. . . OR MAYBE NOT

Within the space of about three days, I received two different requests from people wishing to get married at St. Paul's.

When I first arrived, one of the burning questions on the parishioner's minds was, "What are you going to do about weddings?"

St. Paul's is a beautiful historic church that you really don't expect to find in Virginia City, and it was often the site of weddings. The problem was that without a priest, the building sort of fell into the realm of public domain with the townsfolk. It sort of became "their" church, frozen in time, part of the VC nostalgia of the Old West. The people of VC saw it as "their" church, but never really attended, and the actual parishioners of St. Paul's (all six of them), were basically outnumbered and didn't really want to start a range war over weddings.

So weddings were held whenever people wanted. And the last wedding to take place before my arrival included the dismantling of one of our swinging doors.

"What are you going to do about weddings?"

I'm going to put together a rule book. Hey, what else would you expect a referee to do?

I called up some colleagues for advice and copies of whatever they had on file and put together a rule book for weddings at St. Paul's. Actually, the official title is: A Guide to the
Celebration and Blessing of a Marriage.

Where was I . . . oh yes! . . . I received two requests to get married at St. Paul's. The first request came via e-mail. I briefly explained what was required and offered to send a copy of the rule book the marriage guide. The second request came via the phone. We chatted for a bit, I got her address, and I mailed off a copy of the rule book the marriage guide.

I have not heard back from either party. Maybe they don't want St. Paul's after all. Maybe what they really want is a wedding chapel.