At our recent Parochial Church Council meeting on 11th September, we agreed that at St Richard's we would like to be able to welcome same-sex couples to celebrate and give thanks for their committed relationships.  This could be to co-incide with an anniversary, or following a civil marriage or partnership ceremony that has taken place in another venue.  You can look at the prayers that have been developed for this purpose herehttps://www.churchofengland.org/sites/default/files/2023-12/prayers-of-love-and-faith.pdf

Current guidance allows us to use these prayers during a regular service and you can find details of our current regular service times on our services page.  We look forward to being able to arrange a special service at a time that you choose soon, as guidance is updated.  Whether within a regular service, or on a separate time and date, our ministers are here to help you choose which prayers and readings are right for you, as well as talking about music and other things you may wish to include.  Although, sadly, we are not yet allowed by law to carry out same-sex marriages in our Church of England churches, we hope that this step forward will help us to mark significant milestones with same-sex couples, alongside other life events that we have been celebrating in church since St Richard's was established over 50 years ago.

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