One of the more bizarre weddings in the Church of England took place recently when a couple repeated vows in front of a teenage server. According to Church Times, when the officiant was late for the ceremony, Stephen Grant, 18, began the service.

"We decided that I could begin the service - expecting him to turn up at any minute," Mr. Grant told the newspaper. "We decided that if it did go all the way, we'd stop at the register because ... I knew I couldn't sign the register."

The scheduled officiant, the Rev. Robin Townsend, was a substitute because the vicar of the parish, St. John the Evangelist, Golcar, in the Diocese of Wakefield, was on vacation.

Church Times reported that the couple said they were informed they were not really married, that the scheduled officiant was "shocked and horrified" that the wedding had taken place in his absence, and that the Bishop of Wakefield, the Rt. Rev. Nigel McCulloch, was "distressed for all concerned."

@

The Rev. Peter M. Larsen, rector of St. John's Church, Southampton, N.Y., was honored recently for his work following the crash of TWA flight 800 off the shore of Long Island. Fr. Larsen, a Coast Guard chaplain, received the Coast Guard Commendation Medal Jan. 13. He was the first chaplain on the scene following the crash, and for the next 12 days he ministered to persons at the crash site. His citation said he "ably coordinated the efforts of this chaplain corps ..."

@

In his diocesan convention address, Bishop Edward Lee of Western Michigan recounted his teaching day at the diocesan junior and senior high camp. "I focused my teaching day on the issue of violence as it was experienced in the life of our young people," he said. "I was not ready for the results." Bishop Lee asked the young people if they knew anyone in their age group who had been a victim of battering or sexual abuse.

Eighty-five percent of the junior high group and 95 percent of the senior high students said they did. He got similar results when he asked the young persons whether they knew anyone in their age group who had committed suicide or attempted suicide. The answers were 70 percent and 90 percent. And when Bishop Lee inquired whether his listeners knew anyone in their age group who owned a gun or other legal weapon, the responses were 90 and 98 percent affirmative.

@

Note to Lee T., somewhere in the Diocese of North Carolina: After the Title III.8.1 resolution is adopted by General Convention, it will go into effect Jan. 1, 1998.

David Kalvelage, editor