From this day, paired for life
They were magic words, charged yesterday with such power and meaning that upon hearing them, hundreds of people in the Arlington Street Church leapt to their feet and cheered.
"By the power vested in me by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts," said the Rev. Kim Crawford Harvie, who was cut off by roars coming from the pews, shaking one of Boston's oldest churches. After the applause subsided, Crawford Harvie looked at David Wilson and Robert Compton and said, "I hereby pronounce you partners for life, legally married."
The wedding of Wilson and Compton, one of seven couples who sued Massachusetts for the right to marry their partners, was among the first to be held in a church or temple on the day gay marriage became legal in Massachusetts.
Many couples opted for brief civil ceremonies, getting married at city halls, in the offices of state representatives, or before justices of the peace. Others are waiting to have religious ceremonies; the Unitarian Universalist Arlington Street Church will have numerous weddings on Thursday.
Wilson and Compton, who celebrated a commitment ceremony in October 2000, designed yesterday's ceremony with an eye, for the most part, toward the traditional.
"I don't think this was any different than other weddings," said Peter Johnston, the church administrator. "There was music and candles, and they signed the marriage certificate. Clergy was present. They exchanged vows."
Johnston paused and laughed.
"It was on a Monday morning, so that's not so usual," he said.
Wilson and Compton, both of Boston, walked down the aisle together, dressed in matching black tuxedos, with white shirts and red- and orange-striped ties. Their walk was preceded by a lengthy piano prelude, and a moving rendition of the song "Marry Us" by the Boston Gay Men's Chorus.
Crawford Harvie's invocation: an excerpt from the Supreme Judicial Court's written opinion declaring same-sex marriages legal.
"We declare that barring an individual from the protections, benefits, and obligations of civil marriage solely because that person would marry a person of the same sex violates the Massachusetts Constitution," Crawford Harvie read.
The words produced tears from people in the pews.
Wilson and Compton faced each other, holding hands, and Crawford Harvie asked them one at a time to repeat after her.
"I affirm the unique relationship that exists between us," Crawford Harvie said, and the couple repeated her words.
"I promise to love you and comfort you and encourage you," Crawford Harvie said, and the couple repeated her words.
"I promise to respect you and to be considerate of you and to share your hopes and dreams," Crawford Harvie said, and the couple repeated her words.
Wilson and Compton committed to love each other until death. They exchanged rings, were pronounced partners for life, and then hugged and kissed.
"Rob and Dave, you are already married by the power of your own love," Crawford Harvie said, "but today there is something more."
Indeed, there was: the signing of a marriage certificate waiting on a nearby table.
The couple held up the certificate and received another standing ovation, and then they walked down the aisle together again, this time legally married.
"I don't think I've felt like this in my entire life," Compton said on the church's front steps, where they were greeted with applause by passersby.
After shaking hands and hugging their hundreds of guests, Wilson and Compton strolled down the church's steps. Friends and family pelted them with rice. And then they were driven off in a black stretch limousine.
