Christenings & ThanksgivingsNew Baby?
Congratulations on the birth of your baby. The Church of England has two services to offer after the birth of a child: Thanksgiving & Blessing Service This is a service in which parents, friends and family give thanks for the birth (or adoption) of a child and we pray for God’s blessing upon the baby, parents and home. |
Why St. Mary's?Follow the links below to find out what St. Mary's is all about!
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It may be followed later by baptism, indeed many families choose a Thanksgiving service because it allows the child to make up their own mind about the Christian faith when they are older, but it is not necessarily a first step to baptism. It is simply a different service - a service of saying Thank you and asking for God’s Blessing on your child, rather than one of making promises about active membership of the church.
Godparents are not required for a thanksgiving, but parents may wish to name "sponsors" who can fulfil the role of supporting the child and family.
Baptism Service
A service of Baptism is to welcome people (whatever their age) into the Christian faith and the church family.
Obviously your baby cannot make the decision to become a Christian for him/herself at the moment; so children are baptised on the understanding that at least one of their parents has chosen to follow Jesus and will bring the child up within the family of the church.
This will involve:
- Regular Church going as a family. Christianity is about being in a community, not just about us as individuals.
- Teaching the children from the Bible.
- Praying with them and teaching them to pray.
The baptism service involves parents and Godparents making promises of Christian commitment both for themselves and for the child. Godparents must by law be themselves baptised. It is obviously important that these promises, which are made before God, are understood and made honestly. Your child’s spiritual care is too important for you to want to make these promises lightly. Therefore we have a team of visitors who will come to your home and explain the services to you.
What Do I do Next?
Please contact the church office via email [email protected] and we will put you in touch with the Baptism team.
One of our Baptism team will get in contact with you to explain the different services and fix a date.
Baptisms and thanksgivings take place in either our intergenerational Sunday service at 9.45am or our contemporary 11.15am Sunday service. You are very welcome to come along to either or both services to see what St. Mary's is like and say hello to the team.
Find out more about St. Mary's by following the links at the top of the page.
Godparents are not required for a thanksgiving, but parents may wish to name "sponsors" who can fulfil the role of supporting the child and family.
Baptism Service
A service of Baptism is to welcome people (whatever their age) into the Christian faith and the church family.
Obviously your baby cannot make the decision to become a Christian for him/herself at the moment; so children are baptised on the understanding that at least one of their parents has chosen to follow Jesus and will bring the child up within the family of the church.
This will involve:
- Regular Church going as a family. Christianity is about being in a community, not just about us as individuals.
- Teaching the children from the Bible.
- Praying with them and teaching them to pray.
The baptism service involves parents and Godparents making promises of Christian commitment both for themselves and for the child. Godparents must by law be themselves baptised. It is obviously important that these promises, which are made before God, are understood and made honestly. Your child’s spiritual care is too important for you to want to make these promises lightly. Therefore we have a team of visitors who will come to your home and explain the services to you.
What Do I do Next?
Please contact the church office via email [email protected] and we will put you in touch with the Baptism team.
One of our Baptism team will get in contact with you to explain the different services and fix a date.
Baptisms and thanksgivings take place in either our intergenerational Sunday service at 9.45am or our contemporary 11.15am Sunday service. You are very welcome to come along to either or both services to see what St. Mary's is like and say hello to the team.
Find out more about St. Mary's by following the links at the top of the page.