Churches in Essex, including FIEC and Grace Baptist churches, received curt letters from their local register office on April 22 demanding they register to conduct same sex ‘marriages’.
The demand came with the usual quarterly letter requesting details of marriages carried out, or a nil return for the previous three months, and was unsigned.
It said: ‘I am writing to advise you that with immediate [sic] effect your church must be licensed by the register office to conduct same sex marriage. Regards, Colchester Register Office’.