A warm welcome awaits you at All Saints. Sunday services are at 11am, with the following pattern:
first Sunday of the month Holy Communion
second Sunday Family Service (followed by refreshments)
third Sunday Holy Communion
fourth Sunday Morning Prayer
fifth Sunday Holy Communion.
The parish of All Saints, Great Braxted is part of the United Benefice of Tolleshunt Knights with Tiptree and Great Braxted.
The ministry team comprises the rector, Martin Fletcher, and the readers, Paul Clarke and Harold Toms.
The churchwardens at All Saints are Kim Aston and Sue Copsey.
In addition to Sue, Stella Barnes and Lorna Crick assist with looking after our wedding couples.
We all look forward to welcoming you into our worshipping community.
Please join us at a Sunday service to see if being married at All Saints is for you. Before doing so, you may wish to consider the following points.
1. You have a legal right to be married at your own parish church (ie the parish in which you are resident). This applies equally to anyone who has not been baptised.
· You should arrange for your wedding to be held at your own parish church if it is within a reasonable travelling distance of Braxted Park.
Note: It would normally be considered discourteous for All Saints Church to accept a wedding booking from a couple resident in a nearby parish.
Note: If you are divorced and your former spouse is still living, although you do not have a legal right to be married in church, in some cases this may still be possible. In the first instance, you should contact your parish priest.
2. To be married at a church other than your own parish church (eg All Saints, or another church near to Braxted Park), you will need to qualify for entitlement:
§ Qualification by banns requires membership of the church electoral roll. This is open to any British citizen who:
o is baptised, and has completed a period of habitual worship at that church of at least six months.
§ ‘Habitual worship’ should approach the ideal of weekly; if you live some distance away you may wish to consider whether you can fulfil this commitment.
§ Although it is preferable for you both to join the electoral roll, where only one of you is baptised qualification for both of you is achieved through that person becoming a member.
Note: Once you have joined the electoral roll, banns of marriage can be called; they must also be called at your own, local parish church(es). At All Saints, banns are normally called on the first three Sundays of the month before your wedding. You would therefore need to begin worshipping with us at least six months before the month preceding your wedding date.
Note: You can be a member of only one church electoral roll. If you are already a member elsewhere then you would need to proceed by Common Licence. The same applies if you attend church elsewhere without being a member of the electoral roll: proceeding by Common Licence will ensure that the continuity of your worship is not broken.
§ Qualification by ‘Common Licence’ requires residence in the parish of at least 15 days. This is open to any British or foreign citizen who:
o is baptised, and has sworn on oath before the Bishop’s ‘Surrogate for Marriages’ that the condition of residency has been met.
§ Where only one of you is baptised, qualification for both of you is achieved if it is that person who swears the affidavit.
Note: The Licence once granted remains valid for three months.
3. Weddings at All Saints can normally be held only on Saturdays, with Sundays also available on special request.
To proceed with booking your wedding at All Saints, please visit us one Sunday morning and after the service ask for a Banns Application Form (even if you wish to proceed by Common Licence). You will then be advised of the date of the next monthly bookings meeting with the rector, to which you should bring your completed application form.
Should you wish to consider arranging your wedding at another church near to Braxted Park, further information is available from the Braxted Park estate office.
With all good wishes,
Martin Fletcher
December 2005