The new Measure comes into effect on 1 October 2008.
Full details on the CofE website >>
Download Guidance PDF >>
Common queries: The wording of banns >>
Please contact the Registry (preferably by email) with any queries. Please contact either Tim Berry (Tim.berry@harris-harris.co.uk) or Gill Hawkings (Gill.hawkings@harris-harris.co.uk )
Get the gist: EDITED HIGHLIGHTS
MARRIAGE MEASURE 2008
Please note that the provision of the Marriage Measure will come into force on the 1st
October 2008.
The position for all marriage ceremonies until 30th September 2008
Only persons resident in a parish, or on the church’s Electoral Roll as Non-Residents
have a RIGHT to marry in the Parish Church.
Outside these two categories no-one has a right to the use of a Parish Church, and
would need to seek a Special License from the Archbishop.
The position for all marriage ceremonies from 1st October 2008
Residents in a parish }
Non-resident members of an Electoral Roll }
continue, as before, to have the RIGHT to get married in the Parish Church.
What the Marriage Measure does is to define some “qualifying connections” that confer
an equal RIGHT on a wider group of people hitherto. The “qualifying connections” are:-
1. The person who is seeking to marry in the parish under the Measure:
· was baptized in the parish
· has his or her confirmation recorded in a Register belonging to the parish
(ie. In effect, he or she was prepared for Confirmation in the parish even if
the Confirmation Service was held elsewhere).
· Has at any time had his or her usual place of residence in the parish for at
least 6 months
· Has at any time habitually attended public worship in the parish for at
least 6 months.
2. That person’s parents has at any time during the person’s lifetime:
· had his or her usual place of residence in the parish for at least 6 months
· habitually attended public worship in the parish for at least 6 months
3. That person’s parent or grandparent was married in the parish, according to the
rites of the Church of England.
“parent” in (2) and (3) includes an adoptive parent or a person who has undertaken the
care and upbringing of the person concerned, and “grandparent” in (3) has a
corresponding meaning.
Very often proof of the “qualifying connection” will be found in the Registers of the
parish, or will be provided in certificate documentation from the couple concerned. But
where there is doubt the Minister, if he or she thinks it necessary, may require a person
seeking to marry in the parish under the Measure to make a statutory declaration as
regards any of the information to support that person’s case. Knowingly and willfully
making a false statutory declaration is a criminal offence under the Perjury Act of 1911.
The Common License procedure remains for marriage without Banns.
The Special License procedure remains, but it is presumed will be less in demand than
hitherto.
Full details on the CofE website >>
Download Guidance PDF >>
Common queries: The wording of banns >>
Please contact the Registry (preferably by email) with any queries. Please contact either Tim Berry (Tim.berry@harris-harris.co.uk) or Gill Hawkings (Gill.hawkings@harris-harris.co.uk )
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