Baptism

What is baptism?

In baptism, parents are thanking God for His gift of life, deciding to start a child on the journey of faith, and asking for the Church’s support.

For your child, baptism marks the start of a journey of faith, which involves:

• turning away from the darkness of self-centredness
• turning towards Christ, and
• becoming a member of the local and worldwide Christian family.

Baptism is a ‘sacrament’: a visible sign of God’s love. In baptism, we are thanking God for his gift of life and publicly acknowledging his love. We are acknowledging that we all need to turn away from the darkness of  evil and to make a new start with God.

Making decisions and promises

When you bring your child for baptism, you will be asked to declare publicly on behalf of your child that you believe in God and that you will bring your child up to follow Jesus.

You will be asked to answer on your child’s behalf, that you have decided to turn away from everything which is evil or sinful and to turn instead towards Christ.

The declarations made by you and the child’s godparents will be made in front of the church congregation. The Christian community will promise to support you and pray for you and your child.

Please contact the church office or email us for further details about baptism.

For more information, see the Church of England website.