• Worship Leading
• Mission Practitioner
• Children’s ministry
• Youth ministry
• Healing and Wholeness
• Pastoral Assistants

• A Core module on Discipleship and Ministry/ 8 weekday evening sessions
• Two modules on chosen elective subject/16 weekday evening sessions
• Three Saturday morning workshops
• Potential students need the PCC and Vicar to support and sponsor the training.
• Tuition Costs: Your church has paid the tutoring costs already through your parish share!
• Other Costs: Your Time. Transport.
• Benefits: New knowledge and experience. Boosted confidence. Worthwhile challenge. Abilities to serve with greater understanding. Exposure to new people and potential.

Gillian Oliver from the communications office, Archbishops Council made a presentation entitled “Bridges and Barriers to Church Weddings” including a video of  extracts from focus group research conducted by the Henley Centre into attitudes to marriage, weddings and Church. The Cof E now marries 25% of all marriages, 60,000 pa, down from 180,000 in 1971. Weddings were now seen as the final stage in the making of a commitment.  75% of those surveyed still saw church as the “ proper” place to get married. 44% wanted more support before the ceremony and 39% more support afterwards. There is space within contemporary society for the Church to talk positively about marriage. There is a need for the Church to make clear coherent and unapologetic communication, for explicit understanding as to who is entitled to a church wedding, and for active reassurance to couples. There was a need for more clergy training, promotion of good practice in marriage preparation and support, and better promotional material for e.g wedding shows.

 Gill Calver, speaking as a member of the General Synod steering committee, explained the aims of the new Marriage Measure passed by General Synod and coming into force 2008.The principal object was to   increase the “qualifying conditions” by which people can be married in a parish without recourse to special licence.These include

The measure got through General Synod after twice having been referred back  but eventually passed unanimously by House of Bishops and with just 3 votes against in each other House. Nevertheless it was stressed that there was considerable opposition to a wider relaxation of conditions and the measure agreed was necessarily a compromise.

Dudley Shipton spoke as someone who had been both a Methodist lay preacher and a Registrar. He stressed that as a Registrar conducting civil ceremonies he was expressly forbidden any religious content whatsoever.

He considered that there was a lot more work to be done by clergy and laity  -“ all things are possible”!

 In group discussion there was certainly enthusiasm for the Measure as a first stage to an eventual further relaxation in conditions and for continuing preparation and support. The opportunity for a lay role e.g. when couples come to hear banns read, was emphasized.

 A final thought – society as a whole may tend to pay too much attention to the wedding and not enough to marriage. Did I detect a tendency for the Church to go down that route also?

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