13. Orientation Booklet Cover Letter (E)

 

It is a delight to see that dialogue concerning the phenomenon called "chapel weddings" is beginning to take place.  Many ministers feel that God has opened unique doors of evangelistic opportunity and that we would do well not to let them close unheeded. 

 

Part of this unique opportunity for witness is the conducting of an orientation time prior to the wedding ceremony.  John W. Graybill, full?time chapel minister at the Kishiwada Grand Hall in Osaka, has prepared a booklet for use at this time and to give to the couple to take home.

 

John granted me permission to reprint his manuscript and to place on it a cover especially designed for use at the chapel I am involved with.  He also granted permission for me to make some revisions to fit my own approach to orientation.

 

A photocopy of the booklet I use is available upon request.

 

I am deeply grateful to John for making this booklet available.  It is unlikely that I could have, or would have, produced this kind of booklet by myself.  John's manuscript has made possible a more systematic approach to orientation and, I believe, has increased the potential for an effective witness. 

 

I offer the conviction that the potential for evangelism is much greater in the time of orientation than it is in the wedding ceremony itself.  As to the reasons for this, and concerning the rationale for and the approach to orientation, I offer several pages of notes that are available separately.  Also available is a word-for-word script of the approach that I myself use in the orientation time.  (See numbers 10, 11 and 12 on the List of Materials.)

 

My sincere thanks to John Graybill for his contribution to wedding evangelism.

 

 

Doyle C. Book                                 Revised June 1998