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Faith Lutheran Church Wedding Policy

We are pleased that you are planning to have your wedding at Faith or to be married or advised by the pastor. Please read over this document as you make your plans.

Wedding options

Not everyone who gets married at Faith is a member of Faith. Not everyone who is married by Faith’s pastor is married in Faith’s church building. For these reasons, we’ve broken the elements of a typical wedding into parts.

• Pre-nuptial discussions. All couples should spend structured time talking about themselves and their hopes and fears before getting married. If you are going to be married by the pastor at Faith, you must spend this time with the pastor or another approved pastor.
• Marriage service. The pastor will spend time with you planning the service (which includes planning the liturgy, writing vows and prayers, perhaps developing a homily or other remarks).

The pastor will rehearse the ceremony with you and your wedding party and will preside at the service.

• Use of the church building. You may use the church for the rehearsal and the marriage service. All uses of the church building must be approved first by the church council. The council meets once a month; be sure to petition the council well in advance of your wedding.

You should make plans to remove flowers and other decorations before the end of the day on which the wedding is held. The church has no sexton or janitor, so the responsibility to clean up thoroughly after the wedding or rehearsal is yours.

You will be able to use the church one evening before the wedding for rehearsal. Normally, only one wedding will be scheduled on any one day. The church will be open for three hours before the scheduled wedding and for two hours after its scheduled start.

In exceptional circumstances, and by council approval, you may use the hall and kitchen for a reception or other gathering after the wedding. There will be an additional fee for the use of this space.

• Music. If you use the church building for your wedding, we expect that you will contract with the director of music at Faith for organ music and other music planning. Even if you plan to use other musicians or another organist, you must pay the fee for the music director unless he or she is unavailable on the wedding date.

Alcohol policy

No alcoholic beverages are permitted in the church or on the grounds.

Schedule of fees

There is no cost for the use of the church building for members and their immediate families, and part of the duties of the pastor is to prepare members of the congregation for Christian marriage. For these reasons, the fees differ for members and for people who do not usually attend Faith.

Fees should be paid before the wedding.

Out of pocket expenses (for example, printing bulletins) are additional.

Those who find paying the listed fees to be a hardship are invited to discuss the situation with the pastor.