The Church Weddings Handbook

With couples now having multiple choices about venues for their big day, the Weddings Project was set up by the Archbishops' Council to explore why 22% of all couples still choose a traditional church wedding, what those couples experience along the way and what might be done not only to make marriage in church more attractive, but to make church itself attractive to those who come to be married. The findings have already begun to transform the ways that local clergy and congregations relate to couples wanting to marry. They identified seven key opportunities for real missional engagement emerged from the research, beginning with the initial enquiry (often made in great trepidation), through the service planning, the reading of the banns, the day itself and the first anniversary. This book explores each one in detail and offers an entirely fresh approach to this vital ministry. It explodes numerous myths about why people choose to get married in church and provides a range of trusted resources that will renew pastoral approaches in this key area of ministry.Read less