Archive - October, 2011
Parkcrest Free Wedding Weekend
Great article about Parkcrest Free Wedding Weekend from the LA Times.
The final road to the altar for the four couples celebrating a group wedding in Long Beach on Sunday was a bit unconventional.
Most of the newlyweds, like high school sweethearts Angel Lewis and Christopher Woodbridge, had lived together for years and were raising families.
But the couple’s plans to marry kept getting stalled, partly because saving money has been a struggle while raising five children. And last year, wedding bands they had purchased were stolen from their home.
So it was a godsend for them when the pastor at Parkcrest Christian Church, Mike Goldsworthy, announced during his sermon two weeks ago that the church would throw a free wedding and reception for any unmarried couples in the congregation who were living together.
“If your only barrier is the cost of a wedding, we will remove that,” he said.
Lewis’ mother, attending the service with Angel that day, nudged her daughter and laughed. “This is what you’ve been waiting for,” she said. Lewis agreed, went home and proposed. “I told Chris about it, and I asked him, ‘Would you marry me?’” she said. “He thought I was kidding at first.”
Also in church that day was James Delgadillo, a part-time teacher and L.A. County sheriff’s deputy. His fiancee, Graciela Chica, was next to him. On a church pamphlet where he usually jots down notes from the sermon, he wrote to Chica: “I want to do this.”
On Sunday, the four grooms lined up at the front of the Parkcrest chapel’s pews, grinning broadly as their brides marched down the aisle. Some were handed off by their children to their husbands-to-be.
“Gentlemen, go forward and receive your bride,” Goldsworthy said. In a brief address, he said the weddings were “more than a mere formality.” They marked an important commitment to God, Goldsworthy said, and a public announcement of the couples’ relationships.
The vows were exchanged individually, with three pastors taking turns officiating. Friends and family cheered and applauded when the couples kissed for the first time as husbands and wives.
Read the rest of the article HERE
By Ricardo Lopez, Los Angeles Times
