Simple Order
(A simple order satisfying the rites of the Presbyterian Church of Australia, echoing the Westminster Directory of Public Worship 1645.)
We are gathered here in the sight of God and before this congregation to join this man and this woman in marriage. Marriage was established by God for his glory and the happiness of mankind, in which, one man and one woman enter into a bodily and spiritual union, so long as they both shall live. It was also established for the continuance of family life and for the welfare of human society. Husbands and wives are to be faithful to each other, to assist each other in all good things, to forbear and to forgive each other, and to love each other as themselves. Thus united in love, their marriage will reflect more and more the unity of Christ and his Church.
ALMIGHTY God, we lift up our hearts to you in adoration. We thank you for creating marriage and we thank you for the love of this man for this woman and of this woman for this man. Pour out your Holy Spirit upon them and fill their hearts with gratitude to you for your great love for them, given to us through Jesus Christ our Lord. Bless them with the fruit of the Holy Spirit; love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. And bless them as they serve each other, just as Jesus served us by giving his life as a ransom for our sins, in his name. Amen.
[M ...] will you take [F ...] to be your wife and do you commit yourself to her in love and honour, in duty and service, in faith and tenderness, to live with her and to cherish her in the exclusive bond of marriage? Bridegroom responds: I will. [F ...] will you take [M ...] to be your husband and do you commit yourself to him in love and honour, in duty and service, in faith and tenderness, to live with him and to cherish him in the exclusive bond of marriage? Bride responds: I will.
The bridegroom says: I, [M ...], take you, [F ...], to be my wife in the presence of God and before this congregation. I promise to be a loving, faithful and dutiful husband to you so long as we both shall live. The bride says: I, [F ...], take you, [M ...], to be my husband in the presence of God and before this congregation. I promise to be a loving, faithful and dutiful wife to you so long as we both shall live.
Now that you have made your covenant together in marriage, declaring it before God and this congregation, I declare that you are husband and wife. May the Lord bless you and keep you. May the Lord pour out the riches of his grace upon you, so that you may please him and live together in love until your life’s end. Those whom God has joined together, let no one separate.