Bishop helps couples with wedding planner

Bishop helps couples with wedding planner


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16 October 2008

The Bishop of Bolton is sending major stores across Greater Manchester details of a new church website that helps couples plan their entire Church of England wedding service online.

Stores such as John Lewis, Debenhams, and House of Fraser will shortly receive supplies of leaflets which give details of the Church Service planning site and it is hoped that these will be given to couples who come to lodge their wedding list with the retailer, helping to make planning the happy day even easier.

The new Church Service planning site at www.yourchurchwedding.org, helps couples plan their service; everything from readings, special words and hymns. These can then be printed off and taken along to their local church to show their vicar. For those who are still fearful about approaching their local vicar face to face, there is even a link to a ‘virtual vicar’ in the form of the Revd. Jan Harney (who is a priest in the Diocese of Manchester) who regularly answers the queries of anxious brides-to-be on her online blog.

Church and clergy at the Manchester Wedding Show to share good news


The church service planning site is one of a number of new ways that the Church of England is using to promote church weddings. In October the Church changed the law to make it easier to have a wedding in church and this weekend (19-20 October 2008) the Diocese of Manchester will have a stand at the UK Wedding show in Manchester Central (formerly GMex). The stand will be staffed by clergy who will also be answering couples’ questions about the new marriage law, as well as offering free resources to help couples plan their wedding day.

The Bishop of Bolton said: “I hope stores will pass on details of our new Church Service planning site. We know from research that many more couples would choose a church wedding if they knew they were allowed. We want to tell people, whether they go to church or not, they’ll receive a warm welcome from their local church. We also want to let them know that now, thanks to this new law, having a church wedding is a lot easier.”

The Church Wedding Service planning site can be found at www.yourchurchwedding.org.

Revd Jan Harney’s blog is at www.newlyweds-uk.com/blog/jan_Harvey.  

Report on the Virtual Vicar at BBC Online


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