Posted: 06/18/2010 at 10:16am | IP Logged

The promotion has resulted in at least six people who have accepted Christ and been baptized.

Church Offers Free Wedding as Outreach to Couples Living Together

AG News

AKRON, OHIO - Celebration Church in Akron, Ohio, recently held its first "Free Church Wedding Weekend." Seven couples were married in three days at the Assemblies of God church, which is providing free matrimony rites in response to the many unmarried couples with children living in the surrounding neighborhood.

"We were concerned for these people and worried that not only had they never heard the gospel, but they were unlikely to ever walk into a church," says Pastor Jeff Wade. "We had prayed for them for years but were not sure what we could ever do to reach them."

When the Akron Beacon Journal ran a story on people who were putting off their weddings because they could not afford to get married, church leadership decided to respond with the offer of free weddings. The church facilities, pastoral services, wedding decorations, photography and music are included in the offer. The only requirement for the free weddings is attendance at two mentoring sessions - the first, a group session with refreshments and a discussion about the God-ordained purpose of marriage; the second, a personal session dealing with potential marriage problems.

Local businesses have helped offset a variety of wedding expenses with donations of wedding gowns, makeup, flowers, wedding bands, wedding cakes, a limo ride and a free night's stay at a local hotel.

"The greatest part of this outreach has been the impact it has made on the lives of the couples," Wade says. "One couple told me they had been living together for five years and not going to church because they knew they were away from God. They were so relieved they finally had the chance to make things right."

Wade has baptized six of the people who accepted Christ as Savior in response to the first free weddings.

Link

Source:  AG.org

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