Civil ceremony in a Chapel/Church?

Gloomendoom

onlyroz wrote: »

I hope so :eek:

That explains a lot.

onlyroz

Gloomendoom wrote: »

You do realise that there are other religions apart from Christianity?

How long has marriage been regarded as sacred in the Hindu religion, for example?

The whole thread is about Christian marriage.

But in answer to your question, the answer seems to be around 200BC.

http://hinduism.about.com/od/matrimonial1/a/Arranged-Marriages-originated-in-Vedic-period.htm

seashore22

onlyroz wrote: »

My understanding was that CofE churches were legally obliged to perform marriage ceremonies for anybody who met the residency requirements, regardless of their faith (or lack of it). If you were a CofE minister would you prefer to collude in a lie, or instead offer a cut-down service that removed references to God?

Just been catching up with this thread and got as far as this post.

I'm starting to despair now. It's a package, no compromise, no negotiation. If you get married in church then you get God too. Sorry if that upsets you. Good grief.

missbiggles1

onlyroz wrote: »

I hope so :eek:

So, when you got together with your spouse/partner, you sat down and made a conscious decision before falling in love with him/her or believing that you were loved?

onlyroz

missbiggles1 wrote: »

So, when you got together with your spouse/partner, you sat down and made a conscious decision before falling in love with him/her or believing that you were loved?

What on earth has that got to do with believing in God or not?
I am seriously concerned if there are people who declare themselves as Christian without having thought about it.

jaylee3

tea_lover wrote: »

Maybe not disrespectful, I'm sure not intentionally at least. But you are so totally missing the point of faith that it's making a meaningful conversation about these issues almost impossible.

God isn't something you 'chuck in' to a marriage ceremony. Not something you add a bit of to special days to please your aunt, like some sort of divine ice-cream topping.

For Christians, faith is the absolute most important thing in life. It IS life. Every thought, every breath, every moment - it's all for God. And it's only by God's grace that we have any of it.

To talk about removing God from holy sacraments such as marriage just doesn't make sense. It's like assuming it will make no difference to a person if you remove their skin, or their blood, or some other fundamental part of them.

Georgiegirl256 wrote: »

How many times does it have to be explained to you! I'm really not sure why it is not sinking in? :huh:

A church by it's very nature, is a 'house of god', it's a place where people go to 'praise and give thanks to the lord'. So with that in mind, why would anyone ask for a service there that removes the very things that a church exists for?

Errata wrote: »

Strewth, I thought the Bridezilla syndrome scraped the bottom of the barrel but a non-religious wedding in a religious building is beyond parody.

I have only quoted 3 posts, because that is all I can quote, but there are many like this that I agreed with, and thank goodness the majority here see sense.

I have to say I am incensed by the small handful of people here who 'can't see a problem' with having a CIVIL wedding in Church, EXCLUDING religion.

Is this some kind of joke?

Are people *that* ignorant? I can't believe some of the replies I am reading here. They range from laughable, to massively offensive.

As some have said, if you want somewhere 'pretty,' then pick a stately home or something; to think you can have a non-religious wedding in Church is plain rude and offensive to Christians.

Why not go and ask another religion if you can have your fancy 'non-religious' wedding in their pretty Mosque? As long as they absolutely do NOT mention their God!

Go on, try it; see what response you get!

Judging by some of the ignorant and rude comments from certain members on here - even questioning if some people actually *are* Christian - I think a few people would be arrogant enough to ask people of another religion if they could have a non religious wedding in their Church, as they obviously have ZERO respect for people's faith.

Absolutely disgusting. They should be ashamed of themselves.

Georgiegirl256

onlyroz wrote: »

The thing is a non-believer just doesn't understand and probably can't understand what makes a church more special than an equally beautiful non-religious building.

We also don't understand, and can't understand why a Christian marriage ceremony is viewed differently to a civil marriage ceremony. Both result in a couple who is legally married, and who love each other in the same way. I've tried reading the wikipedia page on sacraments but it goes right over my head.

And we don't understand, and can't understand why a Christian is so opposed to their building being used for a non-religious purpose.

Anyway, it's been an interesting discussion and I've learned a number of things that I didn't know about weddings, funerals and civil partnerships.

Change 'we' to 'I', and then the above will be more truthful. I would say a very very high percentage of non-believers do understand, and what's more, they have respect.

Are you just being awkward on purpose? That's a serious question by the way.

Gloomendoom

onlyroz wrote: »

What on earth has that got to do with believing in God or not?
I am seriously concerned if there are people who declare themselves as Christian without having thought about it.

Quite a lot really. Because, in effect, Christians fall in love with Christ.

They may well spend a good deal of time thinking about the relationship but there is no concious decision to fall in love.

What did you expect? That they sit down with a bunch of spreadsheets and carry out a Pugh matrix analysis before "deciding" to believe?

Georgiegirl256

onlyroz wrote: »

The institution of marriage predates recorded history, and the church didn't become involved properly until the middle-ages.

Whilst this is true, you are still totally missing the point.

onlyroz

Gloomendoom wrote: »

Quite a lot really. Because, in effect, Christians fall in love with Christ.

They may well spend a good deal of time thinking about the relationship but there is no concious decision to fall in love.

What did you expect? That they sit down with a bunch of spreadsheets and carry out a Pugh matrix analysis before "deciding" to believe?

I think there's a difference between falling in love and realising you're in love. The latter requires conscious thought. So mustn't there be a moment when you decide "I am a Christian"? Even if whatever that means has developed within you over time?