Tuesday 23 October 2012

The wedding ceremony as light entertainment?




When I first saw this report a few days ago I assumed (as one would) that it was a spoof. Apparently not entirely; following on from the widespread dumbing down of funeral services - more and more "personalised touches," (in other words becoming largely a celebration of the deceased's life)  and less and less about the hope of resurrection, much less about the need to pray for the departed soul - we have this - official sanction for the 'subjectivisation' of the wedding ceremony, with, presumably, the clergy as game show hosts ....
"The Church of England has set out radical plans to transform the way in which it conducts weddings.
A package of reforms will modernise the marriage service, offering couples the chance to replace traditional aspects with personalised touches.
It will give the go-ahead for glitzy "Posh and Becks"-style ceremonies in churches, with Mendelssohn's Wedding March being replaced by songs such as Girls by the Sugababes or the theme from Test Match Special.
Unusual twists will be welcomed, such as the use of trained owls to carry the rings to the best man.
The reforms follow a four-year review by senior clerics, which concluded that more couples would marry in church and continue as regular churchgoers if they were offered more control over their big day..."
Full report here from The Telegraph website

On second thoughts, I still think this is a parody - "the use of trained owls to carry the rings to the best man" - OMG as my daughter's generation might say - more world of Harry Potter than anything which could be dreamt up by even the most insane of modern liturgists.
Anyway, judge for yourselves here  and  if you can't do without a trained barn owl here

2 comments:

  1. Perhaps we should seek out the opinion of the Rt Rev Paul Colton, Bishop of Cork, Cloyne, & Ross, who officiated at the original Posh & Becks wedding, for his opinion of this development?

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  2. There are times Father, when I'm glad I'm retired and don't have to participate in weddings turned into entertainment routines. The last wedding I assisted at was a full Nuptial Mass for a chutch attending couple with their families and friends filling the church - a wonderful occasion.

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