Words of Praise
''Finally! Glusker and Blackstone have penned the most inclusive (and dynamic!) resource for officiants as well as couples considering marriage, renewals, and other commitment ceremonies. From the most traditional weddings for straight couples, to the more modern ceremonies for LGBTQ families - it's all here! Thanks for putting everything needed for a ceremony in one place!''
- Rev. A. Keith Mozingo, Sr. Pastor, Founders Metropolitan Community Church Los Angeles
''Words for New Weddings is an excellent resource for those preparing to officiate at weddings. It provides fresh new language for everyone, with many options from which to select the right words for any wedding ceremony and for ALL couples. Thank you, David and Tom, for providing this rich, valuable and most inclusive resource.
As we prepared for my granddaughter's wedding, we were able to select just the right words for her wedding ceremony from this book. Their chosen words expressed old truths and promises for new generations of couples, as they spoke of their love and declared their lifetime commitments to each other.''
- Cliff Ives, Bishop of the United Methodist Church, Retired, Portland, Maine
STEP 1 - what type of wedding Do you want to have?
Will it be spiritual or secular? Will it be formal or informal? Will it include music or not? Will it be indoors or outside? It's up to you!
STEP 2 - what words DO you want spoken at your wedding?
We make it easy by offering you traditional and contemporary options. For example, would you like a traditional Exchange of Rings, a non-religious Pronouncement and Declaration, a modern version of the Lord's Prayer, etc. Just read the choices, decide which work best for you, and use them (in whole or in part) to craft your unique and personal wedding.
StEP 3 - Do your own thing!
Use Words For New Weddings as a permanent citation, or don't! We actually encourage you to use this book as a one-time reference. Go ahead and mark up, annotate, and cut out pages/sections that you find useful and meaningful; and consider compiling them into a three-ring binder. This makes it much easier for the officiant to follow your wedding wishes in an organized fashion. So go ahead and take the opportunity to make your wedding unique and truly “your day"!
About the Authors
Rev. Dr. David Glusker
The Reverend Doctor David Glusker is a retired United Methodist clergy who served as the pastor of local churches in Maine and Massachusetts for twenty-six years, and as an ecumenical media minister, reaching people in northern New England, Canada, and part of the Mid-West for fourteen years. He is a graduate of Eastern Nazarene College (BA), Boston University School of Theology (M Div), and New York Theological Seminary (STM and D Min). He is married and has three surviving children, three step-children, and fourteen grandchildren. He and his wife, Nancy, live in Maine and worship at the Pleasant Street United Methodist Church in Waterville,
Maine, where the Reverend Dr. Thom Blackstone has served as the pastor.
Rev. Glusker is a past president of the Maine Council of Churches. He served as a short-term volunteer missionary in Jamaica, worked with his wife as a volunteer for hurricane relief in Texas for several years, has been a short-term volunteer pastor in Eleuthera, Bahamas, and served for ten years as a mission team leader for groups going to “Salud y Paz” in Panajachel, Guatemala. His carpentry abilities have enabled him to build simple furniture for school children, as well as a communion table for a local church, and has designed and built a medical clinic. At age eighty-three, he continues to look for ways to serve God and God’s people.
In 1983, Rev. Glusker invited his good friend, the Rev. Dr. Peter Misner, to join him in creating a book that would help couples play a larger role in creating their own wedding ceremonies. Words for Your Wedding was published and proved to be a helpful tool for thousands of couples and officiants planning weddings. In 2019, he invited his pastor and friend, the Rev. Dr. Thom Blackstone, to join him in a similar project that would address the ever-changing and more inclusive world of the 21st century. Their goal is to help the human family be more loving and inclusive, to encourage acceptance of differences, and to serve the God of Love during their remaining years.
Rev. Dr. Thom Blackstone
The Rev. Dr. Thom Blackstone is an active United Methodist clergy who has served United Methodist Churches in Maine and Rhode Island since 1991. He also served as adjunct professor of New Testament and Preaching at Bangor Theological Seminary in Maine and teaches preaching classes at the New England Local Pastors Licensing School and the denominational “Course of Study” Program administered by Wesley Theological Seminary in Washington, D.C. He is a graduate of Albright College (BA), Princeton Theological Seminary (M.Div.), and Emory University (Ph.D.). He completed his dissertation on the Book of Hebrews as an act of preaching under Dr. Fred Craddock in 1995. He is married to his wife, Lynn, and they have three adult children. He is also an avid amateur photographer, seeking to reflect spiritual transcendence by freezing moments of time.
Having served churches in some of Maine’s most beautiful coastal towns, Rev. Blackstone has officiated at hundreds of weddings for parishioners and strangers alike, often making use of the first edition of Words for Your Wedding. He is honored to have the opportunity to update our language about marriage, while at the same time affirming the premise of the first edition: that the words we speak at weddings are powerful and important, and that those speaking those words should be empowered to choose words that express who they are and what they are promising to one another on their special day.