Rev. William F. Mies and Joanne Marshall-Mies individually officiate at wedding/re-commitment and welcoming/christening ceremonies. For many years, they’ve introduced over 150 couples to their process of creating and officiating at unique wedding ceremonies. Reviews on WeddingWire testify to the couple’s satisfaction and enjoyment during this experience. Together, Bill and Joanne work with parents to design and then officiate at welcoming/christening ceremonies to welcome children to life with their families, friends, and community.
Bill and Joanne serve primarily in Maryland, Washington, DC, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, Delaware, and New Jersey. Arrangements can be made for other locations.
“Rev. Mies and his wife, Joanne, did an amazing job helping us craft the perfect wedding ceremony. We truly appreciated how they took the time to get to know us as people and helped guide us on this journey. Through their expertise we created a genuinely unique and custom ceremony that allowed us to properly celebrate our marriage. They listened to our needs and desires and provided a beautiful and memorable ceremony. Many of our favorite moments of planning the wedding came from the activities provided by Mindful Ministry, and we are truly thankful to have had them as part of our special day!
Thank you so much Bill and Joanne!”
Meet Joanne and Bill
• Professional Organizations: International Council of Community Churches, Society of Christ’s Priesthood, and CITI Ministries, Inc.
• CFM Qualified MBSR Teacher, awarded by University of Massachusetts Medical School
• Affiliate Teacher: Insight Meditation Community of Washington (IMCW)
• Education: B.A. degree in philosophy; 5 years of graduate work in Theology, equivalent to a Masters of Divinity, which culminated in ordination to the priesthood.
Mindful Ministry means that my emphasis is on creating an atmosphere where presence, awareness, and compassion abide during the wedding preparation and ceremony. This encourages couples to focus on what really matters – their love for each other.
The ministerial services I provide include:
• Weddings and Recommitment Services
• Welcoming Ceremonies and Christenings
• Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction
• Spiritual Counseling
I was also trained as a Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) instructor at the Center for Mindfulness in Medicine, Health Care, and Society at the University of Massachusetts Medical School. I have developed and conducted numerous Classic MBSR courses and created a workshop on Mindful Communication. I have coordinated and facilitated mindfulness meditation dialogue groups throughout the DC/VA/MD area.
“Working with Bill and his wife Joanne really made our wedding ceremony ours and we could not be happier about how it turned out! My now husband and I really enjoyed the mindfulness aspect of Bill’s services and were very excited to work with him after meeting with him! He is not just in it for the money. He truly care about you as a couple…”
• Professional Organizations: American Psychological Association
• Co-counseling, Mastering the Art of Relationships
• Education: M.A., Psychology, Wake Forest University
I am a minister of the Universal Life Church who specializes in working with couples to create unique and mindful wedding ceremonies that reflect their personalities, relationship and, if desired, cultural and religious backgrounds. These ceremonies can be:
• traditional or non-traditional
• religious or non-religious, interdenominational
• humanist
• heterosexual or same-sex.
As your ceremony officiant, I encourage couples to be present to what really matters, your love for each other, your families and friends. Together, we’ll create your wedding ceremony, and then I’ll personally officiate at your rehearsal and wedding. Reviews on WeddingWire by couples with whom I have worked reflect their enjoyment and satisfaction.
Of special interest to me as a psychologist are couple’s relationships and mindful communication. I recently edited The Couples Cure Book: Mastering the Art of Relationships in 7 Easy Steps by Prestell Askia, and have coordinated and facilitated mindfulness meditation dialogue groups throughout the DC/VA/MD area
“My husband and I really wanted to have a very personal ceremony. We were looking for an officiant who could help us make our ceremony different and special. Joanne helped us create the perfect ceremony from start to finish, sharing the story of how we met and our love for each other. Our guests are still talking about how amazing and personal it was. I would definitely recommend Joanne!”