This book has everything you need to plan and create a wedding ceremony and celebration that is right for you. The authors have many years’ experience of offering couples a multi-choice format upon which to construct their marriage ceremony. The essence of the book is flexibility and adaptability to individual circumstances. For each part of your wedding ceremony there are many text options to choose from. Combine them or use them as a starting point to write your own text.
You can find templates for:
* Christian and secular weddings
* te reo Māori ceremonies
* same-sex weddings, and others.
Couples and celebrants outside New Zealand can easily adapt the material to suit their local setting.
You can download free wedding and reception checklists and summaries on the publisher’s website.
The authors also provide practical guidance about wedding receptions, including things to avoid, and they offer some advice about building strong, healthy marriage relationships. And they have included guidance and options celebrating the birth of children.
Both authors have significant experience of helping couples prepare for marriage and conducting marriage ceremonies. This book represents a pooling of their experience and expertise. They have also been active in promoting interfaith activity and greater interreligious understanding in New Zealand and beyond. There is a great deal that we can learn from people who base their lives and marriages on a faith different to ours, or on no particular religious faith-foundation at all. This book thus provides some “other-than-Christian faith” marriage information and ceremony options as an aid to greater understanding.
Te reo Māori (The Māori language) is an official language of Aotearoa New Zealand. The everyday use of te reo has been increasing significantly over the last 30 years. Accordingly, the authors have incorporated Ngā Whakaritenga Mārena – a marriage order of service in te reo Māori – within this book.
The authors hope that this book will also be valued by all who seek a broader and more informed understanding of marriage, including recent developments in New Zealand law to allow for same-sex marriage. Material is provided to help all readers understand some of the rationale and reasons why same-sex marriage has become legal in Aotearoa-NZ, and some of the theological understandings which undergird acceptance of same-sex marriage by some Churches.
The format and style of the wedding reception has evolved over the years.
The authors provide advice for how to structure a contemporary wedding reception, taking account of significant changes within society.
Ceremonies of thanksgiving and blessing for the birth of a child are also included within this book. Many couples enter into a committed partnership with the intention of having, or adopting, a child, or children. Resources are provided here to assist with the creation of rituals which will help celebrate the arrival of a new life.
Getting Married in New Zealand – Te Mārenatanga ki Aotearoa is a resource for everyone.
It is also a Christian-based practical theology resource which seeks to deepen our understanding of the meaning of marriage, and to provide quality inclusive resources to celebrate and sustain marriage relationships.
It is the authors hope that this book will help meet the real needs of a new generation of couples and celebrants, both within and “way beyond” the Church.
In short, this book is:
* ideal for celebrants to share with couples
* ideal for couples to plan their own unique celebration
* a helpful gift for couples preparing to marry
* for couples seeking to deepen their marriage relationships, and
* for theology, ministry and religious studies students
By:
Gregory Hughson
Imprint: Philip Garside Publishing Ltd
Country of Publication: New Zealand
Dimensions:
Height: 229mm,
Width: 152mm,
ISBN: 9781988572659
ISBN 10: 1988572657
Pages: 174
Publication Date: 22 October 2020
Audience:
General/trade
,
ELT Advanced
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active
Part One - Getting Married / 1 - Introduction / 2 - Practical preliminaries / Legal requirements? Four steps to getting married / Expectations and duties / 3 - The marriage ceremony: structure and plan / Multi-choice marriage ceremony / 4 -The reception: recipe for a wedding meal / 5 - Celebration and commitment: the honeymoon and beyond / Part Two - Marriage Records / 1 - Planning your wedding: a practical guide / 2 - Keeping Account: A wedding and anniversary record / Part Three - Having Children / 2 - Celebrating birth: ceremony formats / Part Four - Same-Sex ceremonies / Part Five - Alternative language and religion options / 1 - A Māori language ceremony Te ritenga karakia mō te Mārena / 2 - A Buddhist (Tibetan) marriage ceremony / 3 - Muslim marriage / Appendices / 1 - Hymn, song and musical options / 2 - Website and Internet resources / 3 - References / 4 - Bibliography of same-sex resources
Gregory Hughson With an M.Sc. in Biological Science and from a background in Agricultural Science Research, Greg trained for ordination as a Methodist Minister from 1985-1987, obtaining a Bachelor of Divinity in Practical Theology with Distinction from the University of Otago. He spent six years in parish ministry in Feilding (1988-93) followed by six years as Methodist Parish Superintendent in Gisborne (1994-99). He spent the next twenty years (2000-2019) as ecumenical chaplain at the University of Otago. Throughout his ministry Greg has enjoyed conducting many weddings, largely based on material provided by Douglas Pratt in previous editions of this book. Greg is now retired and living in Dunedin. Gregory Hughson is a recently retired Methodist minister, who spent the last 20 years as ecumenical chaplain at the University of Otago. He has enjoyed conducting many weddings. Douglas Pratt Douglas trained as a Methodist minister, gaining degrees in philosophy (MA) and theology (BD, PhD). He later trained as a marriage relationship counsellor and supervisor. It was during his first parish appointment, 1975-78, that Doug began to offer a multi-choice marriage ceremony format and was at the forefront of promoting alternatives for both the ceremony and the location of weddings. Such developments paved the way for today’s context of secular (Civil) marriage celebrants. In 1984, following two years of overseas study (1979-80) and three years in Methodist parish ministry in Dunedin (1981-83), Doug took up an appointment as ecumenical chaplain to the University of Waikato. In 1988 he was appointed the foundation lecturer in Religious Studies at the University. In 1998 Doug became an Anglican priest while remaining a full-time university lecturer, retiring in 2018 as a professor. It was during his tenure as chaplain that the initial work on alternative marriage ceremonies was further developed and led to publication. Douglas Pratt, a retired university lecturer, was a Methodist minister and is now an Anglican priest. While in parish ministry he began to offer a multi-choice marriage ceremony, which became this book’s predecessor Celebrating Marriage.
