Lutheran Ceremony Readings

brideinbluemi

I was born and raised Catholic, and only been to one or two non-Catholic weddings.  We are getting married in my fiance's Lutheran church (LCMS), and I am also planning to join the church ("convert") prior to the wedding. 

So here is my question, who does the readings during the ceremony?  I have noticed that the clergy sometimes does the reading during the Sunday services.  I was hoping to ask my cousin to do the readings, but am unsure if this will be an inappropriate question to ask the pastor if this is not normally how it works in the LCMS. 

Thanks in advance!

yeslek88

I think I can help a little - I've been a member of an LCMS church my whole life.

I don't think this is an inappropriate question to ask.  I've been to several weddings at LCMS churches across the country and have seen ceremony readings done both ways: by the pastor or by one (or more) readers.  To the best of my knowledge, it mainly depends on the couple's preferences. 

It is possible that some churches may have stricter guidelines about who can and can't read during a ceremony.  If you're still unsure about asking, you could check with your fiance or future in-laws beforehand to see if the church has used other ceremony readers in the past. 

I hope that helps, and blessings on your wedding planning!

SoonToBeMrsK12

In our LCMS (equivalent in Canada) church, only the pastor does readings. Much of it is dependent on the pastor himself, however, and also who you would like to do the readings. If your cousin is a girl, it might not fly. It really does depend on the pastor! I go to 3-4 Lutheran weddings a year, and I've never seen anyone other than the pastor do the readings.