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View Full Version : BISHOPS COMMON LICENCE The Right To Marry In A UK Church Of England!!!!



silver13
26th October 2007, 20:26
Further to our earlier post and difficulties finding out about getting married in a UK Church of England while in possession of a Fiancee Visa, we now have some important information for those seeking to get married in a C of E church.

First of all ensure that the church you wish to get married in is actually in your parish, although this is not 100% necessary it helps, visit your local church and they should provide you with a number for the Canon who presides over the churches in the local area, a quick phone call is needed and you can meet the Canon, ours for Birmingham was Canon Michael Blood whom we swore an affidavit saying that we live in the parish that the local church is located in and also have the legal right to get married. Our Bishops Common Licence was issued from BIRMINGHAM DIOCESAN REGISTRY No 1 Colmore Square, Birmingham, B4 6AA Telephone 0121 763 2000 The cost is £70 but obviously may be subject to update and also there is no need to publicise the wedding under BANNS in the church of your choice, so there is a reduction in cost there, swings and roundabouts as they say :-)

The address above is for the Registrar not the Canon, You will need to speak to the Canon first, but maybe these people can give you some further advice if needed :-)

Anyway one problem we had is that the church we wished to get married in was not in our parish, although it is closer to us than the church that is, just like postal boundaries, the parish also has some strange rambling boundaries, so do not assume that the church you attend or wish to get married in is actually your local church, it may not be!!!!

It is important to find this out and make sure that all is legal or you could end up swearing the affidavit again as I did, this causes a little embarrasment and also wastes time, but the solution is this..... As long as you are a regular worshiper of a church then you will be able to swear the affidavit saying that you regularily attend that church and all will be ok, if you are not a regular attender and the vicar has lots of weddings in his church then you may get refused the Bishops Common Licence for anything other than your local church, I know that some churches insist that people getting married attend church regularily for about 6 weeks or more before getting married.

If you do not live in the parish of the church then your vicar will also have to include you in the Parochial Electoral Roll of thier church.

It may be best if You wish to marry in a church, that you go to visit the Vicar before your Better half arrives from the Philippines and maybe even start going to worship before if the vicar is a bit strict?

Anyway for those wanting to get married in a C of E Church then Good Luck, with this information, hopefuly your journey through the technicallities will not be as hard as ours :-)

Next Year in Autumn 2008 there will be some changes allowing people to easily get married in another parish, you should be able to find more information on the C of E Web site