The Church of England has today released guidelines for local churches who want to combine baptism and marriage in the same service. This has caused a stir in the press with people asking if the church has relaxed its traditional teaching. I have just been asked to comment by BBC Radio Shropshire.
Performing both a wedding and a baptism in the same church service would be unusual, because baptism is the rite of entry into the Christian Church and usually take place in a main Sunday service. However the Church of England is signalling that there might be occasions when it could perhaps be pastorally appropriate.
This doesn’t in any way change the Church’s teaching on sex before marriage. The Bible teaches that sex should be kept for marriage, so that, in the words of the marriage service, “through the joy of their bodily union they may strengthen the union of their hearts and lives.
The Church strongly recommends couples to keep sex for marriage - and an awful lot of people would be spared a lot of heartache and hurt in broken relationships if they kept to that – but it is not the job of the Church to go around condemning people who don’t follow the Church’s teaching, but rather to offer them the grace of God.
Both baptism and marriage are described in the Church’s teaching as ‘means of grace’, that is, means by which people can encounter the undeserved favour of God through Jesus Christ. Jesus was known as ‘the friend of sinners’, not because he was soft on sin, but because he offered grace and forgiveness to those whose lives were messed up by the pain of sin.
Many people today want the best for their relationship or for their children, but may be shy of approaching the Church for marriage or baptism because they fear they may be judged for having got things in the wrong order. However the Gospel is about grace. The Church of England is here for everyone – indeed every person has a legal right to marry in their local parish church (if they have not been married before) and to bring a child for baptism.
The Church of England is at the heart of every community in the land as a sign of hope – a place where couples can find grace to help them in time of need, and a place where people can find forgiveness and a new start in life through Jesus Christ, who died for our sins and rose again.
All Saints Church Wellington stands on a sacred spot in the heart of the town where marriages and baptisms have been conducted for over a thousand years. This weekend we have four weddings, and we shall also welcome four different families for baptism on Sunday. If you would like to discuss arranging a marriage or a baptism at All Saints – or at our village church at Eyton – please get in touch with the parish office – 01952 248554.
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