Marriage - Registering a Building of Worship
The person who acts as 'minister', 'proprietor' or 'Trustee' at the place of worship must complete in duplicate two copies a form for certifying a place of meeting for religious worship, known as Form 76.
These should sent to the Register Office at Hackney Town Hall with a sketch of the floor plan identifying which rooms will be used for worship, an average weekly timetable of how the building will be used, and a cheque or postal order made payable to The London Borough of Hackney covering the statutory fee of £28.00
Place of marriage
If they decide they wish the place of worship to become a place where marriages can take place, they need to complete Form 78 (‘certificate and application for the registration of a place of religious worship for the solemnization of marriages’. This should be dealt with if possible together with the original application for a place of worship. However it can only be requested after the date of certification of the building as a place of worship.
Form 78 requires signatures of 20 separate householders who say that the building is their usual place of worship and that they desire it to be registered for the solemnization for marriages. A statutory fee of £28.00 payable a cheque or postal order made payable to the London Borough of Hackney.
Once the information is received at the Register Office, the information is sent to the General Register Office (GRO) for authorisation. Once the GRO certify a building for worship and marriage, the register Office are required to advertise the new place of worship in the local newspaper. We then send to the applicant the certificate stating it is now a place for worship and marriage and write to them confirming this.
If the place of worship is in disuse or another minister/proprietor takes over the place of worship, Form 77 (‘notice of disuse of a certified place of meeting for religious worship’) needs to be completed. The process outlined above for registering a place of worship would then have to be conducted again. Re-registration is not required if the building is demolished and rebuilt.
Please contact us using the details on the right to request the required forms or for further information on this service.
Page updated: 18 Jan 2008