rehearsal

It was unusual. Rehearsing a rehearsal. A colleague of mine had asked me to
help her out. She had committed herself to perform a wedding, then found out that she would be out of town the night before--the night of the rehearsal. So, she asked me to do the rehearsal for her. I agreed.

Today I went over to the church and she ran me through the service the way she does it, with the variations decided on by the wedding party. This was the first time I had ever rehearsed a rehearsal. Luckily we both use the Book of Common Worship for the wedding service.

Most people do not realize how many little details have to be worked out for a wedding service. The fee a minister gets for a wedding isn't just for the service itself (which usually ends up taking most of a Saturday afternoon). The fee includes many telephone calls or emails, the preparation of the service itself, paper work for the government, counseling of the couple, a Friday evening for the rehearsal, coordination with others--organist, custodian, sound person, etc. It ends up being many hours juggling many details.

Paul calls the union of marriage "a profound mystery" (Eph. 5.32) The anonymous author of the letter to the Hebrews says, "Marriage should be honored by all, and the marriage bed kept pure." (Heb. 13.4) John, in the book of Revelation, describes the Second Coming of Christ by saying, "For the wedding of the Lamb has come, and his bride has made herself ready." (19.7) Every time we celebrate the Lord's Supper we are rehearsing the Wedding Banquet of the Lamb.