We love welcoming people into the family of faith, whatever age they are. Everyone is different and everyone's faith journey is different so we want to help you to choose the right option for you. Have a look below for explanations of the different options:
Thanksgiving Services
This is an opportunity to have a special service to thank God for the birth of a new baby or a new addition to your family, or perhaps even on the completion of your family. We say prayers of blessing but we don't baptise anyone with water. This is a great option for those who are thinking about faith and want to mark a significant time for their family but want their children to be able to choose whether they are baptised or not when they are old enough to make that decision for themselves. It is a beautiful service which enables the whole family to celebrate without making those more weighty promises.
Christening / Infant Baptism
This is a significant service which is all about your child making their first steps in faith. Babies and young children cannot make these promises for themselves and so parents and godparents make promises on their behalf until they are old enough to take on that commitment for themselves. Important promises are made within this service to bring your child up in the Christian faith so we would usually ask that you begin to attend church services and we encourage you to continue that after your child is baptised. Bringing a child up in faith means being part of the church (the wider family of faith), sharing Bible stories with them, and praying for them and with them. Baptism is the beginning of a lifelong journey and so it is important to remember that this is more than just one day in your family's life. The journey of faith has its ups and downs so as part of the baptism service we as a church make promises to support you on an ongoing basis to live that life of faith.
Believer's / Adult Baptism
Some people come to faith later in life or choose to wait to be baptised until they are older and are able to make that decision for themselves. At St Peter's we baptise people of all ages and want to support you in that journey. We would usually require you to be part of the worshipping family of the church and would also invite you to take part in a baptism preparation course which looks at the basics of faith as well as what happens at baptism (this is usually 6-8 weeks long). For adult baptism, there is an opportunity to be baptised by water being poured in the same way as in infant baptism but there is also an opportunity to be baptised by full immersion in a pool if you would prefer. For those who are baptised as adults / mature believers, we also would encourage them to be confirmed by the Bishop as the next available opportunity (see section on confirmation for more details)
When? / How? / Where?
To request a baptism or thanksgiving service, please go to our "Get in Touch" page.
For a Thanksgiving Service, please complete a general enquiry from the drop down list giving us your details.
For a Baptism Service, please complete a baptism enquiry form from the drop down list.
Once we have received your request a member of our team will get in touch with you.
Please note: Thanksgiving services and Christening / Infant Baptism Services can either be held in one of our main morning services (9am & 10:30am) or after the main service at 12:30pm. These times are fixed, so please bear this in mind if you are booking a party afterwards.
Adult Baptism services happen as part of our main Sunday worship or a special evening service if a Confirmation is happening at the same time.