OPERTING A CHURCH WITHOUT A PASTOR (10)

0. Introduction

a) Can a church start WITHOUT an "ordained" person, be they a Pastor, Priest or Minister, present to lead the group? Are there certain functions and ceremonies within the church that should only be performed by those who receive a salary to serve? Below are several common practices and services that Christian churches commonly perform and how they can be handled by small groups and fellowships.

1. Performing Marriages

a) Without marriages, there is no future to human existence. Social systems of raising children outside of families are not supported by Scripture and have consistently failed throughout history. Marriages are the major remaining place where church and state still work together in a significant way in western societies. The state has its own administrative network to process births, deaths, illnesses, child custody, etc. If a church representative becomes involved in any of the above events, it is irrelevant to the state. Baptism, church membership and other church positions are also irrelevant to the state. But in marriages, ministers frequently act on behalf of civil governments when they "perform weddings". Civil governments will accept almost any "minister" who has "ordination papers" or even a written statement from his congregation that he is their minister.

b) But what does the Bible say about who should perform a wedding? Actually, there is no mention of any minister performing any wedding or marriage in the Bible. Weddings were a public affair and there were certainly wedding feasts with many guests invited. But histories of weddings show that the practice of ministers officiating at weddings is only about 600 years old. Before that, weddings were handled by a contract between the married couple's parents (or the couple themselves if they were older). A marriage was seen as a contract between the husband, wife and God; neither the "Church" nor the "State" had a part in it. It has only been during the past 150 years that local governments in the United States have issued marriage licenses.

c) It is not in the scope of this article to go into all the reasons why a couple getting married should or should not obtain an "official" marriage license. As with any life-affecting undertaking, people should find out as much as they can before making a decision that cannot be easily undone. Marrying without a license, however, and without detailed legal knowledge of how that will affect you can bring big consequences. Property ownership, child custody, inheritance, and many day-to-day financial agreements will be affected greatly by the presence or absence of a license.

d) What constitutes a marriage in the sight of God? All that is necessary is the clear intent to marry (Genesis 24:51) and sexual intercourse consummating the marriage. 

i) "And Isaac brought her into his mother Sarah's tent, and took Rebekah, and she became his wife. And he loved her. And Isaac was comforted after his mother's death." (Genesis 24:67)

e) A couple that has sexual intercourse, but no intent to marry has committed fornication, not marriage. A person who intends to marry, but has not consummated the marriage, could potentially have any ceremony or contract annulled. 

i) "For this reason shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave to his wife - and they shall become one flesh." (Genesis 2:24)