The Church of England has been urged to abolish fees for couples marrying in its churches amid a sharp decline in the number of traditional ceremonies.Blackburn Diocesan Synod has put forward a proposal to set marriage fees at nil or a minimal amount so that “everyone who wants to get married in church should be able to, without worrying about affordability”.The Rev Dr Tom Woolford, from the diocese, said that churches were facing competition in the wedding market, with thousands more licensed venues and specialist venues offering the convenience of an all-in-one ceremony and reception on the same premises.He said: “It is far better to offer marriage for free than not at all, which is increasingly becoming the reality in many parishes.”Fees are set by the Church of England. It costs a minimum of £560 for couples marrying away from home, or £512 in their parish. This covers the cost of the vicar, use of the church, calling out the banns and administration, but not “extras” such as an organist, choir or bell ringers.Basic fees have risen by 300 per cent over the past 22 years, Woolford said, and over the same period the number of Church of England weddings nationally has fallen by 50 per cent, from 63,371 in 1999 to 31,430 in 2019.Even fewer church weddings have been taking place in poorer areas such as Blackpool, where there was a 79 per cent drop between 2010 and 2018.Woolford said that “anecdotally, many clergy speak of couples making enquiries about getting married in their parish church, only to baulk at the cost when informed”.He conceded, however, that cost is not the only reason for the decline in church weddings, and that the fall was partly down to growing secularisation within society. Baptisms are free but have also fallen, he admitted, though only by about half the rate of weddings.The proposals were put forward before a meeting of the General Synod, the church’s parliament, next month. They are due to be debated. However, with dwindling funds, the Church of England does not appear to be in favour of removing the fee.Couples who have married in church have mixed views over whether the fee should be scrapped. Evie Pearce, 27, who works in engineering, married her husband, Dewi, 30, a firefighter, at St John the Baptist Church, Barnack, Cambridgeshire, last July.She said: “We wanted to get married in church, but it did work out more expensive. We paid about £500 and we had to pay for the organist even if we didn’t have them play. If they did abolish fees, maybe it would make the church more at the heart of the community again.”William Nye, secretary-general of the Synod, said: “A wholesale elimination or reduction of the fee would be a poorly targeted intervention as many couples can afford to pay the fee, which represents a small proportion of the overall cost of their wedding. The income lost from setting the fee to nil or a nominal amount reduces the resource available to fund ministry, including in the poorest areas — at a time when many dioceses … are facing deficits.”He added that a priest or rural dean has an option of waiving or reducing the fee in cases of “clear financial hardship”. About 5 per cent of marriage fees were waived in 2019.In response, the Church of England urged couples to get married in their churches. A spokeswoman said: “A church wedding is a unique occasion in which a couple exchange time-honoured vows in a special and spiritual atmosphere. We know from research that many couples want this for their wedding day, whether they are regular churchgoers or not.“We would like to reassure couples that they don’t have to be christened or confirmed, and we welcome couples who already have children — just ask.”
This Sunday (June 26th) is the patronal festival at St Peter's Church, Hascombe. The service starts at 10am.We hope you can join us there but if you are away, or housebound, you can join the service online via this Zoom link.https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84031753445?pwd=x1YWSHIcW5juDyy3IvzXsfpC7MXwyH.1
The Church of England is “adamant in its rejection” of calls to legalise assisted dying, its most senior lay official has said.William Nye, secretary-general of the General Synod, said that the Church opposed assisted suicide because it could lead to people being pressurised into ending their lives and because “a change in the law would undermine the intrinsic value of every human life”.However, Baronesss Meacher, who introduced the Assisted Dying Bill, said that the church was “out of touch” with its congregation, citing a poll showing that the majority of Christians supported changes in legislation.A separate YouGov poll last June suggested that 73 per cent of the general population backed a change. The Royal College of Physicians and the British Medical Association have dropped their opposition to assisted dying.Nye said: “Opinion polls are not a valid means to test ethical arguments. Opinion polls not only rely upon questions which lack nuance or context, they also invite people to imagine themselves into a situation in which most people have no relevant experience.” He added: “For these reasons — and because no new or better arguments to the contrary have been advanced by any of the lobbyists for assisted suicide — the Church of England has been adamant in its rejection of a change in the current law in parliament, in the media and among medical professions.”The synod is to debate the matter when it meets next month. Dr Simon Eyre, a lay member, has put forward a private member’s motion calling on the synod to confirm its opposition to any attempts to change the legislation on assisted suicide. Eyre said that instead the government should increase funding of palliative care by £313 million a year to keep hospices going.Meacher’s bill failed to proceed beyond the committee stage before the parliamentary year ended in April. She suggested then that there was enough support among MPs to pass it. She said yesterday: “Church leaders always explain their position in terms of a concern for vulnerable people coming under pressure from relatives. In reality, vulnerable people are much more at risk under the current law. They can legally cease treatment or starve themselves to death and may come under pressure from relatives. There are no safeguards. An assisted dying law will have strong safeguards.”
CHURCHES are being asked to provide overnight sanctuaries for pilgrims travelling a network of cross-country routes that link sites of religious or historic significance.The British Pilgrimage Trust, which started publicising the trails eight years ago, is seeking cheap accommodation in churches and church and village halls, modelled on the albergues and donativoshostels on the Camino Way across northern Spain.“The sanctuary project has been set up to re-root us to an ancient tradition that has connected those making pilgrimage to the communities through which they travel for many hundreds of years,” the Trust’s co-founder, Dr Guy Hayward, said.“Taking up sanctuary at the heart of a community has proved for many to be an eye-opening — even life-changing — experience. They can enhance their pilgrimage with a night’s stay in a holy place, or simply find the most economical solution to enable them to make a long journey on foot.“Whether it’s the ancientness of the church, the memories in the stones, the stained glass, or the feeling of being welcomed by the community or connecting with the locals — sleeping in sanctuaries can provide a sounder form of sleep, a deeply restorative experience. Sanctuary solves a basic issue for pilgrims and local communities, but it also aligns in an unexpected way with each church’s purpose of being a place of sanctuary.”The Trust suggests a donation set by the provider of between £5 and £20 per pilgrim, depending on facilities offered, or with a sliding scale based on a pilgrim’s income. “The average price per night per pilgrim for a sanctuary is £10, which makes multi-day pilgrimages accessible to society at large,” Dr Hayward said. “It provides much-needed revenue to churches and shared community buildings like village halls, which get 100 per cent of the revenue: we take no commission.”Unlike “champing”, in which families or groups reserve a site for themselves, sanctuaries offer space for travellers sleeping in the same place, whether or not they know one another. The places are available exclusively to pilgrims who sign up for £24 annually as friends of the Trust. Bookings are made direct with the provider using an Airbnb-style app through its website.So far, three routes are covered by the scheme: the Old Way, from Southampton to Canterbury; the Cornish Celtic Way, from St Germans to St Michael’s Mount; and the Golden Valley Way, a 59-mile circuit based on Hereford Cathedral. Here, all but one of the church halts are next to a pub offering food.A rural pioneer priest in Hereford diocese, the Revd Simon Lockett, said that it was “a wild, frugal, contemplative, spiritual experience of divine presence: an affordable celebration of the incarnational in creation, culture, food, and people, by connecting up churches, local businesses, artists, and growers through fellowship around a circular path. It’s a wonderful example of churches combining gifts, skills and vision.”
