Grassroots: Reaching out at Weddings

One attractive church in Sydney, Australia has so many weddings that they employ a full-time wedding evangelist, who spends all his time in marriage preparation, and outreach to the couples after the big day. The various fees for the weddings cover the entire expense. He has married and shared the gospel with 600 couples over the last seven years, and preached the gospel to 60,000 wedding guests.

Lots of ministers may well feel they are also on a never-ending treadmill of weddings—especially at this time of the year! But what are the opportunities and challenges when it comes to sharing the gospel with the bride and groom and their guests? I spoke to several pastors in the UK to get their assessment.

Inner city

One minister in an urban location explained that he does a short marriage course with couples planning a wedding at his church. But he reckons the event itself is less effective: "By and large, I think, the wedding itself is so intense in their minds that the people may be responsive to what you have to say, as time goes on, it gets left behind. As they get back to normal life it’s just a memory. Generally speaking we have not had much follow-up immediately after weddings. Sometimes, years later, when they have children they come back,” he said.

Another pastor at an FIEC church chooses to focus on the couple—who are usually believers—rather than the guests. "I don’t see the wedding itself as a strong evangelistic opportunity. I tend to focus my preaching on talking to the couples themselves about the gospel. I say to the congregation 'You can listen in if you want to'. I’ve been at events where guests have been harangued and it’s not good. Christians want to use the opportunity for their friends to hear the gospel, but in the context of weddings, it is difficult to pull off effectively.”

Village people

A minister of a village church told me that he had seen some fruit from weddings. “I get to see the couple over an extended period of time—they book their weddings a year or two in advance—so you have a good time to get to know people. We use the Preparing for Marriage material, and we’ve seen three people converted through the marriage prep in recent years,” he said.

“At the ceremony, I preach a short gospel message—I have a standard evangelistic talk based on 1 Corinthians 13. The guests are often more relaxed than at a normal Sunday service—the vibe is very warm and positive. So, as the speaker, I feel I have a lot of leeway. I am usually quite bold. I occasionally get feedback but not a lot of evident fruit from the service—at least in the short term. But at least I have had the opportunity to preach to 50-150 people,” he said.

Here are some ideas for making the most of weddings:

• Be enthusiastic about their “special” day. They may only want to hire the building, but if you can introduce them to an enthusiastic church family, all the better. Encourage as many church members to get to know the couple as possible—especially when they come to hear the banns read.
• Give a gift of a Bible at the ceremony—from the church, and with a suitable inscription. It will be a keepsake from the day itself for them, and in any future contact, you can encourage them to read parts of the Bible together that will strengthen their marriage.
• Put a gospel booklet in the seats for people to read. There is always a lot of “hanging about” at a wedding. People will read almost anything if it in front of them!
• Send a card/reminder to couples on their wedding anniversary. The actual ceremony may have generated a good feeling towards your church, but a warm persistence in keeping in touch will build a strong bridge for the gospel in years to come. This is a great little ministry to delegate to a couple in the congregation.

What have you found works best for wedding outreach? Share your stories, thoughts and ideas below to encourage and equip others for this ministry.

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