Baptism Enquiries:
We're delighted that you're thinking about having your child baptised at St John's. Their baptism is a very important occasion for your family and for us. We hope this information will help you in making the right choices for your family because, when it comes to your child's journey of faith, important decisions need to be made.
We offer two options for parents - Baptism and Thanksgiving.
These are different and the choice does not need to be made right away.
Baptism
Baptisms (sometimes known as Christenings) take place during our main morning service. In baptism, you as parents are thanking God for his gift of life, making a decision to start your 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 all that is evil, turning towards Christ and becoming a member of the local and worldwide Christian family.In the baptism service, parents and godparents are also asked to declare that they themselves are followers of Jesus and will bring the baby up as a member of the Christian church.
As these are important promises, it is good for parents to take some time to consider the meaning of
baptism and whether it's what they want. We, therefore, ask anyone who's thinking about baptism to meet with a minister
on 3 occasions to go through the basics of what it means to follow Jesus. It is also important to try to come along to
Sunday services so they get to know the church into which their babies will be welcomed and nurtured in the faith.
Thanksgiving
At the birth or adoption of a child, many parents feel that they would like to say 'thank you' to God for a new life and a new addition to the family, but are as yet unsure about whether they can fully commit to the Christian faith.
The Service of 'Thanksgiving for the birth of a child' offers an opportunity to do simply say 'thank you'.
You may feel that this is the right thing for you to do. It is nice if a Thanksgiving forms part of the main Sunday Service, but it can be a separate and more private occasion. However, it still provides the opportunity for you and your child to be prayed for. With Thanksgiving there is no need to make any public promises to God or regularly attend church.
If you would like to enquire more about arranging a Thanksgiving or wish to investigate the possibility of Baptism or have any further questions, please email us or call 01359 240512.
