A wider wedding welcome for families - Church offers family-friendly weddings for couples with children
23 July 2009
Engaged couples are welcome to church for the wedding of their dreams - whether or not they have children. That's the message from the Church of England’s 16,000 parish churches celebrating a wedding ‘high’ this summer.
Now the Church is turning its attention to extending an extra welcome to couples with children, following Archbishops’ Council’s Weddings Project research in Bradford and Buckinghamshire, which found that one in five couples who come to church for a wedding already have children, together or from a previous relationship.
As a response to this, the Church of England has produced two new service guidelines which merge the marriage service with a thanksgiving for the gift of a child or with baptism. The Church hopes these new ideas will help churches show their welcome for couples with children, and give the whole family a special occasion and a new beginning.
Marriage and Thanksgiving for the Gift of a Child is ideal for a couple wishing to celebrate their wedding and thank God for the birth of their child on the same occasion.
Marriage and Holy Baptism offers guidance where couples wish to have their child christened - welcomed into the wider church family - on their wedding day.
The Church has published guidelines online today.
Extract from Church of England press release. Read full article here.
 Sign up to access free online planning tools and post supplier reviews.  Join Online Members Login |
 Advertise your products and services in our supplier directory today by creating your listing online. Sign Up Online Suppliers Login |
 Search for online or local suppliers. Search Suppliers |