The Church of England Marriage Measure 2008, No. 1 is a

Church of England Measure __NOTOC__ This is a list of Church of England Measures, which are the legislation of the Church of England. Some of these measures may have been repealed. Since 1970, Measures have been made by the General Synod; prior to then they were made by i ...

passed by the

General Synod of the Church of England The General Synod is the tricameral deliberative and legislative organ of the Church of England. The synod was instituted in 1970, replacing the Church Assembly, and is the culmination of a process of rediscovering self-government for the Church ...

extending the right to marry in a

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britain ...

church to parish churches with which a person has a qualifying connection.

Effects

Previously, people had the right to be married in a

Church of England parish church A parish church in the Church of England is the church which acts as the religious centre for the people within each Church of England parish (the smallest and most basic Church of England administrative unit; since the 19th century sometimes ca ...

only if they were resident in the parish for six months or if they regularly worshipped there. In order to marry in another church, the couple would have to obtain a special licence from the

Archbishop of Canterbury The archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and a principal leader of the Church of England, the ceremonial head of the worldwide Anglican Communion and the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Canterbury. The current archbishop is Justi ...

, which was not automatically given. The Church of England Marriage Measure was introduced to extend the rights for people to marry in churches. The Measure allows a couple to be married in a church of their choice if one of them has a "qualifying connection" to it, such as being

baptised Baptism (from grc-x-koine, βάπτισμα, váptisma) is a form of ritual purification—a characteristic of many religions throughout time and geography. In Christianity, it is a Christian sacrament of initiation and adoption, almost inv ...

confirmed In Christian denominations that practice infant baptism, confirmation is seen as the sealing of the covenant created in baptism. Those being confirmed are known as confirmands. For adults, it is an affirmation of belief. It involves laying on ...

there. The Measure also grants them the right to marry in parishes in which their parents lived or regularly worshipped, or where their parents or grandparents had been married. However, this right does not extend to cathedrals.

Passage

The Measure was passed by the General Synod of the Church of England and passed through Parliament, receiving Royal Assent from the

Supreme Governor of the Church of England The supreme governor of the Church of England is the titular head of the Church of England, a position which is vested in the British monarch. Queen and Church > Queen and Church of England">The Monarchy Today > Queen and State > Queen and Chur ...

Queen Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. She was queen ...

on 28 May 2008. Concerns were expressed at the time that it would lead to "wedding tourism". Within two years of its introduction, marriages in the Church of England rose by 4% as a result. The approach of the Measure was mirrored in the

Marriage (Wales) Act 2010 The Marriage (Wales) Act 2010 c.6 is an Act of Parliament in the United Kingdom. Introduced as a private member's bill by David Rowe-Beddoe, Baron Rowe-Beddoe and sponsored by Alun Michael MP, it received royal assent on 18 March 2010. It created ...

, bringing the position of the disestablished

Church in Wales The Church in Wales ( cy, Yr Eglwys yng Nghymru) is an Anglicanism, Anglican church in Wales, composed of six dioceses. The Archbishop of Wales does not have a fixed archiepiscopal see, but serves concurrently as one of the six diocesan bishop ...

in line with the Church of England.

References

{{reflist Church of England legislation Marriage in Christianity Marriage law in the United Kingdom Christianity and law in the 21st century Marriage, unions and partnerships in England