Marking a golden moment - The Redditch Standard

Marking a golden moment

Redditch Editorial 25th Sep, 2014 Updated: 18th Oct, 2016   0

AN ALCESTER harvest festival will help celebrate a golden couple’s wedding anniversary.

Rev John Cook and his wife Daphne will mark 50 years of wedded bliss as part of a special service at St Nicholas Church on Thursday (October 2).

The Harvest of Marriage will see the pair, who said their vows on September 12, 1964, celebrate their union as well as other couples.

They first met at a conference for Christian students and have since lived in Camberely, Singapore, Beoley and Bromsgrove, preparing others for the life-long commitment.




Along their journey they had three children and six grandchildren.

The pair eventually retired to Newport Drive in Alcester and have played an active role in parish life with Rev Cook becoming a ‘pensioner priest’, while Mrs Cook continues her work within the Mothers’ Union and as a lay reader.


They are one of four couples reaching the milestone within the Alcester Minster this year.

Rev Cook said: “The Lord has given us health and strength, and for both of us [to do this work] it has been a great privilege.

“If I wasn’t married I would be a different person, because as a husband for 50 yeas I have learnt a lot from my wife and my attitude to some things has changed. I am the happiest husband in the world.”

Mrs Cook added she came up with the idea for the festival because of her work with the Mothers’ Union which promotes and protects family life.

“The one thing we say to each other every day is ‘I love you’. The marriage service does not ask ‘do you love him or her?’, because that is taken for granted, but ’will you love them?’ and it is important to remember that.

“We don’t celebrate marriage enough and I thought this was an opportunity to reflect, give thanks and celebrate.”

The service will start at 7.30pm and is open to all couples and those who are now single through bereavement.

Rev John Cook and his wife Daphne (left) will be celebrating 50 years of marriage in a special Harvest festival event and (above) 50 years ago on their wedding day. (s)

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