London, England - Couples marrying in register offices may soon be able to celebrate with Bible readings or anthems such as Bread of Heaven under proposals to relax the ban on religion at civil ceremonies.
Civil weddings are currently required to be strictly "secular in nature" and registrars often bar poems and popular songs with only passing religious references.
Ministers believe, however, that the legal restrictions should be eased to allow readings or music that contain an "incidental" reference to a God or deity in "an essentially non-religious context".
The proposed reforms will be outlined in a consultation paper to be published by the Government this week.
The document will ask the Churches whether there is any reason to bar readings from the Bible, the Torah or the Koran if the extracts used are not specifically religious.
"The nub of the consultation will come when it discusses fine lines - for example, when is a piece of classical music religious?" said one insider. "Does it make a difference if music has the words taken out?"
The number of marriages in church fell to 86,000 in 2003, while 181,000 couples chose civil ceremonies.
Bishops will, however, be even more worried about any changes which could make civil partnerships appear more like religiously authentic marriages, something they insist the ceremonies are not.
A spokesman for the Church of England said: "The Church is not seeking to prevent the use of readings, poems or music simply because they have some religious association.
"But we recognise that the singing of a hymn or prayers, or possibly even readings from the Bible or other sacred books, may give rise to more difficult issues."