Re-marriage and the Church of England

The Church of England teaches that marriage is a life-long covenant between a man and a woman. Nevertheless, it does recognise that some marriages do fail and that there are exceptional circumstances when a divorced person may be married in church during the lifetime of a former spouse.

The decision whether or not to solemnise such a marriage in church rests with the parish priest concerned. In general, they will expect that both parties are committed to the church in an evident way, for example, by attending services regularly. They will also expect to see that little, or no fault can be attributed to the divorced party for the breakdown of the former marriage. Even then, the priest is still quite within their rights to refuse to perform a church wedding. They may also refuse to allow their church to be used for such a marriage even if another priest is willing to perform the ceremony.

If a couple have been refused a marriage service in church, the priest may consider other alternatives with them, such as holding a service of Blessing.