East Side Lutheran Church rejoices with you as you anticipate your wedding day. We are pleased that you are considering East Side as the place to celebrate your marriage ceremony and we'll do everything possible to make sure that it is a joyous event. More importantly, we are concerned not only for your wedding ceremony but also for your marriage.
We want your wedding to be an occasion you will always remember as a beautiful and meaningful day, one full of reverence and dignity. More importantly, we are concerned not only for your wedding ceremony but also for your marriage. Christian marriage is a covenant of faith - it is a mutual promise of fidelity, a promise of lifelong faithfulness to each other. The officiating pastor is present as an official witness and as a representative of the State of South Dakota as well as of the Christian Church.
Marriage does not belong exclusively to the Church. While marriage is ordained by God and supported by the Church, it is a social contract, governed and regulated by the state for the purpose of protecting individuals and providing stability to the social order. To the Christian, it is more: We believe God, along with the Church, desires marriage to be a source of faith, joy, love, and fulfillment. Marriages rooted in God's steadfast love will be the most likely to experience these qualities. We believe God's self-giving love and faithfulness toward us is the foundation of a committed relationship. We believe God's intention for marriage is that it be a life-long relationship based on the commitment.
You make your promises in the presence of God, trusting that God will bless and support you as you work together to fulfill them. Thus, to be married in the church is to recognize God's intentions for marriage and to affirm them as your own.
The Pastor officiates at your wedding, representing both church and state, but it is you who bind yourselves to each, by your promises before God and in the presence of the gathered community.
We believe God ordained marriage to enrich the couples lives and to provide a sound basis for the rest of your lives.
Both members and non-members are welcomed to be married at East Side Lutheran Church; however, couples are required to take a premarital instruction.