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New Marriage Guidelines
Please note the Guidelines adopted by the
General Assembly this year (Reports p.11):
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| 1. |
A Presbyterian minister should only officiate at a
marriage if at least one of the people concerned has
sufficient connection with a congregation in order to
ensure that meaningful pastoral care can be offered. If
the officiating minister is not the minister of that
congregation, he/she should only conduct the marriage
with the consent of the congregation's minister. The
minister of the congregation should ensure that
adequate marriage preparation is offered to the
couple.
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| 2. |
A marriage service should normally be conducted in a
Church or other place of Christian worship.
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| 3. |
A permanent record should be kept of all marriages in
a book held by each congregation. It should be made
clear that this has no legal status and the
officiating minister can no longer issue a marriage
certificate. Any marriage conducted outside the church
building should also be entered in the book of the
appropriate congregation.
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In addition the Code provides (Par 85(2)):
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A minister should not celebrate marriage on Sunday. |
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Ministers in Northern Ireland should not that they are
no longer authorised to issue any certificates, even
for marriages which have taken place in the past.
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The new regulations in the Republic of Ireland will
become effective on 1st January, 2005.
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Licentiates are not at present entitled to conduct
marriages. An overture to change the Code will be
brought to the General Assembly (2005). |
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Donald J. Watts
August, 2004 |
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