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Can We Get Married at St Paul's?

We would love to welcome you for a church wedding at St Paul's and the good news is that you can marry in our church regardless of your beliefs, whether or not you are christened and whether or not you have been a regular churchgoer.

Because getting married gives you a whole new legal status with many benefits, there are some legal requirements you need to meet to get married at St Paul's. You can get married at St Paul's if you or your fiancee meet any of the following criteria:

you live in our parish
you are on the the electorall roll of St Paul's
you are able to demonstrate that you have a qualifying connection to our parish.

Qualifying Connections

You have a Qualifying Connection to our parish if:

one of you:

has at any time lived in our parish for a period of at least 6 months or
was baptised in our parish or
was prepared for confirmation in our parish or
has at any time regularly gone to normal church services in St Paul's, Birkenshaw or St Luke's, East Bierley for a period of at least 6 months or

one of your parents, at any time after you were born:

has lived in our parish for a period of at least 6 months or
has regularly gone to normal church services in in St Paul's, Birkenshaw or St Luke's, East Bierley for a period of at least 6 months or

one of your parents or grandparents:

was married in our parish

And did you know that if you move house, you’re immediately connected to the church there? That means you can marry in the church of your new parish.

In all cases involving church services - i.e. going to normal church services, baptism, confirmation or marriage - this applies only to Church of England services. Even if you cannot demonstrate any of the above connections, we want to help you explore whether it may still be possible for you to marry in our church.

Marriage After Divorce

At St Paul's we wish you 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. So in certain circumstances the Church of England accepts that a divorced person may marry again in church and this has been the case since 2002. If one or both of you are divorced please contact one of our churchwardens (see Who's Who page) who will be happy to discuss whether it is possible for you to be married at St Paul's. Even if it is not possible to do your wedding, we may offer a blessing service after a civil wedding.

Not Sure?