Who Officiates?

[Guest]

Does Scripture state directly or by implication that only a member of the clergy may officiate a marriage ceremony?

[Guest]

Hello!

I am not aware of any such indication.

Shalom,
Emmet

[Guest]

Thanks for your reply, Emmet.

The reason I asked the question is that I suspect that most Christians feel uncomfortable with the idea of a weddinig ceremony NOT officiated by a member of the clergy. The clergy-only position seems strong on tradition, but lacking in scriptural support. It seems to me that there is good support for Christian weddings being conducted by the fathers of their children. In the Bible, I don't recall a wedding being conducted by a clergyman, but I do read of fathers overseeing their children's marriage arrangement. I haven't come to a conclusion about this and would appreciate any good advice/direction/observations

Any further thoughts, Emmet, or anyone else?

In Christian love,

Tim

[Guest]

I believe that weddings were essentially family affairs in the Old Testament. There is no evidence that a priest or a prophet had to be present to solemnize the occasion, and I think the parents' approval and witnessing the couple's vows (whether spoken in ceremony or implied by cohabitation) was the most important element involved.

In the New Testament, there is no record of any wedding ceremony. We do not know who officiated at the wedding in Cana (probably a rabbi), but, then again, we have no idea who the bride and groom were, either. A king made a marriage for his son in a parable, in Matthew 22, but it was probably more in the role of a father than of a king that he made the arrangements. There is no hint as to who officiated. It seems likely that, in Jesus' time, rabbis were involved in Jewish weddings, but we have no idea who officiated at Christian weddings.

One thing I have become more and more convinced of, is the fact that the secular state has never been granted divine prerogatives in recognizing, licenseing or dissolving Christian marriages. In the United States, I don't think that a government marriage license can be obtained without a clergyman, a judge or a ship's captain solemnizing it. I wouldn't worry too much, however, about the licensure or recognition of a political state that doesn't know the definition of marriage and that dissolves marriages more readily than it would dissolve a rental agreement or any other business contract.

I found this interesting information at Wikipedia, under "marriage": "weddings":

The way in which a marriage is enacted has changed over time, as has the institution of marriage itself. In Europe during the Middle Ages, marriage was enacted by the couple promising verbally to each other that they would be married to each other; the presence of a priest or other witnesses was not required. This promise was known as the "verbum". If made in the present tense ("I marry you", it was unquestionably binding; if made in the future tense ("I will marry you"), it would, by itself constitute a betrothal, but if the couple proceeded to have sexual relations, the union was a marriage. As part of the Reformation, the role of recording marriages and setting the rules for marriage passed to the state; by the 1600s many of the Protestant European countries had heavy state involvement in marriage. As part of the Counter-Reformation, the Catholic Church added a requirement of witnesses to the promise, which under normal circumstances had to include the priest.

More on this at the following thread: http://www.wvss.com/forumc/viewtopic.php?t=114

[Guest]

Steve,

Thank you for the informative, interesting, and Scriptural reply. It is sad that too often we Christians are like thermometers who reflect the standards of the culture around us, rather than like thermostats who set them. At every turn, the authority and influence of the family and the Church is being eroded. The well-established clergy-only tradition of officiating weddings is an example. In my opinion, there's nothing wrong with parents calling in a clergyman to assist with or to witness the ceremony, but clergymen should not see themselves as having the sole proprietorship of officiating weddings, as most of them do. They have no magic dust that makes the marriage legitimate.

In Christian love,

Hunnicutt