Pastor offers Valentine's do-overs
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Pastor Howard Gunter is ready to renew the vows of married couples today at a Valentine’s Day ceremony and reception planned at Pittsfield Federated Church. Vyto Starinskas / Rutland Herald |
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By Cristina Kumka Staff Writer - Published: February 14, 2009
It's a commitment that originated more than 1,200 miles away in a hospital bed.
Pastor Howard Gunter of Pittsfield Federated Church was visiting the sick in Jacksonville, Fla., two years ago when he encountered a woman lying in a bed, sobbing uncontrollably.
"She said the doctors told her she would never walk again," Gunter said Friday.
The woman, a victim of a violent stabbing that would confine her to a wheelchair during her stay in the hospital, told the pastor she had one regret – that she was married in the back of a pickup truck, Gunter recalled.
"She always lamented the fact that they didn't get married in a church," he said. "So we did the first marriage renewal service in the hospital's chapel."
The couple, known to Gunter only as Tanya and Mark, renewed their wedding vows in what turned out to be a healing moment.
Tanya left the hospital about a month after the ceremony. She left walking, Gunter said.
Gunter's tradition will continue in Pittsfield today with the marriage renewal service of Dorothy and Allen Manning Jr. of Bethel, who will recite their vows 41 years after their wedding.
"It was my idea," said Dorothy Manning, 78, the day before she would receive her Valentine's Day treat. "It makes it nice; it's like you're starting over."
Although the Mannings were the only couple to take Gunter's offer to bless their marriage inside his church, complete with festive heart-shaped décor, a multitude of romance seekers from around the country come to Vermont every year to get married or renew their commitments to each other, according to Annie Alexander-Kramer.
For the past 12 years, Alexander-Kramer of Williston has officiated the marriage, renewal or elopement of more than 600 couples in the state.
"Valentine's Day is more for 'will you marry me?' as opposed to a renewal," she said.
But Alexander-Kramer said she was no stranger to couples who chose Vermont as the spot to reaffirm their commitment.
"Nine times out of 10, it's a family-oriented event in a private, outdoor setting," she said.
"It's always a happy occasion … you always go out smiling."
For Dorothy Manning, a renewal ceremony was something that's been on her mind for a long time.
She married her husband in a Bellows Falls church with an audience of two witnesses.
It's not the ceremony that made her marriage, she said, it was the lasting love that unfolded.
"I don't know, I think you have to work at a marriage," Manning said. "We've had a lot of things go on and you can't have an argument and turn around and walk away," she said.
"You have to settle it and find out what's best for you."
To renew your vows today with Pastor Howard Gunter, call 746-8698. Pittsfield Federated Church is located at 88 Village Green.
cristina.kumka@rutlandherald.com.
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