New Provisions for Remote Parish Meetings

Guidelines permitting Parochial Church Councils to transact business remotely or by a mixture of in-person and remote means in addition to the established practice of in-person meetings are available here.

Minimum age for marriages now 18

From Monday 27th February 2023 the minimum age for marriage in England and Wales is 18 (formerly 16). This is when the substantive provisions of the Marriage and Civil Partnership (Minimum Age) Act 2022 are commenced.

This applies to all marriages (and civil partnerships) and includes those where a legal preliminary was obtained prior to the commencement of the legislation.

The Act does not affect the recognition of any marriages which have already taken place between minors prior to the passing of the legislation.

Church of England Marriage Registration Webinar

Monday 26 April 11-12 noon and again
Monday 26 April 8-9 pm

The Church of England Life Events team will be offering an hour long webinar on marriage registration changes twice on Monday 26th April – once at 11am and again at 8pm, so that the maximum number of people can attend live.

Neil Turpin from the Faculty Office (am) and Malcolm Brown, Director of Mission and Public Affairs (pm) will join. Both live broadcasts will cover the same material, predominantly looking at the pastoral implications of the new changes. There will be an opportunity to ask questions and a recording of the webinar will be made available to everyone who has registered. The webinar is aimed predominantly at clergy but may of course be of interest to parish administrators and church wardens. This is in addition to the material which has been published by the General Register Office who are responsible for implementing the changes. Please use the links above to register to attend.