HC Deb 19 April 2004 vol 420 c235W
Paul Flynn

To ask the hon. Member for Middlesbrough, representing the Church Commissioners what plans the Commissioners have to increase the number of(a) church and (b) church-owned premises that are available for wedding ceremonies for those who have not been baptised in the Anglican communion. [166160]

Sir Stuart Bell

The legal rules on where Church of England weddings may take place are not a matter for the Church Commissioners.

However. I can tell my hon. Friend that, subject to a limited number of statutory exceptions, parishioners in England have a right to be married by the Church of England in their own parish church. This applies irrespective of whether the bride and groom have been baptised.