The challenge to listen to couples and respond proactively is revealed in an exclusive article in this week\u2019s Church Times (dated 29th August), written by the Church of England\u2019s marriage advisor, Sue Burridge.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Church is in a unique position. In its marriage preparation, it offers something couples cannot get in a hotel or stately home, and tries to demonstrate its care about not just the big day, but all the days afterwards,\u201d\u009d underlines Sue in her article, which also discloses that 44 per cent of the general population agree the Church should support marriages before the wedding day (as well as after the day too). This is just one finding from new detailed research involving 411 engaged couples and 176 clergy in the Dioceses of Bradford and Oxford, as well as ordinands from two Cambridge theological colleges, and 1,800 brides-to-be at the National Wedding Shows.<\/p>\n
The findings indicate that marriage preparation has had to change to meet the modern needs of couples who have perhaps spent several years together before the big day.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen the researchers asked newly-weds about their church\u2019s preparatory sessions,\u201d\u009d Sue Burridge continues in the article, \u201cthey discovered a clear mismatch between what couples wanted and what was on offer. Many had already lived through the life lessons that the Church was eager to teach them, especially if, like most, they had lived together before marriage.\u201d\u009d<\/p>\n