Weddings, Prayers of Love and Faith, and Baptisms
Weddings
A church wedding means you will be married in a very special place, with words, actions, and music which draw out the full meaning of your day and your commitment to each other.
We are delighted to be approached by couples who want to be married in any one of our three churches.
You are welcome to have a church wedding whatever your beliefs, whether or not you are christened and whether or not you regularly go to church.
To be married in one of our three churches, one or both of you must live in the parish or have a connection to Wickford and Runwell: if you don’t live locally you will have to show that one of you:
- has at any time lived in the parish for a period of at least 6 months or
- was baptised in the parish concerned or
- was prepared for confirmation in the parish or
- has at any time regularly gone to normal church services in the parish church for a period of at least 6 months or
- has lived in the parish for a period of at least 6 months or
- has regularly gone to normal church services in the parish church for a period of at least 6 months or
- was married in the parish
Following changes to the way weddings are registered please be aware that you will need to apply for your wedding certificate after the service from the registration service, please see their website for further details.
https://www.essex.gov.uk/order-a-marriage-certificate-after-a-religious-wedding
For more about getting married in the Church of England, follow this link http://www.churchofengland.org/weddings-baptisms-funerals/weddings.aspx
Forms
For Weddings could you please complete our Wedding application form.
If you have been divorced could we ask you to also complete this divorce form.
For Weddings could you please complete our Wedding application form.
If you have been divorced could we ask you to also complete this divorce form.
Prayers of Love and Faith
The Prayers of Love and Faith are a series of prayers that are intended to be used for same-sex couples by ministers. They are intended to be used to pray with and for a same-sex couple who love one another and who wish to give thanks for and mark that love in faith before God.
The Prayers of Love and Faith are not a form of marriage service. They are offered as a form of pastoral provision because there is currently uncertainty about the outcome of the Church’s discernment in relation to same-sex relationships.
The Prayers of Love and Faith can be used in private prayer or as part of a regular service, i.e. a service which would take place irrespective of whether the Prayers were to be said. But the Prayers of Love and Faith cannot be made the principal focus or structure of such a service.
The minister will establish (if one has not already been developed) a pastoral relationship with a couple asking for prayer as part of their journey of faith. Pastoral preparation with a couple will be on each partner enabling the other to flourish and grow more fully into the likeness of Christ as well as how their household may model increasing grace and loving generosity. It will encourage a positive, lifegiving, mutual, faithful, respectful relationship.
Please contact one of our Ministry Team if you wish to request the Prayers of Love and Faith.
Baptisms
In baptism, we thank God for his gift of life and publicly acknowledge his love. In the Anglican Church it is common to baptise young children; this is sometimes known as christening.
Baptism is a 'sacrament' (holy ritual to symbolise grace) in the Christian tradition that is traced back to Jesus himself being baptised in the river Jordan.
We are pleased to welcome children for baptism, whether or not their families are part of the regular church congregations. Baptisms can either take place in a Sunday morning service or on Sunday afternoons: on the first and fourth Sundays of the month at St Mary’s, on the second and third Sundays at St Catherine’s, and by arrangement at St Andrew’s. We ask families to come for a preparation evening before the baptism (this is usually the first Wednesday of the month St Catherine's Church Hall 8pm), so we can explore together what this will mean for them and for their children.
If you would like to book a baptism, please contact the respective church warden for the appropriate church, details can be found on our church pages.
If you are over 16 and exploring the possibility of baptism, please come along to church and arrange to meet one of the clergy.
There is no charge for a baptism.
If you would like to book a baptism could we ask that you complete our Baptism application form.