Dave, I'm so glad that you pointed this out. I heard that this same thing happened to couple about 25 years ago at the COB where I was attending. The woman had been attending our services but was not a member. She was divorced with older children. When she wanted to marry again our pastor wouldn't perform the service...... I'm sure that this is just another reason some couples were married by JPs. Another point, at least in the early 1800s Quaker community, if only one of the couple was a member, they ended up being married by a JP or sometimes a minister of another denomination. Pat Date: Thu, 13 Feb 2014 17:58:20 -0500 (EST) From:DESloan@aol.com Subject: Re: [BRE] couple married by JOP When my now wife and I were planning on marrying in Ohio 1969. My wife had attended a non-denominational church in the country and she said she would like to get married there. We drove out to the church and talked with the minister. He refused to marry us because my wife had been married and divorced, On the way back to town we discussed what our options were. One of those options was a JP. Thanks, Dave