Two 14-year old Scouts from the Badger Hall Scout Group in Maulden have just made history. As part of their faith award they took part in a realistic wedding ceremony at St Mary’s Parish Church, Maulden in front of nearly 200 guests. The wedding was conducted by Hannah Winslade (11) whose father Richard is rector at the church and chair of the national faiths and beliefs support team. He remarked with a chuckle, “If I had taken part the marriage would have been official.”

The 150 strong Scout group have all played their part in discovering what faith means in different communities. They visited the Sikh community at the new Gurdwara in Bedford to learn more about how their faith works. They asked questions about what happens when you marry (a girl’s question) and what happens when you die (a question from a boy) and from this grew an interest in Christian traditions in their local church. The Scout patrol leaders jumped at the idea of a full wedding and soon filled the roles of bride and groom as well as bell ringers, photographers and choir members.

The wedding was the Scouts chance to show the younger Cubs and Beavers what happens at a church wedding. Katherine Ann played the part of the shy, blushing bride while James Douglas was the husband to be. Other Scouts took the part of the best man, the father of the bride and the bridesmaids. Hannah played the part of minister with superb confidence but she was taken by surprise when a fellow Scout stood up at a crucial point to shout, “I object, the bride’s too young!”

One project for the Beaver Scouts was a scavenge hunt where they were encouraged to clean up the churchyard and find hidden headstones. The Cub Scouts used gardening equipment and magnifying glasses to decipher names on old graves for a parish register. They also had a private viewing of the newly restored 350 year old mausoleum and climbed the stairs to see the bell tower.

In the autumn their final activity will be to build a bug hotel in the churchyard for the church’s family of wild life ready for them to hibernate this winter. Group Scout Leader Morag Fenton says, “It’s been impressive and great fun to see the entire group working together on this project. I’m really looking forward to presenting the faith badges to them all later this year”

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