We often use the words "christening" and "baptism" interchangeably; "christening" is the service where babies and children are "baptised". Adults can be baptised as well, usually as part of our morning service.
Baptism is a celebration of God’s love, a mark of belonging to God’s family and a commitment to going together on the journey of faith. When we talk with people about baptism we talk about
Beginning... the start of a life-long journey to know God more, not just a single event.
Believing... trusting in God and His promises.
Belonging... becoming a part of the church; the life-long journey of faith is not meant to be travelled alone but with the help and support of others in the church as we learn how to live as part of God's family.
People of any age can be baptised:
i) Adults
Where someone was not baptised/christened as a baby but comes to the Christian faith as an adult, baptism can be arranged, which can be by total immersion in water.
This service can be part of our morning service or part of a confirmation service.
ii) Infants/children ("Christening") When we have a baby baptised (In a Christening Service), we are saying that our greatest wish for them would be for them to grow up knowing God's love in Jesus for themselves and to follow him throughout their lives. This service therefore asks parents and godparents to speak on behalf of the child, committing themselves to bring their child up as a member of the Christian church. We hold these services as part of our morning service.
To read more about baptisms in general, visit the Church of England website. Alternatively, please fill in the attached form and send it to the vicar.
Service of Thanksgiving
There may be reasons why you feel a Christening Service is not the appropriate way right now to mark your child’s new life:
• Some parents would rather leave baptism to when their child grows up and decides themselves to be baptised.
• Some parents want a service to mark their child’s birth, but are not yet ready to make the promises about faith that the Christening Service asks.
• Some parents want a small simple service to mark their child’s birth prior to a Christening Service that may take some time to organise.
In these cases, we are delighted to offer a Service of Thanksgiving. This takes place in our main morning service and would still be an appropriate service to invite family and friends to a celebration of your baby's birth, but it doesn't assume that parents want to make such big promises about their own faith. This is an appropriate service to invite family and friends to and you can still have a baptism at a later date. Find out more...
Confirmation
Many people who join the church wish to express their commitment to God by reaffirming for themselves the promises made for them at their baptism by their parents and godparents at a confirmation service. The vicar will lead a few sessions to prepare you for this, but the service is always led by a Bishop who will normally use the opportunity to talk to the candidates about the responsibilities of adult Christian life and pray for them. She often addresses the congregation, too, and encourages them to support the candidates in the new step each is taking. Those being confirmed will then make their public profession of faith.
Again, the best place to start is to arrange to speak with the vicar.
For more details see the Church of England website.
If having read this you want to go ahead with a service at St Barnabas, please contact the parish office to arrange to meet with the vicar.
There is no cost for any of these services.