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'Love Is a Wonderful Thing' |
................so goes the song and today this became a
reality.
During the last
week of the school term, when everyone is thinking about
holidays, Grace and Adam came to church to make their
marriage vows. With a packed congregation, beautiful ribbons
along the pews, specially created flower arrangements, and
the organ heralding the arrival of the bride, it was a
wonderful occasion. With six bridesmaids, a very shy groom
who was sorted out by his bride, a best man with two
specially purchased rings, and a mother-in-law ready to
pounce if anything went wrong, it was a special occasion.
This was no
ordinary wedding, there was a great deal of press interest
because the bride and bridegroom were actually 7 years of
age and in Year 2 of Fakenham Infant School. As part of
their RE Syllabus, which included marriage and family life,
a special wedding service was created in our church to show
the children what a wedding looked like. Over the lunch time
reception back at school all the children were very excited
about the day and put a lot of effort into making it
special.
However, as we
all debate the debate on women Bishops, gay clergy and
intervention of the Archbishop, one small piece of
information in the press may be overlooked. The new website
www,yourwedding.org.uk which has been created to help the
clergy and laity with the planning of weddings has been
amazingly successful. Having been on a 3 day course
organised by the organisation I was extremely impressed, and
with this support I have no doubt that the number of church
weddings in the community will rise.
Sadly as I
looked around the congregation this morning I saw over 60
children with parents and grandparents attending, but I
know a very large number of parents in the town are not
married, have no intention of getting married, and would be
far poorer because of the tax system, if they did.
Our new
Government should have as a priority the support of marriage
in every way. It should not be easier for an unmarried
couple with children to obtain a house, than a married one,
couples should not be penalised in their wage packets
because they are married, and schools, churches and whole
communities ought to promote marriage as a wholesome and
good thing for everyone.
With much effort
last year we saw a record number of couples getting married
at Fakenham Parish Church because we keep the fees low, have
marriage preparation courses, take time with couples and
generally make the day special. My hope and prayer is that
communities will value marriage because if marriage is
treated as a second rate option, children miss out on many
things.
As we have
learnt from the tragic events in Northumberland at the basis
of everything was a dysfunctional family and no father
model. So many children in our town will never know their
fathers- how sad. I loved mine, and still miss him, and I
have two adoring sons. To have a cuddle from Dad, a
re-assuring talk, a walk in the countryside, a game of
snooker, or simply that look that says you are loved means
everything. Many dads in Fakenham obviously enjoy the
conception and love making, but actually have no conception
of what being a father is. Let’s stop the rot before it is
too late.
Adrian Bell
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