We kept putting it off and putting it off until I realized, CRAP! We need to talk to this guy because the wedding is in 2 months! SO we set a meeting.
It did not start out well. We showed up on time at 6:30PM and waited outside the church. And waited. And waited. A woman showed up to work in the office and asked if we were sure the pastor was coming. We thought we had the right time and date, so she offered to call him at home. Turns out he completely forgot and when he heard "Jim and Jill" he knew where he needed to be. So 45 minutes late we started our meeting.
We did introductions (for myself since this is Jimmy's church) and nailed down times for the ceremony and rehearsal. He wanted to know a few details about the wedding such as how big our bridal party is, if we'll be doing a unity candle, etc. He then said we'd meet one more time for a sort of counseling meeting. But just to talk about the wedding itself and where we see God in our lives. He assured us that we would NOT be forced to discuss money, sex, or take weird compatibility quizzes.
The one this he stressed during our meeting was that in the Lutheran church, equality between the bride and groom is super important. When I told him I liked the blessing of the hands ceremony and showed him a print out I had brought I got a fist bump from him because I evened out the number of things for the bride and groom... if that makes any sense. The bride had 9 and the groom had 6 so I cut three for the bride.
Apparently Lutherans also do not do the whole "who gives this bride" part of the ceremony. He believes that no one but the bride and groom are making this marriage. Not the pastor, our parents, or even God. It's us. He kinda tried to push the idea of us walking down the aisle together for the processional, but I can't imagine not walking with my dad... even if he won't officially be giving me away.
Overall the meeting was relaxing and put me at ease. He's sending me a PDF file so I can start laying out the ceremony. When we got home I told Jimmy that it's starting to feel very real now... this whole getting married thing.
2 comments:
The pastor sounds great, albeit forgetful! Very progressive and cares about you two. It's reaaaaaaaal!
That's really cool. But that must be your church and/or Pastor specificially, because we're getting married in Lutheran church, and our Pastor is doing the "give away" thing. But I do agree, they are more focused on equality than others, and that's part of what I love about it.
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