# LCMS Convention Workbook_St. Louis Missouri_2016_S470
# Machine transcription, uncorrected — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration)

470

CHURCH AND CULTURE

groom. While giving the ring, each says after the pastor one of the following:
Receive this ring as a pledge and token of wedded love and faithfulness.
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
With this ring I marry you, my worldly goods I give to you, and with
my body I honor you. In the name of the Father and of the Son and of
the Holy Spirit. Amen.
The couple kneels
P	Now that name and name have committed themselves to each other
in holy matrimony, have given themselves to each other by their solemn pledges, and have declared the same before God and these witnesses, I pronounce them to be husband and wife, in the name of the
Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
C Amen.
P What God has joined together, let no one put asunder.
C Amen.
The pastor blesses the couple.
P	The almighty and gracious God abundantly grant you His favor and
sanctify and bless you with the blessing given to Adam and Eve in
Paradise, that you may please Him in both body and soul and live
together in holy love until your life’s end.
C Amen.
If this rite precedes the Divine Service, the service continues with the
Introit, Psalm, or Entrance Hymn. If this rite precedes the Daily Office,
the service continues with the opening versicles or psalmody. It this rite
stands by itself as an independent service, it concludes with the following. The bridegroom and bride remain kneeling.
Stand
P Let us pray.
Almighty, everlasting God, our heavenly Father, grant that by Your
blessing name and name may live together according to Your Word
and promise. Strengthen them in faithfulness and love toward each
other. Sustain and defend them in every trial and temptation. Help
them to live in faith toward You, in the communion of Your holy
Church, and in loving service to each other that they may ever enjoy
Your heavenly blessing; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord,
who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now
and forever.
C Amen.
Lord’s Prayer
Benediction
The wedding party departs in procession to the accompaniment of appropriate music.

Northern Illinois District
14-10

To Consider Ceasing to Act as Agents of the
Governing Authority re Marriage Certificates
Whereas, The LCMS understands that marriage is an institution established by God for the benefit of all men and women (Gen.
2:24); and
Whereas, The Synod recognizes that God grants governing
authorities jurisdiction over matters related to maintaining good order
within society, such as the legalization of marriage (Rom. 13:1); and
Whereas, The Synod’s pastors are legal agents of each state’s
administration of marriage licenses when performing marriages; and
Whereas, Governing authorities are diverging from the scriptural
understanding of marriage; and
Whereas, The Synod’s pastors may have to compromise their
faith practice and the sovereignty of God’s Word to comply with each
state’s legal requirements of marriage administration; therefore be it
2016 Convention Workbook

Resolved, That pastors of the LCMS consider ceasing to act as
agents of the governing authority with regard to signing marriage
certificates.
SELC District
14-11

To Encourage Pastors and Congregations
to Administer Marriage Faithfully
Whereas, The estate of marriage is a creation of God before
mankind’s fall into sin (Gen. 1:27−28; Gen. 2:18−26) as the unique
relationship of a man and a woman ordered toward mutual help and
companionship and the procreation of children; and
Whereas, The estate of marriage is distinct from and precedes
the estates of church and government (LC I 207−8); and
Whereas, A marriage is effected by the mutual consent of a man
and a woman to live together as husband and wife (Gen. 2:23−24;
Walther; Pieper) and not by an act of the state or the church; and
Whereas, The administration of marriage is properly a civil affair
and not a church affair (Martin Luther, The Order of Marriage for
Common Pastors, AE 53, p. 112), and any involvement of the church
in administration is of human arrangement (AC XXVIII 29; Treatise
on the Power and Primacy of the Pope, 77); and
Whereas, The church’s duty with respect to marriage is to bless
it with God’s Word and pray for the married couple (Martin Luther,
The Order of Marriage for Common Pastors, AE 53, pp. 112ff); and
Whereas, With the Word of God and prayer, a marriage is sanctified to be a picture of Christ and His Bride, the Church (Eph.
5:22−33); and
Whereas, The Supreme Court of the United States has ruled that
marriages may be contracted between two persons of the same sex;
and
Whereas, Such unions destroy the picture of Christ’s love for the
Church and are a matter of grave offense before God (Rom. 1:26−27;
1 Cor. 6:9−11; 1 Tim. 1:8−11); and
Whereas, Jesus affirms that in the beginning God created marriage as the union of a man and a woman (Matt. 19:3−9); therefore
be it
Resolved, That the LCMS in convention affirm marriage as God’s
creation as the exclusive union of a man and a woman; and be it
further
Resolved, That the pastors of the Synod be encouraged to deal
compassionately with those who experience same-sex attraction and
extol the blessings of biblical marriage as a cure that is given also for
them; and be it further
Resolved, That the pastors of the Synod be discouraged from acting as agents of the state in solemnizing marriages and registering
them with the state, thereby keeping distinct the duties of church and
state with respect to marriage; and be it finally
Resolved, That each congregation be encouraged to develop policies for marriage in accord with the witness of Scripture and the
Confessions.
Trinity
New Haven, MO