Catherine ODonnell and Matthew Bird were recently marriedat St John the Baptist Church in Feckenham. Miss ODonnell has been a teacherat Feckenham CE First School for 15 years and Mr Bird teaches at the ACEAcademy in Tipton. In the week after their wedding, they decided to hold theceremony again as an educational experience for the children at FeckenhamSchool.
The wedding was taken by curate, Gary Crellin. He said:
There was definitely some cynicism from folk around thevillage about how the children would be involved and whether the rerun would bea pantomime. However, there was no chance of this - the school provided clearand just reasoning on curriculum grounds and the church and I were only toohappy to oblige. The school considered marriage as part of the underpinningvalues work they do and had a pretty good understanding of love. From myreckoning, over three quarters of the children and half the adults had not beento a church wedding and I think what struck home to those attending was thefact that our church has held hundreds and hundreds of weddings over thecenturies. With the help of the bell ringers, some of the choir and our organist,the reprise of the wedding was a splendid affair.
The school entered into the spirit of the occasion withpages, readings, confetti, bridesmaids and best man and put together a fabulousjunior choir who sang a breath-taking anthem. Revd Gary gave a sermon based onthe love or not of broccoli and the meaning of real love. It was a joyousoccasion enjoyed by all.
