Getting Married in the Four Churches Benefice
Marrying in church is a personal, meaningful and spiritual experience just as you want it to be. Churches are special and unique places to get married in – the prayers, promises and the whole service of celebration become part of your marriage, on the day itself and beyond.
We are always delighted to welcome couples to our churches for marriage. Many people like to get married in a church that has some significance for them in that they grew up in the village or their family has a connection to the locality.
You can marry in a Church of England church if you can show that one of you:
- has at any time lived in the parish for a period of at least 6 months, or
- was baptised (christened) in the parish concerned, or
- is confirmed and your confirmation was entered in the register of confirmations for a church or chapel in the parish (this will usually be the case if you were prepared for confirmation in the parish), or
- has at any time regularly gone to normal church services in the parish church for a period of at least 6 months
or
That one of your parents, at any time after you were born:
- has lived in the parish for a period of at least 6 months, or
- has regularly gone to normal church services in the parish church for a period of at least 6 months
We want to make sure that your wedding is not only a memorable event but that you are equipped to fulfil the promises of lifelong commitment you make in a Christian Marriage. For this reason we run an annual six week preparation course led by the Rector. Many couples have found this a very helpful experience in preparing them for the wedding day and for their married life.
Having your baby Christened
Anyone can get in touch with a church to find about having their child christened. During a christening your child will be baptized with water. It’s the start of an amazing journey of faith for your child and a special day for all your friends and family.
Your child is precious to you and precious to God. You want the very best for them, and so does God. You want them to make right choices in life, for themselves and for others.
A christening is just the beginning of this and so much more.
Over the years to come, it’s a journey you’ll share together with your child by:
- Being there for your child to talk to about the bigger questions of life – questions about hope, faith and love.
- Praying for your child through the ups and downs of their faith journey.
- Showing them practically how to make those good choices in life.
- Helping them to learn more about their Christian faith, through their church and in other ways.
So it’s a commitment to start as you mean to go on.
We like to help you think about this commitment and prepare yourself for the promises you will be making and offer a short course of preparation sessions prior to the Christening.
Funerals
The death of someone we love is one of the most distressing and disorienting experiences of human life. It is sadly at these times when we have to deal with a great deal of administration and bureaucracy and make decisions about our final farewell to our loved ones.
It is at this time when the church can be a support and help. There are many options available for a funeral. You may choose to have a service in the church followed by burial or cremation or simply a service at the crematorium followed by cremation conducted by the Rector.
There is a new South Cambridgeshire Crematorium at Great Chesterford, which opened this year, and makes it much easier to get to services from our area. It is, of course still possible to have your service at the Cambridge City Crematorium at Bar Hill.
All those resident in Foxton, Shepreth and Thriplow are able to have a burial in the St Laurence, All Saints’ and St George’s churchyards. Fowlmere Churchyard is sadly closed but there is a village Cemetery where we can conduct burials.
If you wish our clergy to be involved in your funeral the most important things is to ask the Funeral Director you choose to find out The Rector’s availability before making any booking at the crematorium.
Bereavement is hard to deal with and we have a team of visitors who would be happy to visit you after the funeral as you come to terms with your loss. We also hold an annual service of Hope and remembrance where we remember all those we have lost and if we have conducted a funeral for you within three years we will invite you to join us.
For information about the rules governing our churchyards please see the attached Graveyard Regulations.