60th Wedding Anniversary Celebration
October 2, 2010, 2:00 to 6:00 p.m.
Alta Mira Club in San Leandro, California
Opening comments about marriage
We are gathered here this afternoon, family and friends of Darlene and Dayle, to share the happiness of renewing their vows at this 60th anniversary of their wedding. They were married on October 5, 1950 at the University Baptist Church in Seattle Washington.
To set the record straight, I was not the officiant at their wedding in 1950. I was only 1 year old then. But for the past 35 years, I have known Dayle and Darlene in California, Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, back in California and more recently in Israel and Jordan. While we were on our Holy Land Pilgrimage this past May, Dayle and Darlene renewed their vows in the church in Cana where Jesus changed water into wine when he was attending a wedding. In a healthy and living marriage, renewing vows happens all the time whether formally like what we are doing today and more likely informally in the ways we live faithfully everyday. Darlene being a gourmet cook makes delicious meals. Every time you eat together, you are renewing your vows to each other. You take time to break bread together making it holy time. When I used have lunch with Dayle in the Valley Forge cafeteria, he would bring these amazing hot meals. He called them “plan-overs” rather than leftovers. We all sat there salivating.
If there were a word to characterize Dayle and Darlene, it would be “caring.” They are absolutely caring people. In Israel, Dayle cared for Darlene when the rocky terrain was difficult to maneuver. Darlene made sure that Dayle didn’t overlook some of the delicious desserts in the all-you-can-eat hotel dinners that we had in Jerusalem. Dayle cared for Christian educators the very first time I met him. Darlene cared for people who are marginalized when she focused on her PhD dissertation at the University of Pennsylvania. They tenderly care for their garden at home and get excited about the names of new plants. And every Christmas if you happened to be one of the privileged ones on their “missionary letter” list, you can see that they care for their children and grandchildren. There were always pictures of their children and grandchildren and how proud they are in recognizing every accomplishment that happens to everyone in the Scott Family.
I’m not surprise that we have wine to enjoy today. Every night, Dayle and Darlene would have a nightcap when they were in the Holy Land. Their cups are always half-full. They see the world with all of its problems and believe that nothing can stop them from solving these problems. I know that at ABSW where Dayle is a trustee, if you need someone to resolve a tangled situation, Dayle is your person.
Marriage is an ancient and honorable relationship, part of our fabric as a people. Dayle and Darlene, it has been a relationship designed for your happiness and welfare. So, as you continue this highest of relationships may all of us be mindful of its implications and responsibilities. Remember the words of Paul the Apostle:
Love is very patient, very kind;
Love knows no jealousy;
Love makes no parade;
Gives itself no airs;
It is never rude, never selfish;
Never irritated, never resentful.
Love is never glad when others go wrong.
Love is gladdened by goodness,
Always slow to expose,
Always eager to believe the best,
Always hopeful, always patient;
Love never disappears.
In this passage from 1 Corinthians 13, Paul said love is not like a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. I have never seen or heard Dayle and Darlene raise their voices against each other.
Love begins first by seeing in the mirror dimly, but after 60 years of marriage, you are still face to face and seeing each other clearly when you have your glasses on.
You may have started your marriage together in childish ways acting foolish at times. But now after 6 decades, you have mature as adults—maybe not as foolish anymore but still child-like in the way you still find true love in each other’s arms.
Because of the love that you have for one another in the past 60 years, you have gained abundance—loving family, good friends, opportunities to serve, teach, guide, and lead and most of all, a loyal, faithful, and caring partner for each other to go through life with. Because of the love that you have for God as your response to the gracious love that God in Jesus Christ has for you, you have gained everything that God’s world has to offer.
We congratulate you and celebrate with you God’s love in your marriage, your love for each other, and your love for all of us.
Renewal of Vows
Dayle, repeat after me: I, Dayle, wish you, Darlene,
to continue to be my wife,
my constant friend,
my faithful companion
and my love from this day forward.
In the presence of God, our family and friends,
I offer you my solemn vow to be your faithful partner
in sickness and in health,
in good times and in bad,
and in joy as well as in sorrow.
I promise to love you unconditionally,
to support you in your goals,
to honor and respect you,
to laugh with you and cry with you,
and to cherish you for as long as we both shall live.
Darlene, repeat after me: I, Darlene, wish you, Dayle,
to continue to be my husband,
my constant friend,
my faithful companion
and my love from this day forward.
In the presence of God,
our family and friends,
I offer you my solemn vow to be your faithful partner
in sickness and in health,
in good times and in bad,
and in joy as well as in sorrow.
I promise to love you unconditionally,
to support you in your goals,
to honor and respect you,
to laugh with you and cry with you,
and to cherish you for as long as we both shall live.
Special Music—Julie Kierstine
Prayer
Our God in heaven, may the joy that fills the hearts of Dayle and Darlene today live with them always. Continue to grant them the gifts of understanding and wisdom. May they continue to be sweethearts, helpmates and friends through life’s glad and sad times. May their home continue to be a good and happy place, filled with contentment for them, their family and friends. Be with this joyful couple now as they continue their life together and stay with them always, guarding and guiding them with your love. Grant them with sober eyes to look beyond these joyous days to the days and years ahead, and to realize that the home they have built together will be part of the sacred tissue of the body of humanity in which you dwell, that thus they may reverence themselves and drink the cup of joy. Amen
Declaration of Renewal of Vows
(Darlene and Dayle join right hands)
For as much as you, Darlene and Dayle, have sincerely pledged to one another to continue to live together according to the high ideals of marriage and have declared this before God and before your family and friends, I therefore certify that you have renewed your wedding vows.
The Lord bless you and keep you, the Lord make his face shine upon you, and be gracious unto you; the lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.
Darlene, you may kiss your husband! Dayle, you may kiss your wife!
Special Music—Julie Kierstine