Brian Harmon

Placing the Sign of the Cross On the Relationship

Posted by Brian September 21, 2006

There were services of blessing for two couples at St. Michael’s recently. One was a wedding, and one was a “Covenanting and Blessing of a Union”. They both made me glad to be an Episcopalian.

I’d never been to an Episcopal wedding before, so maybe these two services weren’t typical. But here’s what impressed me most about them: They were worship services.

We (the congregation) sang, we prayed, we read Holy Scripture, and at the Covenanting ceremony, we celebrated Holy Communion. Just like we do on every Sunday. And in the middle of all that, we gave thanks to God for the relationship between the couple, and asked God’s blessing upon them.

Even though it was their wedding/blessing, the focus of the service was God, not the couples. Ed’s homilies emphasized the idea of covenant. Covenant is how God relates to us - with a devoted love that does not give up. He thanked both couples for being a sign for us - a glimpse of insight into the way that God deals with us. It was beautiful.

One member of the second couple referred to the service as “placing the sign of the Cross over our relationship.” I like that.

That person regularly bakes the bread which we use for Holy Eucharist, and made the loaves which we used at the blessing service, as well. Maybe I’m sappy, but I really like that, too.

There have been some nasty things written about the second service on the internet. I’m not going to link to them. But I will say that they are all wrong. The service was not about thumbing our noses at anyone. It was not about being the first in Arkansas (though it was), nor about making some kind of point to the outside world. It was about thanking and praising God, asking for God’s blessing. And to me, it’s a reminder that all of our relationships could use a bit more of the sign of the Cross.