Pastor Darren Walter will be offering a free wedding ceremony for couples on Valentine's Day.
Pastor Darren Walter, with the nondenominational Current Christian Church, will be giving a free wedding ceremony on Valentine's Day this year after he heard people from their congregation express the desire to get married but admit concerns about the skyrocketing prices involved in marriage.
"If you are living together and not married, this solves that problem," Walter told Chron. The people who decide to take up the offer are encouraged to invite family and friends, and hold off on sex until then.
Pastor Walter's generous offer came after he began a six-part sermon series entitled "Sex Was God's Idea," which aimed to tackle the usually controversial topic and invite churchgoers to open up about it.
Their third sermon on sexual purity which is called "Purity is Sexy" gave Pastor Walter the idea to officiate a free wedding ceremony for couples on Valentine's Day. The church has given prospective couples have until February 11 to make reservations with the church to get married at 2 p.m. that day. Couples must bring their wedding license.
Several couples have signed up for the offer, and Walter committed to give each couple special attention on their special day even if they have 50 couples show up. The services will take place in the church's plaza.
He also stressed that he will not be presiding over any same-sex unions since the church believes in the traditional and biblical definition of marriage.
Since Pastor Walter initiated the "Sex Was God's Idea" sermon series, their church has seen an increase in attendance. They have even set up a four-post bed as a backdrop onstage, with door hangers spreading the word about their talks.
"It's been a little crazy," Walter admitted. But he clarified that they will not be very graphic in their talks, despite the bed setting.
"We won't say anything that will be offensive to most people. No one has left sermons because of my content," he said
"We try to meet a good balance between Bible communication and topics that people want to hear about, like sex and sexual intimacy. It's all based on God's word, because that's our foundation for communicating," he added.
