We are delighted at the prospect of being a part of this important decision in your lives, and to offer our support to the success of your marriage.  To begin the process, we invite you to follow the steps outlined below, consider what we think about Christian marriage and review our recommendations.

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What is Church on the Move's process for being married?

1. Fill out a wedding questionnaire and submit it to  Admin@onthemove.org
2. Attend the Pre-Marriage Class or schedule a series of appointments for pre-marriage counseling
3. Someone will contact you to confirm the availability of a pastoral staff member.
4. You will be contacted to set up a time to meet with the pastoral staff member who you have agreed will marry you.  The pastor will connect with you and find out how best to serve and support you. Click here to down load the wedding questionnaire.
   

What do we think about marriage?

People come from many different backgrounds and traditions that shape their understanding of marriage. At COTM, we recognize the value of that diversity while holding strongly to what we believe is the essential ingredient for entering a covenant of Christian marriage based on the Bible and lessons learned.

In Biblical tradition, marriage was given by God to Adam and Eve in the garden and began to be understood as an expression of God’s love for us.  Christian Marriage is a unique and exclusive covenant made by a man and woman to share their lives together in a bond of love that reflects the love of Jesus Christ.  That requires much more than a ceremony or a blessing from the church.  It requires that the bride and groom both put their faith in Jesus and commit their lives to following him.

This is why we take marriage so seriously at COTM.  We don’t choose to simply perform wedding ceremonies.  Rather, we want to help build marriages that thrive in the love of God.  To that end, we have identified a list of recommendations to anyone who plans to be married as a part of our local church.


Recommendations:

1. Make individual commitments to follow Jesus the top priority in your marriage.  We highly recommend on Biblical premise that both man and woman are committed to following Jesus before they are married.  To not share the same faith leads to hazardous ramifications in marriage.  If you or your fiancé have not put your faith in Jesus and you want to learn more about what that means you are welcome to contact a staff member or attend Exploring Christianity.
2. Seek guidance prior to being married.  This can be done in the form of a pre-marriage class offered by COTM or counseling  outside of COTM.  Your marriage will have a greater chance to thrive if you enter it knowing your areas of strength and weakness and gaining tools for how best to manage them as a couple.
3. Find a local church that you can trust and support, and get involved.  Even great marriages face challenges and every bride and groom who strives to keep Jesus at the center of their marriage needs a community of friends who are committed to doing a Jesus centered life with them.  At COTM, there are multiple opportunities to build this kind of community.  Check our website for more ways to get connected and to serve together as a couple.
4. Contact the COTM staff at least 3 months before your wedding day.  This will give us opportunity to connect with you and to know how best we can serve and support you.  We will ask you to submit a wedding questionnaire and will plan to meet with you to make plans for the wedding day.

 

Contact Us:

If you have any questions regarding marriage, we would be happy to talk with you. 
Please contact COTM to set up an appt with a pastor at 703-583-MOVE(6683) or  Click here to email.