Interfaith Weddings
What is marriage?
“The purpose of all relationships is to be seen, really seen: soul to soul, heart to heart and in that recognition we are reminded that we are children of God, that we have not been forgotten nor abandoned…..
…….. When we fall in love, it is the nearest we come to understanding the power and majesty of universal love or energy that some might define as God: the passion, the fury and the complete oneness we have with another. To fall in love or to feel love, allows us albeit perhaps temporary, glimpses of that universal energy. To no longer feel separate or apart, but completely welded soul to soul with another. Not surprisingly, then, this may be why so many of us crave the experience of falling in love. However, to fall in love means literally that, to lose control to fall into the feeling of bliss……the purpose of a relationship, an authentic loving one anyway, is to be seen, really seen, soul to soul heart to heart and in that recognition we are reminded that we are parts of a universal life force or love energy. When we are in love, we no longer feel separate or alone. And within that recognition we are able to be inspired to follow our destiny, knowing that we are truly felt be another which gives us strength to fulfill our life’s purpose, this is why when we truly find one who sees us it can be both terrifying and intoxicating all that the same time”
Shadow Sands Rainbow's End Foundation 2008
What makes a Rainbow’s End Foundation wedding Different?
What is marriage and what does it mean to enter into such a serious commitment? It seems people worldwide crave to find that special someone to share their lives with, to find someone who ‘gets them’ so totally that they can promise to stay with the other person, to help guide and support them on their life’s journey, sometimes for an entire lifetime.
A Rainbow’s End Foundation Wedding is, in essence, an interfaith wedding, conducted by an interfaith minister who has been approved and is recognized by the Foundation.
An interfaith wedding is exactly that, it is a ceremony that is not aligned to any specific religion. This means that if you or your partners come from different spiritual traditions or backgrounds you will not be restricted in having to follow the traditional path of the particular religion that is practiced. Instead, in keeping with the celebration of your shared love, certain faiths and rituals can be shared within the service and at the same time maintain the essence of the spiritual kernel at the heart of the religious discipline or backgrounds of those chosen to make their love sacred. It also means that if you do not follow a specific faith you also can make your commitment sacred by having a spiritual ceremony, as opposed to a religious one.
What makes an Interfaith wedding different is that both partners have complete control over what is to be included in their service. Together with the interfaith minister they will discuss what spiritual elements if any and which faiths they wish to be acknowledged and included. Readings and music and any other symbolism to be included in the ceremony may be discussed with your chosen minister. With guidance from the minister, the couple is encouraged to write their own vows. By doing this the couple enter their marriage in complete understanding of what each expects of the other and in turn what the marriage vows means. The vows and the blessing of the rings are the most sacred part of the ceremony so the interfaith minister will spend quite some time before the vows are written discussing what marriage means to the couple and why they have chosen to marry their partner.
The minister then structures and writes the service according to your instructions and can make any changes or rewrites as you wish until you have the service that you are both happy with. Choosing A Rainbow’s End Foundation Wedding means you may also choose your venue, which can be as simple as under a special and significant tree or in a more established spiritual venue or a place that has been registered and licensed for marriages to take place.
What are the legal requirements?
Although ministers are ordained, they are not legally licensed, which means that by law before the wedding ceremony you need to register your wedding at your local registrar office for a nominal fee. (Scotland is the exception where ministers are licensed to conduct all aspects of the service).The registering of the marriage may be done on the day of the ceremony itself or a few days prior to the marriage service.
This applies to both mixed and same sex couples.
Once you are legally married, the wedding ceremony itself can take place. The registry office is a formality, in which you literally just register your names in a legal registrar, in front of two witnesses. No other element is needed. For example, you would not need to exchange rings. However, if you wanted the minister conducting your marriage to write a few words to be said at the signing or even be one of the witnesses, this may be possible, if this is what you require. In some cases, for an additional charge, the registrar may attend the marriage service and the registering of the couples names can be incorporated within the marriage service itself.
What is an interfaith minister?
An Interfaith Minister is a non-denominational Minister ordained after two years of training with The Interfaith Seminary in London. The philosophy of the seminary is “Many Ways, One Truth”. Ministers embrace and respect each and every religious tradition having read and studied all the sacred texts and observed and participated in most religious ceremonies and services. Most spiritual teachers have taught that at the heart of all religion is love and that of course is what marriage is all about, the celebration of love.
“When we truly come to understand the meaning of love, not only are we free, we can become expansive more and more and begin to realize the truth behind the reality.
Love is all, all is love and all is all....
.....This is all that is required, the little willingness to accept , transform, transcend.
Love accepts all
Love transforms
Love transcends all”
Love Is Rainbow’s End Foundation 2009.
What is a Rainbow's End Foundation interfaith minister?
They are ministers who have undergone the interfaith training and also embrace the principles of Rainbow’s End Foundation.
How can I find a Rainbow’s End Foundation interfaith minister?
For further information contact