Divorced Persons who wish to Remarry in the Church of England

Divorced persons who wish to remarry in the Church of England The Anglican Church regards marriage as a union for life. As a result, where either party to a marriage is a divorced person a remarriage generally cannot be solemnized in a Church of England church. This rule does not apply to marriages which have been annulled. You have recently decided to get married for a second time having been divorced from your first husband. You attend church regularly you obtain a superintendent registrar’s certificate and approach your minister to ask whether he would solemnize your marriage. He refuses. Can you prevail upon him to change his mind?
The answer is ‘no’. He is not obliged to solemnize the marriage of a person whose first spouse is still alive. He can also refuse to permit your marriage to be solemnized in his church by any other person standing in for him. However the minister may well be prepared to bless the union in his church after a civil ceremony by a service known as ‘prayer and dedication’.
Do note: certain parish priests also hold the position of secular registrar so that they may marry divorcees in their church, if they choose. However, a couple cannot insist on the right to be so married where one or the other partner is divorced.
Proposals for change
A working party of the Church has issued a report, Marriage in Church after Divorce, which proposes that the Church’s law-making body, the general Synod, should allow for the remarriage of divorced couples in church under strict conditions. It lays down criteria for those who are seeking remarriage, which would be refused in certain circumstances where, for example, the new partner caused or contributed to the breakdown of the previous marriage, or where children of the former union(s) would suffer further hurt. No change to the existing rules is expected before 2002, however.
Need to observe other rules
Other stipulations to a Church of England wedding are also laid down by law: an Anglican wedding must take place
• in an unlocked church
• between the hours of 8 am and 6 pm
• with two witnesses present during the ceremony