At Crossroads, we believe a wedding is one of the most important spiritual moments in a person’s life. Therefore, we take our potential involvement in your special occasion quite seriously. Our goal is not only to help you have a memorable wedding day but to help prepare you and your future spouse to build a successful, lifelong partnership. While a lifelong, loving marriage partnership doesn’t come easily, we believe that with Jesus’ help, it’s within everyone’s reach. We’re excited about how God can work in your relationship over the upcoming months!
What do we believe about marriage? As part of the Christian and Missionary Alliance movement, we align with the beliefs of the movement regarding marriage and divorce. For a detailed handling of these beliefs, please READ HERE.
Please review the information below so that you have a clear understanding of what the wedding process at Crossroads Church of Shamong looks like from start to finish. After reading through the information, the next step is to complete the Wedding Request Form.
WEDDINGS AT CROSSROADS CHURCH OF SHAMONG
Here’s what takes place once your completed form is received:
The Wedding Request Form is reviewed by our team to determine if either the bride or groom meets the requirements to be married at Crossroads. If the Wedding Request Form is approved, we will contact you to confirm your wedding date and time and to let you know next steps in performing your ceremony.
After that, we will contact you to schedule a meeting to discuss the wedding date, plans, and other ideas. At this meeting, the Wedding Agreement is reviewed and signed by the couple and the pastor.
For a Crossroads pastor to perform a wedding, the couple must:
- Complete about 3-5 sessions of premarital counseling by a Christian counselor (often can be with the same person performing the ceremony). Please understand that this may require a few months to plan the counseling sessions.
- Upon the completion of counseling, if it's done with an outside counselor, he/she is required to send a letter to the Crossroads pastor stating the sessions were completed, including the dates for the three follow up sessions. This letter must be received no later than 45 days before the wedding.
If a couple wants to be married by a Crossroads pastor and they’re living together and are sexually active, the couple must agree to stay apart sexually from the date of signing the Wedding Agreement until the wedding night. Because the Bible’s direction is that a man and a woman should not have sex before they’re married, we believe this commitment before marriage is the best way to start fresh and do things God’s way.
The Crossroads pastor and the couple will meet before the wedding ceremony. One meeting will be conducted to finalize wedding plans, and another meeting will be the actual wedding rehearsal.
It’s the responsibility of the couple to obtain the marriage license before the wedding. The pastor is responsible for mailing the marriage license to the county office following the wedding.
On the day of the wedding, the pastor arrives approximately 45 minutes before the wedding and leaves after the ceremony is complete, and the marriage license is signed. While the staff pastor and his/her family may choose to join the wedding party for the reception if invited, this may not always be possible.
Crossroads Church believes that God’s intention is that marriage is for life; however, we also understand that there are times when a marriage fails. We are open to marrying those with divorce in their past. We do require that the couple make this a significant area of exploration in their counseling sessions.
Our facility may be used for the wedding if it is available, but couples may also rent other church buildings, chapels, community buildings, and outdoor facilities for their ceremony. Regarding the different aspects of the ceremony, such as programs, flowers, and musicians, it’s the responsibility of the couple to make these arrangements. The pastor will gladly assist as much as possible to provide contacts and direction.
The fee for the wedding ceremony is $350 and is to be paid directly to the officiating staff pastor at the time the Wedding Agreement is signed. If for some reason, the wedding does not happen, the couple will receive a full refund.
If our building is used, there is a fee of $250 for usage. Please fill out a building usage form so we can best assist you.
Should sound/technical support be required from Crossroads during the ceremony, an amount of $25/hour is to be paid directly to the technician.
To meet the requirements for a Crossroads wedding, we recommend you initiate the wedding process 8 months before your wedding date. Crossroads does not typically schedule weddings on Easter and Thanksgiving weekends or the weeks before or after Christmas.
Please contact us via email if you have additional questions.