THINKING ABOUT A CHRISTENING?
Many people get in touch with the church when they're thinking about having their child christened (or baptised, which is another term for the same event).
Here's a brief description of the purpose and process.
Baptism is about a welcome of a person into God’s family of believers. So baptisms/christenings happen in our usual morning church services with our church family present.
Above all, baptism is about two-way promises – calling on the promise of God to love and keep the child while the family and godparents promise to help the child to get to know God for themselves. The church family also promises to support this process.
The promises that the parents and godparents are asked to make are about their own faith in Jesus Christ and its outworking in their daily living. We do not ask people to make promises that they either cannot, or do not want to, keep. Some godparents may not feel able to make such statements, so the service can be adjusted to accommodate this.
As a parent, if you feel that baptism asks just a bit too much commitment at this stage in your faith journey, you might also be interested the alternative 'Thanksgiving for the Birth of a Child'.
Baptism doesn’t make a child a Christian. It’s a step of faith taken by family and godparents, to guide the child on a journey to the point of them making their own personal decision to become a Christian. We pray for – and expect- God’s blessing on the child, but it’s just the first step in a long journey of faith. We hope the church will offer ways to help you carry on the journey.
If you want to think more about baptism or thanksgiving, (and of course, adults may wish to be baptised too) please use the “Contact Us” link (above) and we will arrange for a member of the clergy to meet with you, to talk more about things. You'll then be invited to come to church and share in a service before the date is planned. A further meeting may be necessary before the service itself to finalise arrangements.
What happens in a baptism service
Three visual symbols are used to help us think about special ways in which God connects with his people:
1) the sign of the cross (on which Jesus Christ died to prove his love for the world)
2) the sign of the water (a symbol of being clean and refreshed on the inside as well as the outside)
3) the sign of light (reminder of Jesus as the light of the world in dark places).
You may also find this website helpful: https://churchofenglandchristenings.org/