Wedding Guest Book

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The Invitation

Please join family and friends
to celebrate the marriage of

Patrick Wright
and
David Gibson

With joy, we will celebrate the wedding on
Saturday, the thirtieth of July
two thousand and five of the Common Era
at two o’clock in the afternoon.

The ceremony will be held at
First Unitarian Church
600 NW 13th Street
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
The reception will follow
in Daniel Hall

Order of Service

Our guests were offered an order of service. On the back of that order of service was the following.

On Marriage
by David Gibson

Marriage is certainly a loaded term. It means many things, but for us, it is primarily about the union of souls. This is a mythological perspective; an attempt to explain or understand the transcendent in our lives. As members of the Unitarian Universalist church here in Oklahoma City, we celebrate the transcendent nature of our relationship with each other, and our participation in the Love that is the Universe, known by many here as your higher power, as you understand her or him or it.

The love that we understand to be central to the married relationship has not always been part of the definition of marriage. At certain times and places marriage was about property: ownership of land, things, people, a woman. It seems, however, that in all times and places, there is a love that bonds two people together and transcends the immediate routines; pushing us to become the most that we can be. As the great mythologist, Joseph Campbell, notes in our reading today, “That is the sense of the marriage vow—… I take you as my center, and you are my bliss, not the wealth that you might bring me, not the social prestige, but you.”

In light of this understanding, what has transpired over the last few years in our civil discourse is an attempt to deny civil protections to loving same-sex families. Marriage is not at issue. What we celebrate today is a marriage. It is a union of souls in the context of a community; a community that supports the work of building a family. All we lack are several thousand substantial protections for our family.

Thank you for being part of our community. Our celebration today is as much a celebration of our relationship with you, as it is a celebration of our relationship with each other.

The full Order of Service is available in Acrobat PDF.

Processional

Organ plays Air from Water Music Suite by Handel
Rev. Mark and Rev. Jonalu process to the sanctuary.

Dr. David escorts Penny to the front pew.
Benjamin carries the rings to Rev Mark.

Organ plays Trumpet Voluntary by Clarke
Patrick and David process to the front.

Opening Prayer

God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,

the courage to change the things I can,

and the wisdom to know the difference.

Introduction

Dear friends and family, we are gathered here as a community to celebrate the sacred relationship of David and Patrick and to share in the joy of their love. We are grateful for the values that have flowed into them from those who have loved them and nurtured them along their path. We are grateful for the values they have found by their own striving.

Today’s celebration of love is the outward sign of a sacred and inward commitment that religious communities may consecrate and about which governments may legislate, but which neither can create or annul.

This love is a giving of self, but not a giving away. A good and balanced relationship is one in which neither person is overpowered or absorbed. Rather, from this tension between separateness and union is born and reborn a love of incredible fragility and abiding strength.

Patrick and David have invited us here to celebrate this love, to witness this relationship, and to offer the strength of community to the love and devotion of their union.

The first reading is adapted from The Symposium written by Plato circa 385 Before the Common Era

In the beginning, humans were a four-legged, four-armed, two-headed race. These creatures were of three genders: male, female, and a gender partaking of both male and female.

These arrogant creatures threatened and angered the gods, so Zeus Who Governs sought to reduce them by cutting each in half. Each half then spent enormous energy seeking the other. Those of the dual gender sought out their counterpart, male seeking female and female, male. Those who were of the true female, likewise sought their other among the females—in fact, they are Lesbians—while those who were of the original male sought their completeness among men.

In this ancient seeking, we can trace our innate love for one another. We can trace how this love seeks to return to our former nature by making two into one and thus bridge the gulf between one human being and another. For in the bridging of this gulf we find that the happiness of the whole human race, women no less than men, is to be found in the consummations of our love, and in the healing of our dissevered nature by finding each his proper mate.

The second reading is from The Power of Myth, a series of interviews of Joseph Campbell by Bill Moyers published in 1988 of the Common Era

If you are attached to the rim of the wheel of fortune, you will be either above going down or at the bottom coming up. But if you are at the hub, you are in the same place all the time. That is the sense of the marriage vow—I take you in health or sickness, in wealth or poverty: going up or going down. But I take you as my center, and you are my bliss, not the wealth that you might bring me, not the social prestige, but you.

… A marriage is a commitment to that which you are. That person is literally your other half. And you and the other are one.

A sermon was then offered by Rev. Jonalu Johnstone

Vows

David to Patrick:

Patrick, today, with the support of this community, I declare my commitment to the miracle of your love. You fill the rooms of my life. You transcend the stress and frustrations of our days. You sustain me on my path.

Patrick, I choose you. I will choose you each morning without regard for the distractions of the day. Without regard for wealth or poverty, health or infirmity, conflict or tranquility, I choose you as my hub, my center and my bliss. I offer you my self.

Patrick to David

Will be posted soon.

Exchange of Rings

[Mark] The circle of children around a storyteller

[Jonalu] The circle of Alcoholics Anonymous supporting each other

[Mark] The circle of family about a newborn child

[Jonalu] The circle of a ring giving expression to the commitment of union

[Mark] Patrick, as you place this ring on your husband’s hand, consider that love is infinite, having no beginning and no end. Please repeat: David, as you wear this ring, know that it is a symbol of my love, trust and commitment. You are the center.

[Jonalu] David, as you place this ring on your husband’s hand, consider that love is infinite, having no beginning and no end. Please repeat: Patrick, as you wear this ring, know that it is a symbol of my love, trust and commitment. You are the center.

Family Vows

In this exchange of vows and rings, Patrick and David have witnessed their mutual respect, love and commitment. Their commitment, however, is to more than each other for their family is more than these two. We all build our families not through the accidents of genetics, but through trust, love and the work of human relationships. Beyond even this, the responsibility and joy of children is a profound commitment equal to that of the vows exchanged between Patrick and David.

Do you promise to be fathers to Benjamin Thomas Gibson? [We do.] Do you promise him your love, support, teaching, protection and guidance? [We do.]

Pronouncement and Benediction

We call upon each of you here today to bear witness to the commitment and love of this couple. Their relationship transcends the vagaries of local law and the whims of religion. Patrick and David will grow together in love and that love will reach out to this community. This ceremony of community consecrates, validates and celebrates their bond. We present to you spouses, helpmates, partners, husbands: David and Patrick. [Thunderous Applause]

As we go forth from this place, let us always remember the spirit of this moment. May the love of this community support us all and attend us all along our path. Go in peace.

Organ plays a vigorous arrangement of Ode to Joy from Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony.

Reception in Daniel Hall

Traveler's Dinner

The evening of the wedding, we invited our many out-of-town guests to join us for a delightful dinner at Cheever's.