UK Edition
Church keeps medieval marriage banns to attract young worshippers
The Church of England has voted to preserve the medieval tradition of reading the marriage banns in an attempt to keep up congregation numbers among young people.
Members of the General Synod, the governing body of the Anglican Church, said ditching the popular tradition would mean losing an important source of new worshippers.
The tradition, which dates back to 1215, involves reading the couple’s names out loud during three services and praying for them in the lead-up to their union.
Couples do not have to attend but, during yesterday’s debate over a proposed change to the rules, ministers said that many came to church specifically to hear the banns being read. Just under 45,000 people got married in Church of England churches in 2015.
The plan, which was rejected by all three houses of the synod – the bishops, clergy and laity – would have required couples to go to civil registrars to arrange church weddings.
Supporters argued that priests already have too much to do without administering marriages and checking passports. But opponents said the banns were an important way of getting young couples to attend their local church.
Cherry Vann, the Archdeacon of Rochdale, said: “It gives us access to 90,000 people in the 18-45 age group which is the age group that we struggle to reach.”
She said she also knew a vicar who had first come to church to hear her own banns read and urged the Church not to “shoot ourselves in the foot” by stopping the tradition.
The Rev Kate Stacey, a vicar from Oxford, told the debate that banns “attract people into church” while sending them to a civil office would mean forcing them to deal with a “faceless bureaucracy” instead.
A controversial bishops’ report about gay marriage will be debated and voted on by Church members today.
Many have said they will vote to reject the report, which said gay and lesbian people were welcome in the Church, but that the policy not to allow gay marriage would not change.
A protest by gay rights groups outside the synod is planned .
The synod is also expected to call on the Government to impose tighter regulations on fixed-odds betting terminals.
The synod approved new rules which allow Salvation Army members to preach in churches for the first time since the Christian charity was founded in 1865.