My entire wedding ceremony is consciously designed to focus on one goal: The declaration of the Living God. All the elements of the ceremony-each prayer, the doxology, and even the "shikiji,"-are intended to express Him to people who have formerly thought of any god as merely "one among many."
What is normally called "message"-that is, a more direct attempt at expressing the content of the Gospel?appears in two parts in my ceremony. The first is the opening "explanation." Although this is decidedly an unorthodox beginning for a wedding, this approach is taken on the advice of an outstanding, elderly Japanese evangelist who has been doing chapel weddings for many years. It is an attempt to draw the emotions of the people into agreement with what I am saying. Under the guise of asking them to "cooperate" with me in setting the stage properly for welcoming and blessing the couple who are about to enter, I hope to entice them into beginning to think about the God who is alive and who made heaven and earth.
The second part comes later in direct, very personal words to the couple when I repeat what was stated in the time of orientation some days previously, that is, God knew them before they were born, has a wonderful plan for their lives, and wants to be in relationship with them.
This message may be seen in the manuscript of my ceremony, available separately.
The message that appears on the next page was formed specifically to fit the title assigned in the program of another chapel where I was asked to help. Parts of it are the same as the message for my service of dedication for new chapels.
Normally I would not so quickly refer to the matter of sin in a first time attempt to express the nature of the Living God. But the title listed in the program seemed to elicit the content that follows, and I hope I have been able to express the message in acceptable terms by relating it to the context in which it is used?the wedding of the couple standing before me.
This sample, as with my other materials, is offered to stimulate our thinking through evaluating another personfs approach. In this way we want to produce a message even more effective in communicating the Gospel. Please share with me the insights you discover in this process.
Doyle C. Book November l998