Christening or Infant Baptism

Christening and baptism are two words for the same thing. We are delighted when parents come to ask for a christening for their child. What can be a better start in life than asking for this special blessing? So please feel welcome to contact us!

The best thing to do to start with is to come to one of our Sunday services so that you can begin to get to know the church family into which your child will be baptized. Being christened isn’t just a “rite of passage”. It calls for a commitment from family, godparents and the congregation who will be praying for you all. We take our responsibilities seriously. A lifetime commitment to Jesus Christ and his Church is being asked of the person to be baptized, the parents, godparents, family and friends – and indeed the whole family of the Church.

Any child who lives within the Parish of St Michael’s can be baptized in our church. Baptisms normally take place on Sunday mornings, either during our normal Sunday service or, more often, at a separate service at 12.00 noon. If you have a connection with St Michael’s but live elsewhere, then you should seek the consent of your local Vicar, as a matter of courtesy and respect.

Likewise, if you live here but wish to have your child baptised in a parish elsewhere, we are happy to help in any way possible. You are always welcome at St Michael’s, and we will be delighted if you bring your child after baptism to meet us all, so that we can include you all in our prayers and welcome you into the wider family of the Church.

Our baptisms are great fun – but extremely serious! It is a big commitment. By bringing your child to baptism, you are making the statement that you wish him or her to follow the way of Jesus Christ and to begin a journey of faith that we hope will continue for all of their life. You and the godparents will be making some important promises and commitments on your child’s behalf – but the promises include you, too!

We hope that those who have been baptised as young children will want to make those promises and commitments for themselves when they come to Confirmation, and make a personal commitment to follow Jesus Christ.

For more information you may also find it helpful to a look at this page on the Church of England website https://www.churchofengland.org/life-events/christenings.

ADULT BAPTISM

You may not have been christened or baptised as a child, but now want to commit to Christ by being baptised and then confirmed. Ideally this should take place at the same time as being confirmed. This isn’t always possible, but we expect adult candidates to prepare for confirmation as soon as they can.

CONFIRMATION

There is an opportunity to be confirmed every year. We hold confirmation classes for adults and young people over a period of several weeks, during which we explore together the main themes of the Christian Faith and how our faith impacts on our lives. We encourage serious questioning and lots of discussion and debate. A real faith is one which grows, develops and deepens over the years. In confirmation, we confirm that we believe in Jesus and we are prepared to commit our lives to following Him – the greatest challenge ever to face us, but the most important and worthwhile commitment we can ever make.

You may find answers to some of your questions about confirmation here https://www.churchofengland.org/life-events/confirmation, but do feel free to get in touch with the Vicar too.

SEND US A MESSAGE

If you have any plans for baptism, you can send a message to Jenny McCarville, our Baptismal Co-ordinator or to Revd. Diana Young, our Vicar on our Contacts Page.