Christening

FOR YOUR CHILD

We are so glad that you have decided to ask for God’s blessing on your child. A child is a wonderful gift from God and it is right that we want to celebrate such a fantastic present. We are very pleased to arrange this and to welcome your child into the Christian family.

What is baptism about?
There are all sorts of reasons for wanting to have your child christened. It might be:

• to say thank you to God for them
• to ask for God’s blessing upon them
• to bring your family and friends together to celebrate
• because you would like them to be part of the church
• because you would like the church to be there for them

Fundamentally baptism marks the beginning of a journey of faith with God which continues for the rest of our lives – a journey of discovering just how much God loves us. When you bring a child to baptism, you are saying that you would like them to grow up following Jesus, with him as a central part of their lives. In the service you pledge that you will do what you can to help them with this, teaching them to pray, to learn about Jesus, and to take their part within the church community.

If you are not sure about that, then you can have a thanksgiving service. Like a christening, this also celebrates the life of your child, asks God’s blessing upon your child and offers the opportunity for a family celebration. But unlike a Christening, it does not require you to hold the same level of Christian commitment. We would be happy to talk to you about what is right for you and your child.

I don’t live in the Shelswell Benefice – can my child still be baptised in one of your churches?
Even if you don’t live within the Benefice, we would still be delighted to baptise your child:

• if you come along to services regularly
• if you have strong links to one of our churches (though we would be encouraging you to become involved with a church near where you live, as this will be an important part of raising your child as a follower of Jesus)

When do baptisms take place?
Wherever possible, we would prefer that baptisms are carried out in one of our scheduled services. This is so all the church members can welcome you and commit themselves to pray for you in the care of your child. Sometimes, though, this is difficult to arrange for practical reasons, and we will look at holding baptisms at other times. When we do this, we then ask that you bring your child along to a scheduled service so they can be welcomed by the local church community.

We don’t go to church regularly. Can we still have our child baptised or have a service of thanksgiving?
Many major life events, such as marriage or having a baby, cause us to reflect on some of the deeper questions of life. The church is there to help you do this. The baptism of your child could be the opportunity you need to start becoming more involved with the church. Indeed, if you are sufficiently serious about the Christian faith to want to have your child baptised, it makes sense to plan to come along to church regularly. The other pages of this website will help you find the service that will work best for you and your family.

FOR YOURSELF

You can be baptised at any age!

A teenager or adult may consider baptism because they have recently come to faith. Or sometimes having a child christened has made them think about the place of faith in their life.
A baptism service for an adult follows a similar format, but you would have sponsors rather than godparents, you would affirm for yourself that you wanted to be baptised, and you would make the promises on your own behalf.
We would be delighted to discuss baptism with you too!

What next?
If you are interested in baptism, then please contact me on 01280 848192 (rector@shelswellparishes.info).
I will be very pleased to sort out a time to meet and talk further!

Alice
Alice Goodall (Rector)