What is the Church’s teaching on divorce? The Church of England wishes all who marry a lifetime of love that grows within God’s protection. But we recognise that some marriages do fail for all sorts of sad and painful reasons.
As someone who is divorced, can I marry in church? There may be a way forward for you to be married again in church. The Church of England agreed that divorced people could remarry in church under certain circumstances. However, because the Church views marriage to be lifelong, there is no automatic right to do so and it is left to the discretion of each Parish Priest. That will mean that you will need to have a conversation with the Vicar about the circumstances behind your divorce before it will be possible to confirm if a marriage can be proceeded with.
Also, while most weddings take place under banns it will also be necessary to send a notification of the proposed wedding to the Bishop using a standard form which must have the Vicar’s support. The guidance notes that includes an application form are here to download. Once you have arranged a time and date to meet the Vicar by phone or e-mail just bring it along having completed it.
If you want any further clarity, please do just contact us.
We’ve called ourselves “Celebrate” as it reminds us how muchwe have to celebrate in all aspects of our lives, and we do enjoy celebrating together in all sorts of events.
St Jude’s tries to be relaxed and friendly. We don;t use hymn books, but instead project all the words you will need to take part onto our large screen. If you think church is somewhere you can’t smile and where you have to know what to do to join in, you will have a nice surprise with us. We really do want you to feel welcomed and comfortable the moment you arrive.
Our main family worship time on Sunday mornings is at 10.30am. With Kids Church for school ages & Starfish for older toddlers running at the same time in the Lower Hall except for the second Sundays each month when we get together for All Age services.
There is also a crèche area at the back of the church, were you can supervise your child and still partake in the service.
The service talks sometimes follow the readings from the Church of England lectionary and other times themed weeks. We have a number of speakers on a rota, each with their own style. We take Communion together on alternate Sundays. Kids Church rejoins the main service towards the end in order to share in communion and the final part of the service.
After the service Refreshments are available with time to stay and chat.
Our Prayer Ministry Team is available to pray for people after each service, in confidence and with some privacy if you wish.
So much of church life is about being together and doing things with others. And if you like cute, you’ll like this short cartoon that helps to illustrate community…
Apart from the services, we also have a range of Small Groups that get together, a variety of social events across the year such as beach days, quiz nights, Sing-a-long film evenings, book clubs, film nights, the World Cup on large screen tv…
If you look at our News page you’ll get the most up to date events – or maybe just have a meander around the site!
