Page 71 - Pastoral Ministries -Student Textbook

J. Spiritual Growth
1. Do both desire to grow spiritually?
2. Are both committed to helping each other grow spiritually?
3. Are they planning to be actively involved as a couple in a local church?

K. Desire for Children
1. Do both desire to have children, if the Lord blesses?
2. Are they open to adoption, if the Lord so leads?

L. Careers
1. Do both plan careers outside the home?
2. Do both plan to work when they have children?

II. The Christian Emphasis in a Wedding

The many attendant things that normally accompany a wedding can be chosen and followed according to the
tastes and choices of the families, such as wedding invitations, rehearsals and rehearsal dinners, printed
programs to be followed that wedding itself, the decorations of the church or chapel, the music to be played and
sung. All of these arrangements and choices are entirely in the will of the families.

One observation that must be made however is that everything connected with the wedding ought to be
distinctly and explicitly Christian. People should feel that they have “been to church” having been present at a
wedding.

In Africa, many weddings involve hiring dancers who assist in the wedding program as well as the reception
service normally held after the ceremony. Many of these dancers are not believers and without proper warning,
can dance in a way that is provocative or indecent. Pastors and others involved in planning the wedding should
make every effort to communicate with these dancers what is appropriate and what is NOT appropriate in the
wedding ceremony and in the reception. It is improper to “offend” the guest of the bride and groom with
dancing that may be classified as sensual.

How to Conduct Funerals

Burial practices in Mozambique and much of Africa
There are many differences in the burial of dead bodies in the surrounding
cultures of the world, but there are many distinctions between Christian and
non- Christians in how they conduct a burial ceremony. Here are some
customs that pastors should be aware:

Traditional burials
When an adult dies, they keep the body for three days, and a child is kept for two days. After the waiting days,
they begin to prepare the coffin, and for some they make coffins out of bamboo. Those families which have
money buy expensive coffins or caskets. After procuring a coffin, they try to make it as beautiful as they can
from inside, and they wash the body and cloth it with new clothes.

Some traditional people tell the family before death where they want to be buried; others decide before hand
how to clean or prepare their bodies.

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