Sometimes the church doesn’t get it

Gratitude and Love.

I received a letter from Derrick, one of the men in white* I meet with, asking me to be the best man in his wedding.  If I couldn’t be the best man, would I marry them? You can read more about Derrick in George, It Wouldn’t Die and Life for Life.

Prison-approved volunteers are not permitted to officiate or serve in a man in white’s wedding or even attend the wedding..  I asked a young priest whom I knew to preside at the marriage in Torres**.  “He’s not a member of our church.  I would have to get higher up approval.  Has the couple had marriage counseling?  Do they know each other well enough to get married?”  The second person I asked, this one a pastor, responded much the same.

I asked a young Christian nonclergy friend to perform the marriage.  He got licensed from an online church.  With enthusiasm, with gratitude and with love, he performed the ceremony.

*In Texas prisons, all inmates wear white.

**The Torres Unit is a Texas state prison located near Hondo, Texas.