FGA Marriage Manual ⇐ Please click this link to download your latest updated copy of the Full Gospel Australia Marriage Manual.
Marriage Celebrant’s Assessment. This tool will assess your understanding of the Marriage Manual. You need 100% correct answers to pass this assessment.
FGA Marriage Rites – A Resource for Ministers
Performing marriage ceremonies for people in your community is a privilege, and gives you an opportunity to be involved in people’s lives in a meaningful and prolonged way. It is also a duty that carries quite a responsibility and should not be undertaken lightly, nor with a cavalier attitude. The Commonwealth and State governments require all marriage services, paperwork, and other responsibilities to be undertaken in a timely and circumspect manner, with dignity and the respect it deserves.
As a representative of God and with the authority of the Full Gospel Churches of Australia and the Commonwealth of Australia, each ordained minister is to carry out the responsibilities of conducting marriage ceremonies with all care, respect, and love. It is the minister’s responsibility to know the law (Marriage Act) and to act entirely within it.
This Marriage Manual is supplied for your benefit and is kept updated by Full Gospel Australia. However, it is each ordained minister’s responsibility to ensure you have the latest copy of this manual, and to check with your State’s department of Births, Deaths and Marriages to ensure your procedures are up-to-date and of the highest quality.
Please Note: The Forms for ‘Notice of Intended Marriage’ and Marriage Certificates have changed since 9 December 2017. Celebrants must use the new forms which can be downloaded from the Attorney General website in their state.
Please Note: Since the change in Australian law on 9th December 2017 sex or gender no longer affects the right to marry under Australian law: same-sex marriage became legal in Australia.
This Act amended the Marriage Act 1961 to redefine marriage as ‘the union of 2 people to the exclusion of all others, voluntarily entered into for life…’ This change means that it is now legal for couples of the same sex to be married. It does not and cannot mean to insist that all marriage celebrants must perform marriage ceremonies for couples who are of the same sex.
A ‘religious celebrant’ ordained by the Full Gospel Churches of Australia is required to (and can only) marry couples under the auspices and rites of the Full Gospel Churches of Australia. We define marriage according to the traditional conservative Christian view that “…marriage is the union of a man and a woman to the exclusion of all others…” This means that it is not lawful for any Ordained Minister with the Full Gospel Churches of Australia to solemnise a marriage of any couple who do not conform to this definition.
Full Gospel Australia affirms God’s love, care and concern for all people, whoever they are. We affirm our desire for all people to come to eternal life through Jesus Christ and our love for all people, with no regard for their background or circumstances. We also affirm our intention to minister without prejudice to all who are within our spheres of influence. We act responsibly within the laws of the Commonwealth of Australia and our appropriate State/Territory jurisdictions.