Columbus St. Mary, Mother of God Church in the German Village neighborhood was chosen as the best religious venue in the city for a wedding by Columbus Monthly readers in the magazine’s third annual Best of Columbus Weddings poll.
The church, 672 S. 3rd St., received 20.92 percent of the votes cast. Columbus St. Joseph Cathedral was second with 16.28 percent.
Deacon Roger Minner, who has been part of the church’s marriage ministry for 35 years and a deacon for 17 years, said the look of the renovated 154-year-old church attracts couples to the site.
“Its beauty is an evangelization tool,” he said. “It also is conveniently located just south of downtown Columbus and near interstates 70 and 71.
“Since around the mid-1990s, couples have attended Mass here and seen how beautiful the church is and how warm the congregation is. In several instances, they have become parish members because of their wedding experience,” he said.
The church invites engaged couples from any parish to be married there as long as one member of the couple is Catholic and has received permission from his or her home church’s pastor to have the ceremony at St. Mary. The couple is required to have attended Catholic marriage preparation classes.
Deacon Minner said that 30 to 40 couples per year, half from outside the parish, have been wed at his church annually for most of the past 25 years. Exceptions were during the weeks in 2020 when all Ohio Catholic churches were closed because of COVID-19 and during the period between October 2016 and April 2019, after a lightning strike caused significant structural damage to the church, resulting in an $8.5 million renovation that made it brighter inside and restored its original look.
The church has an active music ministry that allows it to have several musical options for a marriage ceremony, including a 120-year-old organ and a piano, with cello, violin and trumpet accompaniment available on request.
The parish also is building an addition to its school behind the current school and rectory. The addition will include a parish hall that will accommodate as many as 250 people for wedding receptions.
Deacon Minner said most weddings at the church occur on Friday nights or Saturdays in the morning and early afternoon. The hall will be available to couples unless a parish organization has reserved its use.
For more information, contact the church at (614) 445-9668.
