From the babysnipping supporters at Theos we learn:

The Church of England has set out radical plans to transform the way in which it conducts weddings.

A package of reforms will modernise the marriage service, offering couples the chance to replace traditional aspects with personalised touches.

It will give the go-ahead for glitzy “Posh and Becks”-style ceremonies in churches, with Mendelssohn’s Wedding March being replaced by songs such as Girls by the Sugababes or the theme from Test Match Special.

Unusual twists will be welcomed, such as the use of trained owls to carry the rings to the best man.

The reforms follow a four-year review by senior clerics, which concluded that more couples would marry in church and continue as regular churchgoers if they were offered more control over their big day.

The review, called The Weddings Project, was ordered to reverse a decline in the number of church marriages, with fewer than one in four weddings now taking place on Church of England premises.

Findings of the review have been set out in a new book that offers guidance to vicars. The conclusions are endorsed by the Archbishop of York, Dr John Sentamu, who, in a foreword, describes the changes as “dynamite”. He says that vicars have become “overfamiliar” with weddings and have “lost touch” with how daunting a traditional ceremony can seem to couples.

Under Church rules, vicars have wide-ranging powers to decide how weddings should be conducted. While some have been prepared to experiment, many have until now taken a traditional approach and been reluctant to allow couples to innovate.

I would call the “Match of the Day” theme tune a debasement of the church greater than being committed and gay.