With children, relatives, friends and the Fountain Hills Presbyterian Church family as witnesses, the Rev. Bill Good and Carolyn Ilnicki were married Dec. 23 afternoon in a festively decorated church.

“There are few occasions where we are privileged to have our family and friends in one spot. This is one such time,” said Rev. Steve Bergeson of Shepherd of the Hills Lutheran Church. “A marriage is sustained by not only the love of two but the love and concerns of family and friends and this congregation.”

Bergeson said Good asked him and Pastor Don Lawrence of Christ’s Church of Fountain Hills to co-officiate two months ago. The three ministers developed a close relationship through the Fountain Hills Ministerial Association.

When the couple exchanged wedding rings, Lawrence referred to their newness and shine.

“Let them serve as a reminder of this special day….the day you said your vows to one another.”

Over the years, he remarked that blemishes on the rings will “only add to their value and your commitment to one another.”

Each member of the wedding party carried a different species of flower upon entering the church, symbolizing the beauty and God’s creation of each child in the marriage.

During the service, they arranged the flowers into a vase, symbolizing the coming together of the two families.

“Love is the glue that holds a family together,” said Lawrence, commenting that it was obvious the bride’s love for her family. “Love is also the glue that holds a marriage together. Christ is the foundation of your lives and should be the foundation of your marriage.”

In late autumn, Good shared news of his upcoming marriage with his congregation in the church’s monthly newsletter. He explained that he and Carolyn met about six months ago and have maintained a mostly long distance relationship between Fountain Hills and her home in Morristown, N.J. where she operates a chiropractic practice.

Good wrote she will live in New Jersey until she can negotiate the sale of her business and home and move to Fountain Hills by this spring.

Her mother, Helen, who lives independently in Dayton, N.J., plans to join the family in Arizona.