Reviews of the book For As Long As We Both Shall Live

"I found For As Long As We Both Shall Live, by Roger Fritts (Avon, 1993) helpful because it included sample Jewish, Catholic, and Protestant ceremonies and suggestions for combining them into interfaith services. The book divides the ceremony into sections-invocation, vows, ring exchange, etc,-and compares each tradition's approach. It also explains rituals that are unique to each religion, and includes modernized and traditional wordings."--Brooke Masters, The Washington Post, April 18, 1996.

"Roger has written a wonderful -- and quite useful -- book about the sometimes joyful, sometimes arduous tasks of planning your wedding.

"Writing from the experienced perspective of a Unitarian minister, Roger has officiated at a wide range of weddings, from the very traditional to the contemporary (on a sailboat built for Humphrey Bogart). Roger walks couples through all the things they will need to think about when planning their wedding.

"The first half of the book is nicely organized around nine basic parts of a traditional wedding ceremony. Within each section, Roger compares Protestant, Roman Catholic, and Jewish services, as well as including examples from contemporary services. The second half of the book contains the test of several different weddings that Roger found unique, and these serve as examples of the ways the various traditions can be creatively adopted. It also includes all sorts of practical advice from how to go about writing your own service to how to select and handle the photographer.

"For As Long As You Both Shall Live will provide considerable food for thought to couples who intend to play a major role in planning their own wedding service. But it will be equally enriching for ministers and couples who plan to "go with the flow" of their religious tradition. The book's great virtue, apart from Roger's sense of humor and lively style, is its ability to stimulate our thinking about the meaning of what is for many of us one of life's most important rites of passage." --Steve Martz

"It goes to the top of my list of recommended references for couples."--Reverend David Blanchard

"What a wonderful book. I sat down with the intent of a quick run through, and practically read it from cover to cover! So sound, sensible, spiritual and, best of all poetic and lyrical."--Connie Goldberg

It is destined to become a classic among collections of this sort."--Reverend Richard Thomas

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Revised - June 29, 1996