Our Wedding Policy

YOUR BEDFORD PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH WEDDING

(according to policy approved by Session: 2020)

Bedford Presbyterian Church is pleased that you are contemplating a wedding service in our facilities.  Contact us so that we may mail you a copy of our “Marriage Manual” to assist you in preparing for this special day in your life.  We have also listed below a few of our guidelines to help determine if a wedding ceremony in our Church would be appropriate for you.

• Bedford Presbyterian's Main Campus (the Church and associated buildings) may only be used for weddings by members of the family of a member, only if all parties are in agreement with the Church's wedding policies, and have recieved approval from our Session.
• The Session will require the couple to receive premarital counseling in preparation for the wedding.
• Also, the Session will only approve a wedding service that is according to our definition of a “Christian marriage” (see below).

THE CHRISTIAN SERVICE OF MARRIAGE

Bedford Presbyterian Church believes that the Bible is the inspired and infallible Word of God and that it speaks with final authority concerning truth, morality, and the proper conduct of mankind. It is the sole and final source of all that we believe. For the purposes of church doctrine, practice, policy, and discipline, the Session of Bedford Presbyterian Church is our church’s final interpretive authority on the Bible’s meaning and application.

• According to Scripture, God declared "it is not good that man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit (corresponding to) for him."  God then creates a woman to be his "helper" and states, "Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh."   (Genesis 2: 18 & 24)
• Jesus also endorsed this understanding of marriage on which he further commented "So they are no longer two, but one flesh.  Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate"  (Matthew 19: 4-6) 

Believing that these scriptures are authoritative, we thus define a Christian marriage as being a covenant agreement, sanctioned by God, between one man and one woman which joins these two in a single, exclusive, lifelong union.

Because of this belief, no couple of the same sex will be allowed to use the facilities of Bedford Presbyterian Church for a ceremony of marriage.  This policy covers the use of all our facilities and includes rehearsals, counseling, dinners, or any other activities that may be construed to be part of a celebration to unite a couple in the covenant of marriage.

Members who are in agreement with our wedding policy and who want to use Bedford Presbyterian facilities for weddings should then meet with the pastor as soon as possible to make all the appropriate arrangements.

For an appointment, please call our Church office: (540) 586-5284