Getting
Married?
We are running a Marriage Preparation course 7:00-9:45pm on 5
Thursday evenings between April 19th and 17th May 2007. It will
be held at the Holy Trinity Church centre (Old Blue Coats School
next to Coventry Cathedral). The course, which uses the excellent
material developed by Holy Trinity Brompton the home of Alpha,
aims to develop strong foundations for a lasting marriage and
covers, communication, commitment, resolving conflict, keeping
love alive and shared goals and values. The evenings are informal
with talks, refreshments and couple discussion times.
If you would like to know more – please pick up a blue invitation
form or contact Bob & Seringa Dudley on 01926 858257
Why
get married in church?
Well,
of course, you don’t have to! There are many other places
that you could choose for a marriage ceremony to be conducted.
Many couples still chose to be married in church because they
wish to demonstrate before God that they are serious about the
vows they are taking. When we invite God to be a part of this
special day, we are asking for his blessing and strength to help
us live out our promises.
Holding the service in Church enables other Christians to be part
of the new commitment which the Bride and Groom are making, and
during the service they too pledge their support for and pray
for those being married. At the end of the service we ask for
God’s blessing upon the newly weds, a blessing which we
are confident He wants to give.
Who
can get married at St Johns Church?
We
would love to help you if we possibly can, but are bound by legal
restrictions. The parish system of the Church of England ensures
that there is a parish church at which you can be married. If
you cannot be married at St John’s, there will be another
parish in which you can be married on the basis of residence.
To
be married at St John’s you need to fulfil one of the following
criteria:
-
One of you must live within the parish boundary. In this case
it is only necessary for banns of marriage to be published,
but they may need publishing in more than one place.
-
Both may live outside the parish, but one or both of them must
be on the Electoral Roll of the church. Membership of the Electoral
Roll is open to all who are active and regular members of the
church family.
-
Any couple who lives elsewhere but for which one of them can
show that in the past they were seriously involved in the life
and worship of St. John's over several years. This requires
a Special License which is granted by the Archbishop where the
case can be justified. A strong case has to be made for this
to happen.
The boundary is anywhere south of Leyes Lane, Whitemoor Road,
Station Road and Mercia Avenue, including houses on the south
side of these roads. For further details please look at the town
map. North of this line is the parish of St Nicholas
& St Barnabas Churches, Kenilworth.
If you are under the age of eighteen, you must have your parents
consent to marry.
Please contact the Parish
Administrator for more information.
Preparation
for Marriage at St John's Church
There
is more to getting married than making the great day run smoothly.
A key reason for being married in Church is to have pastoral support
for your marriage. If you get married in St John’s we will
take time preparing you for the wedding day, and encourage you
to think positively about how you can make the best of marriage.
We will also spend time encouraging you to see how God wants to
be part of your future together, and we hope that you will want
to join with us in some of the other things we do, in including
our weekly worship. Wedding preparation is important to us, and
it helps us to get to know you better.
The
first step is to contact us via the Parish Office. For details
please see
here
MUSIC
We
contract an organist in for weddings, we will put you in touch
with them directly so that you may discuss your choice of hymns
and go over the order of service.
If
you have a friend or relative who might want to play the organ
for you, that will be in order but we would suggest that person
will need to come and try it out before a decision is made, as
we have experienced one or two who have wished to play but found
the console and pedals too much!
Sadly,
due to circumstances beyond our control, we are not able to offer
bells as they are in need of repair and unfortunately do not have
a choir available for weddings.
ORDER
OF SERVICE
We
recommend that you get a draft copy of your Order of Service to
us prior to passing it to the printer just to be “checked
over”. We can provide samplers via our office to help you.
You might also like to think about what Bible reading you wish
to include and who would read it (usually a family member or friend),
some popular ones are:
When
you have your initial meeting with the clergy officiating, then
he/she should be able to help you with the order of service and
readings etc.
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