriage?
To love her, comfort her, honor and keep her, in sickness and in health;
forsaking all others, as long as you both shall live?
Tom
Do you Ann take Michael as your wedded
husband, to live together in the covenant of marriage?
To love him, comfort him, honor and keep him, in sickness and in health;
forsaking all others, as long as you both shall live?
Tom (taking the
rings from Bonnie)
These rings are a symbol of the unbroken
circle of love. Love freely given
has no beginning and no end, no giver and no receiver for each is the giver and
each is the receiver. As often as
either of you see them, you will be reminded of this moment and the endless love
you promised.
Michael, place this ring on Ann’s
finger and repeat after me:
I, Michael, take thee Ann to be my
wedded wife / to have and to hold from this day forward / for better or for
worse, for richer or for poorer / in sickness and in health, in laughter and in
tears / to love and to cherish, till death do us part.
Ann, place this ring on Michael’s
finger and repeat after me:
I, Ann, take thee Michael to be my
wedded husband / to have and to hold from this day forward / for better or for
worse, for richer or for poorer / in sickness and in health, in laughter and in
tears / to love and to cherish, till death do us part.
Jim
Mark 10: 6-9
From the beginning of creation God made
them male and female. For this
cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and cleave to his wife; and they
shall be one flesh: so then they
are no more twain, but one flesh. What
therefore God hath joined together, let no man put asunder.
By virtue of the authority vested in me
as Commissioner of Civil Marriages of the State of California, in and for the
County of Alameda, I now pronounce you husband and wife.
You may kiss the bride.
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