House Church people - Who does your weddings?

[phydaux]

I have a question for those of you involved in the House Church movement - if two members of the House Church want to get married, who performs the wedding?

Do you have a judge or a JP do it? Does one of the elders jump through the hoops and "get ordained?" Or have one of the elders become a JP? Do you bring in someone from out of town who got ordained, or became a JP, to do the wedding?

Just a simple, organisational question around being in the world but not of it.

Please understand me, I'm not trying to be judgmental at all. Just simple curiosity.

 

[Stefos]

Hi Phy,

Well.

Marriage can be done by a JP or what have you.
As long as it follows the law but more importantly conforms to the doctrine of godliness.

Never in the word do we see a Pastor or Priest "marry" anyone.

The Lord does that.

God bless you man!
Stefos

 

[phydaux]

So if two members of your fellowship wanted to marry each other then you'd recommend that they go to a JP?

 

[Stefos]

Hi,

Well there is the law...which God's word says we MUST follow and there is God's word.

God's word says 1 man & 1 woman who are "In Christ" and there is ZERO indication of a Pastor, Apostle, Prophet, Evangelist or Teacher marrying people!

This is a late thing....I'm not sure if this is a Pagan rooted thing or a tradition of man which emulsified into "The Wedding Ceremony performed by Pastor."
As a matter of fact, the Protestant Pastor just lifted & copied what the Catholic/Orthodox priest were doing:
Marry
Give the Homily every Sunday
Administer the Eucharist
Preside at births & funerals
Monopolize the voice of the entire flock by the "passive audience of non-professionals" vs. the "Paid Pastoral Professional" or Priest in Catholic/Orthodox circles.

Since the early believers lived in community, NOT commune, they knew one another and could hold one another accountable "In Christ" as well.

Right?
I believe so Phy.

Stefos

 

[phydaux]

That's what I love about you, Stef. I ask you a Yes/No question, I get five paragraphs and a quotation.

I'm still not sure if you think I'm judging you so you're defending yourself, or if you're pouring out your own righteous indignation upon the ungodly. Either way, I do hope that someday we can have a conversation that doesn't become a holiness contest. I find those tiring.

 

[Stefos]

That's what I love about you, Stef. I ask you a Yes/No question, I get five paragraphs and a quotation.

I'm still not sure if you think I'm judging you so you're defending yourself, or if you're pouring out your own righteous indignation upon the ungodly. Either way, I do hope that someday we can have a conversation that doesn't become a holiness contest. I find those tiring.

First, To reiterate my answer:
Yes, go to a JP as long as they are legal.
Second, Before you went to the JP, make a public confession that you 2 are getting married in front of the believers the Lord has placed you in fellowship/community with.

Now on to more important things which can cause for hard feelings, misunderstandings & wrong accusations:

No contest brotherman!

I answered your question in a comprehensive way.

No defense & No indignation!

I'm just not happy about 5000+ denominations of the One Jesus Christ.

American Christianity is sick and people don't perceive it.
Believers have become lazy & expect the Pastor to do it all, either that or
they expect God to do it all and mystically have his will "just" happen.
It doesn't work that was Phy........Why bother reading the written word if you don't follow the pattern OF
the written word?

This is what denoms like 4 square, Cal. Chapel, Vineyard, Morningstar Ministries are doing:
Take the parts of the word and make them THE point.
The point is Christ and the way the New Testament pattern says to allow Jesus to build his church....Not any other way.

I refuse to berate the point any longer with you:
Follow Jesus not your denomination which tells you how to follow Jesus.
The written word is the starting point AND ending point.

Stefos

 

[ByTheSpirit]

Look at it like this... in Abraham's day there were no pastor's or JP's to marry him and Sarah, etc.

That doesn't mean you shouldn't go to someone to get married, in my opinion it just means that to God, marriage isn't made official by those things. To God, marriage is when two people, 1 man and 1 woman join together in love and have their hearts bound to each other, not when the Pastor says, "Now you may kiss the bride"

There are benefits to doing it officially in such events, but honestly I don't believe God finds it necessary.

 

[ByTheSpirit]

Look at how society as a whole is starting to view marriage now. Pretty soon, it will become commonplace that homosexuals will have access to any building they want for marriage. What will people do then? When the government steps in and tells "a church" they must marry homosexual couples if requested. It's happening already.

So you see, scripture following believers who believe in the biblical definition of marriage (1M+1W) will then at that point have the very laws they hold to for marriage (presuming they are married by the state laws) working against them and their conscience.

It's sort of like someone replacing the portions of scripture about marriage with a modernized interpretation of 1 man and 1 man, it doesn't matter.

So which is important at that point? What God says about marriage or what the state says?

God never says in the scripture that a priest/pastor/holy person must preside of a ceremony of marriage, he only says that 1 man and 1 woman leave their parents and are bound together in love. I believe the implication for Christians is such people who seek marriage come together in front of the church and announce their intentions, then the church body as a whole blesses off on the matter. Jesus did give the church authority on most matters.

IMHO I could be wrong, I haven't really studied the topic. These comments were made rather off cuff

 

[Stefos]

Look at it like this... in Abraham's day there were no pastor's or JP's to marry him and Sarah, etc.

That doesn't mean you shouldn't go to someone to get married, in my opinion it just means that to God, marriage isn't made official by those things. To God, marriage is when two people, 1 man and 1 woman join together in love and have their hearts bound to each other, not when the Pastor says, "Now you may kiss the bride"

There are benefits to doing it officially in such events, but honestly I don't believe God finds it necessary.

Hi,

You're right!

However, God's written word DOES say to follow the law, it's very clear.

Part of U.S. law is that marriage, IF one wants to be called "married" to another must be "done" according to law, hence the JP NOT a Priest or Pastor or Apostle or Bishop or Teacher or Evangelist or Prophet! LOL

Period.

Bye,
Stefos

 

[ace of hearts]

I'm not in a home church yet. But I'd like to give my take on the subject.

It depends on what a couple wants their marriage to be. Do you really want an open unspecified contract with the state? Why does the state tax the right for legal intimate affairs? People do this anyway. No I'm not say live in sin. Do people really think about what they're getting into? Most all the other parties [women, I could use other words but they would really cause problems] are approaching the idea of relationships on externals only. So I think the idea is what can I get from the relationship. IOW a user. Problems arise on both sides in these matters.

As a Christian I see marriage as a religious rite, not a contract with the state. One would be much better off having a business relationship, especially the male in our society than an open contract with the state. So if you can't unconditionally trust the other partner, don't get married in any form. If you think you might not stay together don't get married. Don't base a decision on a single issue.

Less than 20 years ago all a couple had to do was present themselves as husband and wife requiring a divorce for separation. Now we have palimony divorces. That testifies to being legally married without any ceremony.

So yes I think a home church could marry a couple without a representative of the state which includes a licensed minister.