Oral Answers to Questions

Desmond Swayne Excerpts

Thursday 27th January 2022 Commons Chamber

[Andrew Selous]

I am particularly grateful to the hon. Lady for mentioning Nigeria, because the situation there, in many cases, is extremely challenging for Christians. One practical thing that she could do is to get the Open Doors’ World Watch List—the map—and send it to all the churches in her constituency, so that they can put it in their porch to make sure that everyone is aware of the situation. That will help them hold her to account, and we all need to hold the Government and those other countries to account to make sure that freedom of religion and belief holds.

[Sir Desmond Swayne (New Forest West) (Con)]

4. What steps the Church of England is taking to support parenting and marriage.

[Crispin Blunt (Reigate) (Con)]

11. To ask the hon. Member for South West Bedfordshire, representing the Church Commissioners, what steps the Church of England is taking to support family relationships, parenting and marriage.

[The Second Church Estates Commissioner (Andrew Selous)]

The Church is deeply committed to marriage and will always be there to support every family and household. It is for that reason that both archbishops have launched a commission on families and households to look at what more the Church can do to provide the very best marriage preparation and enrichment and to strengthen family relationships.

[Sir Desmond Swayne]

What are the very best examples of preparation and enrichment and classes for parents, and what is the Church doing to spread it about?

[Andrew Selous]

My right hon. Friend asks a typically astute question, and, like any national institution, the Church has examples of outstanding practice, which are not as widely shared as they should be. Although there is excellent work in every diocese, I have been particularly impressed by the pre-marriage course, which is also for couples who are not engaged and want to explore marriage, and the marriage course run by the Reverend Nicky Lee and his wife, Sila. These have been run in 127 countries for more than 1.5 million couples and get tremendous feedback.