Congratulations on your upcoming wedding!
As you anticipate your marriage and all the aspects of planning a wedding, please know that our goal at Valley is to help you have a successful marriage that glorifies God. While we certainly want your wedding to be a memorable event for you, we are even more interested in preparing you to be successful as husband and wife. You will need to allow six months for the premarital process. If the process seems to be longer or more involved than you thought it would be, please know that we feel a moral obligation not to rush you into a wedding without adequate premarital preparation.
We believe that marriage was instituted by God and not humans, and therefore is subject to the guidelines of Scripture. We believe that God's desire for marriage is that it be a committed relationship to be terminated only by the death of one of the spouses. (Genesis 2:18; Matthew 19:1-9) We also believe that the marriage relationship is to be modeled after the relationship between Christ and the church. (Ephesians 5:22-28)
- Marriages may be performed when both individuals are Christians.
- Marriages may not be performed when one of the individuals is a non-Christian and the other individual is a Christian. (2 Corinthians 6:14)
- The Senior Pastor at Valley must approve any wedding to be performed by a Valley Pastor.
- The ceremony itself falls under the jurisdiction of a Pastor at Valley or another clergyman approved by the Senior Pastor or Board of Elders.
- Valley is available for the wedding of a regular attender or the children of regular attenders of Valley.
Believing that marriage is a holy and sacred gift from God between a man and a woman (Genesis 1:27), it is our desire that couples approach marriage according to biblical standards and in a way that is pleasing to God. In this regard, we ask all couples to sign an Engagement Covenant as a sign of commitment to one another and to God as they prepare for marriage.