So I watched the service, straight up, with no commentary this evening. If you want to see it, it’s available .

I’m a liturgy geek, so it was all wonderful, from Cwm Rhondda to Jerusalem, and  a composition by John Rutter. I especially liked the Parry setting of John Milton. OK, so I want the Deaon of Westminster’s cope, too.

But there was also something quite powerful for me in seeing this ceremony, with the Dean of Westminster, the Bishop of London, and the Archbishop of Canterbury, after having celebrated at a wedding at Grace this afternoon. Both were lovely liturgies, with couples deeply in love and family and friends supportive. But each ceremony also pointed to something much greater than any of us, greater than the love any couple can share.

Some of the words I said were quite similar to words said by the Archbishop of Canterbury; I even read the Bishop of London’s sermon before completing my homily–and was astounded to discover that mine was 70 words longer than his. While watching tonight, I felt deeply connected, not only to the couple whose marriage I witnessed and blessed today, but to the larger communion of people who yearn for love and relationship, across the world.

Here’s the prayer, Prince William and Kate wrote:

God our Father, we thank
you for our families; for
the love that we share and
for the joy of our marriage.
In the busyness of each day keep our eyes fixed on
what is real and important
in life and help us to be generous with our time
and love and energy.
Strengthened by our union, help us to serve and comfort those who suffer. We ask this in the Spirit of Jesus Christ. Amen.

Commentary on the nuptials:

From Theo Hobson:

I am a rather keen Christian. The tradition of my upbringing is the Church of England, the established church. But it became clear to me about ten years ago, that this tradition contained the hugest structural error. It shouldn’t be established: Christianity and establishment are incompatible. The case for disestablishment is probably too obvious to restate, especially for American readers. The interesting question, though, is how Anglicanism manages to dismiss this case, how it justifies its refusal to reform.

He concludes with this:

I wish William and Kate all the best: they seem like the nicest sort of posh folk. But I also want to tell this young man that his future job is religiously problematic, that his funny family is unwittingly stifling the renewal of Christianity in my land.

And did you know that Ms. Middleton had to get confirmed quickly?

I cannot help feeling that if Kate Middleton had been serious about her Christian faith, she would have been confirmed in the Church of England at a somewhat younger age than 29. Having attended such expensive private boarding schools as Downe House and Marlborough College, she would have been offered the chance of confirmation while still in her teens. Prince William, for example, was 14 when he was confirmed. Of course, I know nothing of Kate’s views on religion, but neither she nor other members of her family appear until now to have been regular churchgoers. And while sources “close to Kate” are quoted in the Daily Mail as insisting that she went through the ceremony in St James’s Palace because of a “personal journey” of a religious nature and not in order to avoid the awkwardness of being denied Holy Communion when married to a future Defender of the Faith, it is hard to relinquish the suspicion that she did it more for convenience than from conviction.