Baptism, Christening, Thanksgiving

Baptisms (also called Christenings) are held in church as part of the 10:00am Sunday service.  The full service lasts about an hour. A child's Baptism involves their parents and Godparents making some very serious promised and decisions in front of their family, friends and other people in church that day. Here is a .pdf copy of that part of the service for you to read and think about in advance. 

Baptism is a very serious event but it is also great fun and we find that families really enjoy this service.  The music is lively, sometimes a sing-along video and sometimes led by a musician or a small band. We make a special point to involve the children in a Baptism service as much as possible. 

To request a Baptism for your child please email us and we'll be in touch. Before a Baptism service our Children & Families Worker will contact you about a time to meet for a chat and to make sure you are clear about the service and the promises that you and the Godparents will be making.  We'll also need to know practical things like the number of guests (so we can put enough chairs out!) and details that will go into the official Baptism Register and on the Baptism Certificate. 

If you'd like more information on Church of England Christenings see this page

Occasionally parents may feel uncomfortable about making the promises required. If that is the case we are very happy to offer a Thanksgiving service instead. In some ways this is like a Baptism service but it doesn't require the parent(s) and Godparents to make big promises and there is no water. Here is a Thanksgiving service sheet.  If, at a later date, the parents or the child feel they would like to have a Baptism service, we would be happy to arrange this.

Of course baptism is not just for babies and children. Many people have not been baptised as a child and want to make a commitment to God when they are older. This can be declared at an adult baptism service and more details can be found on the Church of England website www.churchofengland.org/life-events/adult-baptism. Please contact us if you would like to discuss this in more detail.