SOME vicars do, some vicars don't, and the high-ranking clergy of the Synod still cannot decide.

This seems to be the situation in the C of E, as the clerics try to decide whether or not to allow divorcees to remarry in church.

But it would seem, by their 20-year deliberation, that the Synod have, perhaps unknowingly, made the decision. That is, that this should be left to the individual vicar to decide on the individual case with the individuals concerned.

However, if the C of E, or any one of its ministers, allow divorcees to remarry in church, then perhaps we should get down to basics and amend the wedding vows. If we stand before God and our peers, and promise to stay faithful to our partners "till death us do part", then we cannot, in all sincerity, come back, years later, and repeat those same holy vows, having already broken those vows made with our previous partner. If the Church recognises the fact that some marriages are likely to break up, then "till death us do part" should perhaps become "for as long as the love we share today continues to flourish".

But no one should take their vows lightly. Only divorcees who have struggled to make their marriage work, but failed, and who have been faithful to their partners throughout that marriage, should be allowed to remarry in church. This should perhaps be the general guideline laid down by the Synod, but the final decision should rest with the vicar concerned.

Brian Derbyshire

Ribchester Grove

Bolton