Wedding Interest Letter Questionnaire
Please read the document entitled “The Village Church Commitment to Covenant Marriage” Return this form to The Village Church before your meeting with the pastor.
Church Affiliation
In regards to attendance at The Village Church, are you currently:
Not affiliated with The Village Church
Regular attendee (Attend at least 2/x per month for 6 months)
Do you consider The Village Church your home church?
(circle one) YesNo
Partner of The Village Church
If you are a regular attendee or partner at The Village Church, when did you begin attending? ______
Is anyone in your family currently attending or a partner of The Village Church?
(If yes, please list names & relationship to you) ______
______
Are you affiliated with another church (if so what church)? ______
Spiritual
Do you believe you are a born again Christian?
Describe how you came to be a follower of Jesus.
Describe your habits for spiritual growth.
Personal
Are you and your fiancée willing to seek pre-marriage counseling?
(circle one) yesno
Are you and your fiancée currently sexually active?
(circle one) yesno
Have you considered what the bible teaches about sexual purity and abstinence outside of marriage?
(circle one) yesno
If yes, what were your conclusions?
How do you feel about stopping all sexual activity until you are married?
Remarriage (For previously divorced persons only)
How did the marriage(s) end?
What steps have you taken to change and grow so that your next marriage will honor God?
Names______
______
Date______
Date of your wedding______
The Village Church
Commitment to Covenant Marriage
In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. (Gen. 1:1)
And God created the first man and the first woman in His image.
So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. And God blessed them. And God said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it… (Gen. 1:27-28a)
God's plan for the revelation of His glory incorporated a relationship whereby His creation would reflect His image as they relate to one another and populate the earth. God designed male and female to be joined together in the union of marriage that is to reflect the union of God and His people (Eph. 5:32). By design, marriage has the potential to bring extraordinary pleasure to both the man and the woman, and it would cause the man and the woman to become, in God's own words: "one flesh" (Matthew 19:5). Jesus affirmed God’s design for marriage and its intended life-long nature in Matthew 19:6, “What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate."
Sadly, we live in an age when many regard marriage as little more than a legal arrangement, perhaps accompanied by a mutually beneficial emotional attachment. If one party or the other is dissatisfied with the performance of the other party the contract may be dissolved. Still others will elevate the marriage itself to be the ultimate fulfillment in life. Jesus makes it clear the covenant of Christian marriage points to something much greater than marriage itself.
In stark contrast the Scriptures describe marriage as a covenant.
What is a "Covenant Marriage?"
First, a "Covenant Marriage" is something born in the heart of God for His glory and our good. As God has demonstrated in the gospel of Jesus, He pursued our greatest need while we were rebellious and helpless. Jesus came from the glory of heaven and entered our world, taking on flesh that He might take on Himself the wrath of God we deserved for our sin (Rom. 5:9-10). The covenant of marriage between one man and one woman is to reflect the beauty of this gospel.
Ephesians 5:22-33 describes a God-honoring marriage as a demonstration of our enduring and empowering life in the Spirit. A husband is to love his wife and give himself for her in the same way Christ has loved the church, his bride. A wife demonstrates her devotion to Jesus through love and respect for her husband.
The one who enters the covenant of marriage does not enter for personal fulfillment but as a means to experience and reflect the beauty of a relationship with our Savior, Jesus Christ. Every need has been met in Christ. We enter the covenant of marriage as an act of devotion to Christ. Each one may fulfill his/her commitment to this covenant, regardless of the response of the other, because our commitment is simply and solely a commitment to give our life away to serve this other person for the glory of God. We enter this covenant as an act of worship.
Covenant Marriage Commitment
A marriage covenant should be expressed publically through an expressed statement a husband and a wife make before God, each other, their church family, and any other witnesses. Here is an example of a Covenant Marriage commitment statement:
“We acknowledge that marriage was designed by God and intended to be a life-long, covenant relationship whereby God binds a husband and wife together in self-giving love for as long as they both shall live. This covenant of marriage stands as a living illustration of the beauty of the gospel of Jesus; our loving devotion gives testimony to the cross, and our hope-filled faith looks toward the resurrection.
“Therefore, we vow to God and to each other in the presence of our families and our church family to walk in faith, remaining steadfast in pouring out the love we have experienced from God. We commit to give ourselves fully to each other. We devote ourselves to demonstrate the beauty of the gospel toward each other for as long as we both shall live.
“Furthermore, we commit ourselves by covenant to grow as a part of Jesus’ bride, the church. We recognize the mystery of marriage is profound, and at its most glorious, a God-honoring marriage points toward the beauty of Christ and His church.
“So, today, by the grace of God we enter this covenant of marriage. This man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh. What God joins together no one, including ourselves, can separate.
Signatures/Date
Arrangements for entering the Covenant of Christian Marriage
We believe the design of God is for Christian marriage to be a life-long covenant between one man and one woman. The Village Church has determined that in order to most honor Christ, we can only participate in Christian Covenant Marriages.
In order to enter Covenant Marriage that involves either the staff or facilities of The Village Church the following agreement is required:
- Adequate preparation
- Spiritual life of each participant through faith in Christ
- Should be demonstrated through a confession of faith
- Should be demonstrated through a commitment to the people and fellowship of a local church
- Pre-marital counseling
- A commitment to sexual purity
- If there has not been sexual abstinence, we will walk through confession, and repentance with the party who seeks repentance
- Sexual purity will be expected throughout the preparation process
2. Ongoing participation
a. We will encourage marriages to take place through the church in which the marriage partners will participate
b. We recognize there may be special circumstances that influence wedding location. In those cases we will only pursue involvement in weddings where we can confirm the future local church involvement of the marriage partners
3. Crisis preparation
a. As a part of the marriage covenant the couple will agree to active engagement in the Covenant Community of The Village Church prior to marriage
- The couple will agree to pursue conversations with VXXL leaders, pastoral staff or elders if marriage tensions grow or if there are ongoing sin issues in the marriage that need to be addressed