Marriage

This page includes information for clergy officiating at weddings in the Diocese, including licenses, permissions, ceremonies outside the church building and the diocesan marriage policy.

For more information on weddings, check section 1.11 on the Liturgical Standards and Resources page.

If you’re officiating at a wedding in another priest’s parish or area, tell the Bishop’s Office and/or the local cleric. This is respectful, and it lets the local parish priest follow up with pastoral care to the couple when appropriate.

In all cases, you should arrange some kind of marriage preparation or counselling beforehand. We don’t currently have a diocesan marriage prep program or course. Use your pastoral discretion to determine appropriate preparation.

The parish church continues to be the normal location for couples who want to start their married life by making their vows in the context of worship and being blessed by God through the sacraments of the Church, but many couples prefer to have their wedding outside a church building. These ceremonies can still give officiants a privileged opportunity to witness to God’s love, ripe with possibilities for mission and evangelism.

You don’t need to ask permission from your bishop to officiate at a wedding taking place off church property. Exercise your pastoral discretion and consult with your bishop if there’s any question of the dignity or solemnity of the occasion being compromised.

Whether the ceremony takes place inside a church or in another venue, remember:

• You must use the authorized liturgies of the Diocese, which include the Book of Common Prayer, the Book of Alternative Services, and the rites provided in the appendices of the Marriage Policy.
• Wherever possible, make copies of the liturgy – or at least the people’s parts – available to let everyone attending participate.
• Officiants and other clergy are encouraged to vest. Let those attending know that the ceremony is a celebration of Christian marriage, just as if it were happening in a church.
• The presiding priest is in charge of all aspects of the service, regardless of venue.
• During the service, the reception must not be taking place.

Register the wedding in one of:

• The register of the parish where the couple is affiliated.
• The register of the officiant (if a priest of the Diocese of Toronto), if the couple is affiliated to the priest but not to a parish.
• The diocesan register at the Synod Office when neither of the above applies (e.g. the couple had no parish affiliation, and the officiant is a priest with no appointment in the Diocese).

To make an entry in the diocesan register, contact Amanda Lowry in the Bishop’s Office at alowry@toronto.anglican.ca.

Following the fall 2019 Synod, a writing group that included the Rev. Canon Dr. Eric Beresford, Chancellor Clare Burns, the Rev. Dr. Judy Paulsen, the Rev. Susan Spicer and Bishop Andrew Asbil, conducted a number of consultations that helped to guide the design and content of a series of documents that describe the steps taken toward offering local option.

With the concurrence of the College of Bishops, the primary document is a policy on marriage. This new policy replaces policies and guidelines the Diocese previously issued.

Following the July 2016 vote at General Synod in favour of changing the Marriage Canon to include same-sex marriage, Archbishop Colin Johnson stated that he would consider the option to “permit same-sex marriages in the Church at the pastoral discretion of the Bishop and with the agreement of local clergy.”

In November 2016, Archbishop Johnson issued Pastoral Guidelines for Same-Sex Marriages. The guidelines follow from a process of consultation in the Diocese and are presented in order to offer a generous pastoral response to stable, committed same-sex relationships. They were accompanied by a letter to clergy of the Diocese of Toronto.

After the July 2019 vote at General Synod to change the Marriage Canon failed to reach the required 2/3 majority in the House of Bishops, Bishop Andrew Asbil stated that he would continue to offer pastoral guidelines for same-sex marriage. Parishes that feel called to offer marriage to same-sex couples should follow the existing guidelines.

In November 2010, Archbishop Colin Johnson issued Pastoral Guidelines for the Blessing of Same-Gender Commitments.  The guidelines follow from two decades of discussion in the Diocese and take into account the theological, biblical and political discussions across the wider Church. The guidelines were accompanied by a letter to clergy of the Diocese of Toronto.

See also the Human Sexuality page on the national church’s website.