A Christ-Centered Wedding
by Catherine Strode Parks and Linda Strode
Coming in April 2014 from B&H Publishing
This book came about as a result of a conversation I had with my mom in 2011. As a pastor’s wife she has seen many weddings and we were discussing the sad reality that many Christians miss out on viewing their weddings as an opportunity to proclaim the gospel. In fact, I believe I missed out on that chance as well. I wanted my wedding to glorify God, but in the seven years since that day I have grown so much in my understanding of the gospel-rich symbolism of weddings. Having been witness to some beautiful, Christ-exalting ceremonies since that day, I had a deep desire to do something to increase awareness of this opportunity for others. So my mom and I decided to try to write a book. It is an interesting process – I’m doing the writing, but my mom is extremely creative so she is collaborating with me in giving her own wisdom and ideas. The Lord is graciously using this process to teach me what it really means to give Him glory.
Rather than writing a “wedding planner” with charts and checklists, we decided to design this book as more of a guide in thinking through the various aspects of a wedding. For that reason we are attempting to discuss everything from premarital counseling to wedding showers, and then of course the elements of the ceremony and reception. The more I write, though, the more I realize it is truly just a book about the gospel. Hopefully it will help others in thinking through and applying the gospel to this special time in their lives, but more than that I pray it would help readers to go deeper in their love for God and their appreciation of Christ’s work on the cross. The writing process is certainly doing that for me.
We also hope readers will come away with a greater understanding of God’s plan for marriage. Genesis 2 shows us that marriage was God’s design and that it is His doing, and we get a glimpse of the first wedding as He brings Eve to Adam. The Bible has a lot to say about marriage, but essentially it is a beautiful opportunity for us to better understand and then exemplify to the world the sacrificial love and leadership of Christ toward the church. The great news is that our weddings can also exemplify this as we have this rare opportunity to share the gospel with a captive audience and to lay a solid foundation for marriage.
We welcome your thoughts and prayers as we write the book!
Don't Waste Your Wedding 
Great book idea! I’d love to get a copy when you are finished. Continue to “make a difference in today’s world.” Travis Stevens
Thanks, Trav. And feel free to pass along any ideas or suggestions!
Having a Christ-centered, gospel-focused wedding is the exact desire of my fiance and I. We don’t want the focus to be on us or even on our love. We want the focus to be on the love of God. “We love because He first loved us…”
However, we are likely to get married before the release of your book, and although we have thought of some of our own ideas, we would love to hear some of yours! Is there any way that could be made possible?
Hey Kat, thanks so much for reading the blog and taking the time to comment. I’m hoping to continue writing about practical ideas, and will soon be featuring some Real Weddings of couples who sought to have a Christ-centered wedding. In the meantime if you have any questions please don’t hesitate to contact me! I’d love to hear your ideas, too, as you’re planning!
I’m hoping this will be a “go-to” book that we can give to our young ladies in the church who start planning for a wedding. So often they look at us, when we encourage Gospel Centered weddings, as if we dropped from a different planet because “surely this wedding is about me?!” Love it and look forward to it coming out next year! Thankful for B & H for coming alongside you in this endeavor–great company and ministry!
Thanks Tammy! I’m thrilled to hear you’re encouraging couples to plan gospel centered weddings. I didn’t fully understand that when I was planning my own, so it’s so good to know there are people guiding couples through this process. And I, too, am so thankful for B&H!
I wish I would’ve seen this website when I was planning my wedding (from Aug 2012-Dec 2012). It is very helpful and there are some great ideas for making a wedding gospel-centered. Thanks for your work! I’ve passed this on to several friends who are getting married soon!
Thanks so much, Rachel! And congratulations on your marriage!
Hi, came across your site from the Challies blog… enjoyed reading the posts and may God bless your writing/book process and use it to bring Him glory! As I was browsing your site I was suddenly reminded of a design blog with some posts on wedding invitations I had come across some time last year: http://e210designs.wordpress.com/ -> perhaps it’ll be helpful if you will be addressing Christ-centered wedding correspondence in your book. =)
Ruth – Catherine and I are old college classmates and I was just as surprised as she was to see you link to my blog here in the comments. Glad you enjoyed it and hope you’ll visit again soon, despite infrequent posting!
Catherine I just stumbled across your blog through Facebook. As a girl who has unsaved family members and will be getting married within a few years, my deepest desire is to share the Gospel at my wedding. I will be following your blog excited to read your book!
Thanks, Catie, for your encouragement! May God use you to show His love to your family!