Christenings (for babies and young children)
We offer two types of Christening Service:
Baptism: held at St Andrew’s Church during the main 10.30am Sunday service. See below for further details.
Thanksgiving & Blessing: held usually at All Saints’ Church at 3pm on the first Sunday of the month. See below for further details.
Baptism
Baptism is a celebration of God’s love, a mark of belonging to God’s family and a commitment to going together on the journey of faith. When we talk with people about baptism we talk about:
- Beginning: The start of a life-long journey to know God more, not just a single event.
- Believing: Trusting in God and His promises and coming together with the church to learn how to live out this Christian faith.
- Belonging: Becoming a part of the church, the life-long journey of faith that begins with baptism is not meant to be travelled alone but with the help and support of others in the church.
When a person is baptised as an adult, the person being baptised makes the promises themselves. Infant baptism (or christening) is the means of initiation into God’s church and involves a meaningful commitment on behalf of the parents, and is for those who wish to bring their child up in the Christian faith and regularly attend services. For more information on infant baptism, please see this page.
We run baptism preparation sessions for adults wishing to be baptised, and for parents wishing to have their child baptised or christened.
Thanksgiving & Blessing
There may be reasons why you feel an infant baptism service (christening) is not the appropriate way right now to mark your child’s new life:
- Some Christians would rather leave baptism to when their child grows up and decides themselves to be baptised.
- Some parents want a service to mark their child’s birth, but are not yet ready to make promises about faith.
In these cases, we are delighted to offer a Service of Thanksgiving & Blessing. This is still an appropriate service to invite family and friends to for a celebration of your child’s birth and the child can still be baptised at a later date. To find out more, please see this page.
To make an enquiry about baptism or a thanksgiving & blessing service, please use our online enquiry form.