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On 1st October 2008, the new Church of England Marriage Measure came into effect. It means that the Church of England’s network of 16,000 churches can offer a wider wedding welcome than at any time in the Church’s history.
Official guidance to clergy on how the new rules work has been published on the Church of England website. Existing law establishes a right for a couple to marry in the Church of England in the parish church where one or both of them live, whether they are baptised or not, and whether they are churchgoers are not. To marry in any other parish requires a special licence or six months of regular attendance followed by entry on the local church electoral roll.
But new laws add to this right of residency, making it possible for couples to marry in a church where they have a family or other special connection, even if they don’t live there.
The changes mean an engaged couple is welcome to be married in church in a parish if just one of these applies:
• one of them was baptised or prepared for confirmation in the parish;
• one of them has ever lived in the parish for six months or more;
• one of them has at any time regularly attended public worship in the parish for six months or more;
• one of their parents has lived in the parish for six months or more in their child’s lifetime;
• one of their parents has regularly attended public worship there for six months or more in their child’s lifetime;
• their parents or grandparents were married in the parish.
The Church’s official publisher, Church House Publishing, has a book aimed at clergy entitled ‘Welcoming Weddings’ detailing the pastoral and practical implications of the changes.
Read about the Measure on the Church of England site