Church: Two-for-one wedding, baptism special
LONDON - The Church of England is offering couples a two-for-one service — marriage for them and baptisms for their children.
The church is recognizing the changing reality of British families, it said Thursday. Statistics show that 44 percent of children in Britain are born to unmarried women, and the church’s own research found that one in five couples seeking a church wedding already had children either together or from a previous relationship.
New guidelines sent to the Church of England’s 16,000 parish churches encourage services that combine a wedding with a christening or a service of thanksgiving for the birth of a child.
