Baptism and Thanksgiving

If you are enquiring about a Christening for a child there are 2 types. At St John’s Church, we offer services of Thanksgivings and Blessings for the Gift of a Child and Infant Baptism.

Baptism
Baptism is a sign of God’s love. When we are baptised we are making a deliberate and public sign that we intend to follow Jesus Christ and be part of the Christian family, the church.

When Christian parents bring a baby or young child to be baptised, they and the Godparents make those promises on his or her behalf in the hope that when that child grows up he or she will come to faith in Jesus Christ and claim these promises as their own when they come to be Confirmed later in life.

Adult Baptism is for those who were not baptised as infants but wish to declare their own faith in Jesus Christ and promise to follow him.

Baptisms take place within the Sunday morning service.

To be Baptised at St John’s you have to live in the parish or be a member of the church family and worship here regularly.

Baptism includes promises about following Jesus and playing a committed part in Christ’s church.   The services only take place after an informal preparation course of teaching on the meaning of baptism and the Christian faith for the parents, as it would be unfair to expect you to make promises without considering them carefully beforehand. If you don’t usually go to church we would also ask that you worship with us regularly before you or your child is baptised.

Thanksgiving for the Gift of a Child is a public opportunity to say thank you to God for your child.

It is a beautiful service and more personal.

Services of Thanksgiving and Blessing may take place during a Sunday morning service, but can occur at other times and on other days of the week.

If you want to know more why not come to one of our services and we will be very happy to visit you to talk about this.