Norwegian church accomodates the renewal of marriage vows
Photo EPA, Rungroj Yongrit
Northern Europe
It does not matter whether you have been married for a few months or for fifty years. Whoever wants to promise his or her spouse “until death do us part” again can go to the Church of Norway for a vow renewal.
The Church of Norway encourages people to come to church for a second wedding ceremony. “Have you been married for a while, and do you want to mark the day? Then you can have a ceremony in the church where you can repeat and renew your promises to each other”, the website reads, as reported by Dagen.
Priest
The ceremony is quite similar to the one on the first wedding day; the statement continues; only the priest will not declare the couple married, as they already are.
“You will have a personal ceremony in a beautiful church room, and you can decide the content yourself, for example, the hymns that have meant something to you throughout your marriage”, the Church of Norway promises. In addition, the ceremony consists of the reading of some Bible texts about love and the repeating of the marriage vows. Lastly, the priest will pray for the couple and bless the spouses.
According to the Church of Norway, couples have diverse reasons for their vow renewal. Some want to make a new start or give thanks for their marriage. Others choose for the vow renewal on their wedding anniversary.
Liturgy
Parish priest Paul Erik Wirgenes from the Ris church in Oslo has conducted the ceremony twice. He points out to Dagen that there is no official liturgy for a vow renewal but that it is considered to be an act of intercession.
Wirgenes notices that couples choose to make their vows over again when they have gone through a crisis, for example. “Perhaps they separated or lived apart, and they need a proper marking that they are back together again”, he says. Others come on their wedding anniversary, he confirms.
Promises
Vicar Wirgenes, who also works for the Ris church, believes that it is good for people to be prayed for and to be blessed. “And it is also good to repeat the promises you have made to each other.”
Olav Fredrik Rosland, who works in hotel Kronen Gaard in Sandnes, tells Dagen that there is an increasing number of celebrations of marriage renewals. “It seems that renewing promises is more important than ever”, he says. “We see that people are looking to traditional settings to gather friends and family for a celebration where you renew your promises to each other.”
Last year, between 60 and 80 weddings were celebrated in the hotel. Rosland acknowledges that it is sometimes hard to distinguish a first-time wedding from a renewal, but he is certain that a good part of the celebrations were renewals.
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