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WEDDINGS
Ordinarily the pastor will conduct weddings for the prospective bride and groom where at least one of the two is a member
of Gloria Christi. At least 4 sessions of pre-marital instruction is required before the pastor will officiate the wedding
service.
If a prospective bride and groom are cohabiting (living together) prior to the wedding, they will be expected to agree
to one of the two options:
1. Agree to get an official marriage license as soon as possible and be married as soon as possible if they are unable
to separate to different living quarters in chastity. In this case it may necessitate a simpler wedding ceremony, which can
be followed by a larger reception or renewal of wedding vows.
2. Agree to separate in chastity until the wedding day.
The pastor, by law, will not conduct a wedding rite without a legitimate wedding license. Also, the pastor will not co-officiate
with non-LCMS clergy as a matter of church fellowship.
With regard to the wedding service, regardless of whether it is held in the church building or elsewhere, if the pastor
officiates the marriage vows, wedding rite, and music will be conducted as a church service, according to the doctrine and
rites of our church.
Those who are not members of Gloria Christi certainly may speak with the pastor about officiating their wedding also according
to the same principles above. We welcome those who are interested in learning more also to enroll in an adult catechism course
to become baptized, communicant members of our congregation.
BAPTISMS
The pastor will be glad to speak with anyone about the sacrament of Holy Baptism for adults or children. Typically for
adults we have some catechetical instruction before and after receiving Holy Baptism. For children, the pastor would like
to meet with the parents and discuss the nature of Baptism and its benefits as well as the need for continued teaching and
nurturing of the faith after Baptism. To this end it is commendable that the parents of the newly baptized become members
of the congregation and serve as examples in word and deed to their children. Baptism, while giving the Holy Spirit, the
forgiveness of sins, and creating faith, is not intended to be a thing in isolation. Those who are baptized need to have
their faith fed, continuing to grow in faith, understanding and wisdom. Christian faith is not spiritual self-sufficiency,
but utter dependence upon Christ and His Word. Baptizing and teaching together (Matthew 28:16-20). Those who are baptized
can fall away from the faith, as we are tempted by the devil, the world, and our flesh (old Adam). Christ is the Vine and
we are the branches. It is in the Word and Sacraments, as the means of divine grace, that we abide in Christ and derive our
ongoing life from Him alone. This is what ongoing study of Scripture, attending the Divine Service, and confession and absolution
have to do with the sustenance of saving faith in Christ. Faith is not self-referencing or self-focused, but is Christ-centered.
Faith has nothing to speak of other than what it receives from Christ in the holy Word and Sacraments of Baptism, Absolution,
and the Lord's Supper.
YOUTH CATECHESIS ("confirmation class")
All youths from grade 4 and up are invited to join us for youth catechism class. This class covers the basics of Christian
doctrine as confessed by traditional Lutherans along with an introduction to the Lutheran liturgy. This class involves weekly
class sessions, mandatory memory assignments, along with required church and Sunday School attendance. Upon completing the
class years and affirming the faith after pastoral examination, those baptized youths are publicly confirmed in the Divine
Service and received as communicant members of our congregation and fellowship.
ADULT CATECHESIS
Adult catechesis is offered periodically, typically when interest is expressed by a small group. It typically lasts between
6 to 9 months depending upon the needs and amount of discussion among the participants. This instruction is geared toward
those who want to learn more of Christianity as confessed by Lutherans, those who are not yet baptized, those who are becoming
Lutheran communicants from non-Lutheran Christian backgrounds, or those with a completely non-Christian or no religious background
at all. Adult catechesis is the typical route for both non-Christians and non-Lutheran Christians to become communicant members
of the congregation and our synodical fellowship.
FUNERALS
Funerals are typically conducted by the pastor for those who have been members of the congregation and receiving the means
of grace through the ministry of the congregation whether at the church or as shut-ins, hospitalized or otherwise. Certain
pastoral exceptions to this may also be possible. Funerals, also, are conducted according to the doctrine and rites of our
congregation. Eulogies are not performed during the service or in the sanctuary, but may be done at the visitation or luncheon.
While the funeral sermon will certainly involve the faith and person of the departed it is primarily a proclamation of God's
law and gospel for the comfort of Christ to the bereaved and to declare Christ's victory over sin and death.
PRIVATE CONFESSION AND HOLY ABSOLUTION (Penance or Reconciliation)
Private Confession and Holy Absolution, which may be considered a sacrament according to the Lutheran Confessions, is
part of the ongoing daily life of living in our one Baptism for the remission of sins. While privately confessing our sins
to God in prayer (as in the Lord's Prayer) along with general confession and absolution in the preparation of the Divine Service
are each helpful in their own way, many Christians, including Martin Luther, have found private confession and absolution
with the pastor to be very helpful for "those sins which we know and feel in our hearts." Those sins remain secret,
under the seal of confession, and drowned in the waters of Baptism. They are washed away and forgiven in that word of absolution
which is Christ's and is spoken through the mouth of His called and ordained men.
The pastor is available by appointment to hear confessions and pronounce holy absolution in private according to the rite
found in our hymnal and in the manner described in the Catechisms. While we do not legally require private confession, we
do keep it available in a gospel-centered way to soothe the troubled conscience of the Christian and to free them from the
slavery to sin. Private confession is not only for the sixth commandment but for any sin which we have trouble believing
is forgiven in Christ. In the privacy and singular setting of private absolution, the person confessing is the only one there
for that and the absolution is spoken particularly for what is confessed. Doubt is cast aside. God puts His forgiveness
there into our ears and then our hearts and minds where we are with our sins. And that sin is paid for in the death of Christ.
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