Civil Marriage

I had dinner tonight with a “Civil Celebrant”, or a person licensed by Loudoun County to officiate at weddings.  It was pretty interesting; she did 4 weddings today (Friday), will do three tomorrow (it’s her daughter’s birthday, she explained, so she kept the number down), one on Sunday, and then two more on Monday.  She has officiated at over 700 weddings in the last three years.

I doubt I’ve officiated at 700 weddings in my 21 years as a priest.  Funerals, maybe, but not weddings.

She said a lot of the people who come to her are religious but have “mixed faiths”, so a civil ceremony “solves all those problems.”  She also said a lot of people call her at the last minute or are eloping.  

I don’t think I do as many weddings as I used to.  I thought that was because fewer and fewer people are choosing to get married.   But after this conversation, I am thinking it is more a matter of fewer and fewer people choosing to be married in a church. 

Perhaps this is one more evidence of the waning power, importance, and place of the church in people’s lives?   

Comments

[Ted M. Gossard]

Yes Rob. I'm afraid that's the case; I think you're right.