Diocese of Winchester » marriage

Celebrate Marriage this February

Administrator — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 20:39:06 +0000

Mothers’ Union members around the Diocese of Winchester will be doing different things to celebrate National Marriage Week, which runs 7th – 14th February.

If you are not involved directly with organising events, please pray for

those preparing for marriage
all who are married
those who are facing difficulties
those who marriages have ended
families in all situations

Ringwood Mothers Union are holding a time of Prayer for Marriage and Family Life at St Peter and St Paul’s Church (Parish Church) The Market Square Ringwood on Saturday 11th February at 10.30am. Immediately afterwards ‘Churches Together in Ringwood’ will be distributing prayer cards and heart shaped chocolates to the public from 11.00am in the town centre.

If your church community has a National Marriage Week event running in the Diocese of Winchester, please add your event below, using the “comment” facility.

Lord of life and love, we pray for all who are preparing for marriage; for those who are already married and for those who find their marriages difficult. Be with them all; in their joy and sadness, their hope and their expectations, and above all, help them to understand that you hold them in love each moment of their lives. We ask this through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen

Information Day – Carrying Forward our Plan!

Administrator — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 19:20:45 +0000

We would like as many Mothers’ Union supporters as possible to come to our next Information Day.

Tuesday 29th November 2011 10am – 2pm
St Leonards and St Ives Village Hall

At our July Information Evening we held taster sessions exploring how we might action our new FIVE YEAR PLAN and went away to think in our local groups about how Mothers’ Union supporters in our area are going to achieve our 2012 targets, which are:

MARRIAGE –

Attend three wedding fairs in the region
Recruit a marriage champion for 2013

FAMILY -

10 groups who do not already support the Mothers’ Union Away From It All Family Holiday to run or organise a fund raising event

MEMBERSHIP -

Every Mothers’ Union group in the diocese to recruit at least one new member or replace a lost member during 2012.

If you are not already a Mothers’ Union member and these targets are something you would like to help us achieve in your area, please come along and contribute ideas.

Refreshments are provided but please bring a packed lunch.

Focussing on marriage, families and membership

Administrator — Thu, 21 Jul 2011 14:19:18 +0000

Mothers’ Union leaders in the Diocese of Winchester have spent much of the last year working on a 5 year plan that will provide all our supporters with a focus for their energies in the next few years.

At our July Diocesan Meeting in Romsey we started to focus on exactly how our local groups might be able to increase awareness of, and fundraising for our work supporting families, promoting marriage and converting good-will into membership. This work will continue with a series of worshops at our November meeting.

We would encourage as many members as possible to attend our next meeting which is now at revised venue:

Diocesan Meeting

Tuesday 29^th November 2011

10.00 am to 2.00 pm

St Leonards and St Ives Village Hall

Celebrating love this Valentine’s Day

Administrator — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 17:06:58 +0000

Valentine’s Day this year falls on Sunday, the last day of National Marriage Week 2010. It gives churches the opportunity to celebrate God’s gift of love and marriage, and the commitment that both involve.

Mothers’ Union believes strongly that marriage provides couples, and children of the couple, with the best foundation for a happy, stable family life, and that it follows that stable families provide a positive bedrock for all of us in society.

In 2002 Mothers’ Union produced a service that could be used in churches who wish to celebrate National Marriage Week: Marriage Week Service You are welcome to download and use the material.

At least one such service is being run in the Diocese this Sunday 14th February, at St. Peter’s Yateley (10am) where Lou Scott-Joynt (Trustee of Relate and Mothers’ Union member) will be the guest speaker.

Alongside this Mothers’ Union recognises the difficulties that face marriages, and that relationships do break down, causing great distress to all those affected. It therefore seeks to recognise the issues involved, works to provide people with mechanisms to help relationships under stress, and heal the wounds that are left behind.

If you want to read more information about Mothers’ Union support for marriage and family life please look at our central website: Mothers’ Union Marriage Week 2010

A day to celebrate

Administrator — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 08:48:04 +0000

A DAY TO CELEBRATE – LOOKING FORWARD TO MARRIAGE!

It’s about the right time of year to start planning for events next February!

If your church is looking for a relaxed and enjoyable opportunity to build relationships with couples preparing for their wedding, why not have a go at organising a day like this.

In consultation with your incumbent, chose a Sunday near Valentine’s Day, design and send out invitations to all couples proposing to get married in your church during the year, and advertise the event more widely to attract couples still ‘thinking about it’.

Provide an afternoon of activities to include:

An organist and/or musicians, to play music from a printed list of appropriate music for “Coming In”, “Going Out”, “Signing the Registers” etc.
Invite some singers to perform hymns from a list of those suitable for weddings;
Invite some members of your congregations to read from a list of suitable wedding readings;
Invite the flower ladies to decorate the church as they would be able to offer a wedding couple, the local florist to create a display of examples of their work and similarly the local photographer and chauffeur;
Provide suitable refreshments and a break for informal conversations – at this point you may like to have invited couples who were married the previous year to join in;
Create a display of material relating to what the parish and regional Mothers’ Union provide in the way of Marriage Preparation and Parenting;
Have all the appropriate information available for couples to take away.

Close the afternoon with a short act of appropriate worship.

There is more information on why and how your church could grasp opportunities to encourage couples to get married in your church, on our Marriage page, including two downloadable sheets of resources to inspire you. Let us know how you put the ieas into practice!

Church Wedding?

Administrator — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 15:26:21 +0000

It’s the time of year for a lot of weddings, but how many people still think about getting married in Church?

A church wedding can have a lot of things that a wedding at another sort of venue might not offer:

you can invite many more people to share in the celebration of your wedding than you may be able to afford to accommodate at a reception… why not ask your parish church if you can share a small informal time with all your guests (after those photo’s!);
by getting married in church you add a spiritual element to the ceremony… think about how God may be able to help you in your marriage in both the good and not so good times to come;
remember, many churches are very photogenic… even more modern ones!

The Church of England now has it’s very own comprehensive website to church weddings and what to expect or ask for. It includes a wedding planner and some ideas of what hymns to chose from. If you want to know more go to http://www.yourchurchwedding.org/