Afterthought
Puritan Board Senior
Marriage is common to all and so a civil ordinance. The Directory for Public Worship recommends it not be done on the Lord's day. But is the act of getting married (usually done during a wedding ceremony) also essentially religious ordinance and therefore may be done as part of a public worship service, even on the Lord's day? Further, if the act of getting married is essentially a religious ordinance, does the act then also have religious and spiritual significance? If so, does marriage avoid becoming a sacrament solely by it being a civil ordinance?
Here is the line of thought for the first question, since the second and third seem to follow naturally from the first. If marriage requires a vow and covenant to constitute it, does that mean the act of marrying is essentially religious in nature? If so, unlike the use of religious worship in other civil contexts (e.g., prayer before a meeting), which are usually brought up as analogies to argue against this OP's conclusion, could marriage be done in a public worship context? Lawful oaths and vows are an element of public worship, and the act of marrying essentially being a lawful oath and vow, it would seem marriage might be done as an act of public worship during a public worship service, even on the Lord's day.
Here is the line of thought for the first question, since the second and third seem to follow naturally from the first. If marriage requires a vow and covenant to constitute it, does that mean the act of marrying is essentially religious in nature? If so, unlike the use of religious worship in other civil contexts (e.g., prayer before a meeting), which are usually brought up as analogies to argue against this OP's conclusion, could marriage be done in a public worship context? Lawful oaths and vows are an element of public worship, and the act of marrying essentially being a lawful oath and vow, it would seem marriage might be done as an act of public worship during a public worship service, even on the Lord's day.