If you are visiting this page, you are probably planning a wedding. Here you’ll find information on our wedding policies.

We Want What’s Best for You

We desire that marriages be Christian and that the people we marry cherish a lifetime commitment to the joys and responsibilities of a Christian marriage. At a Christian marriage ceremony, we invoke God’s presence to witness the solemn vows spoken by the couple. God himself holds that couple accountable for their promises.

Because of this, the pastoral staff at Bethel normally does not perform weddings for those outside our church family. If you are not connected with our congregation and are thinking about having your wedding at Bethel primarily because you want a traditional church wedding or because you like our facilities, we would suggest you look elsewhere. If, however, you are interested in having a Christian wedding ceremony that honors God and will be part of your spiritual family heritage, we would be happy to visit further with you.

Premarital Counseling

Most people are poorly prepared for the realities of married life. God designed marriage to be a relationship of warmth, love, mutual respect and joy for both men and women, yet few couples ever realize God’s best. America’s high divorce rate bears this out: about 50 percent of marriages fail. We want to help you beat the odds.

We ask that couples go through several counseling sessions before the wedding. These sessions are spaced over a period of several weeks. You need to plan sufficiently in advance for the completion of these before the wedding.

During this counseling time we will discuss most areas of married life, including your relationships with your parents, your own style of relating, sexuality, and other pertinent topics. All information shared will be held in strictest confidence.

We will also explore your relationship with God and the role God plays in your daily life. We will look at the Bible and seek to discover what God expects from a married couple, and what makes a marriage uniquely Christian.

How to Proceed

Obviously, this is just a brief overview. You can get more details by downloading this PDF of our wedding brochure. If you’d like further information, please contact us.