Want to celebrate a new baby? We want to celebrate with you!
The birth of a baby is a cause of huge joy and a brilliant reason to celebrate. But a new arrival can also be a tiring and stressful time as the family adjust to less sleep! Taking a moment to bring together family and friends to say ‘thank you’ to God for the new baby can be a highlight of those early months, as well as having God's blessing prayed over them.
These three things form part of a service called Thanksgiving for the Gift of a Child, which can happen any time and anywhere - at St Bart’s or St Alban’s (The Hive) or at a home or party venue - and can be booked in with the Vicar at a convenient date and time to both. This service doesn’t involve you making any promises, or commit your child to being a Christian; they can decide that for themselves when they are older (as you might let them decide what career to pursue). Thanksgiving doesn’t involve Godparents, but you may choose to nominate Supporting Friends who will be alongside you as you bring up the child.
For some people, there may be a fourth thing that they would like to do for their child: have them join the family of God, the church, in a service called Baptism. We love to do this for the children who are part of our church family because their parents or carers bring them along when we gather to worship. Believing in a God who created all life, Christians have an extra reason to celebrate a new baby as part of God’s continuing creativity in his world, as well as for the joy they bring to family & friends.
Baptism involves Parents and Godparents (who need to be baptised themselves) making promises to bring the child up as part of the church family. Before we can do this, we invite you to get to know the church family in Blurton & Dresden by coming along to worship on four Sundays. After that, we will arrange a Baptism Preparation session with Parents & Godparents, and then set a date for the Baptism. We do this because Baptism involves a declaration of faith by the parents or carers, and a commitment to bring the child up within the church family, and we have a responsibility to help you understand this before making the promises. Baptisms take place when the church are gathered together for worship on Sundays, usually during the all-age service on the second Sunday of the month.
Want to get the ball rolling?
* Come along to Welcome Hour at St Bartholomew's on the Second Saturday of each month, 11am - 12 noon
* The Welcome Team will help you to fill in the paperwork for Thanksgiving or Baptism (or both)
* For Thanksgiving, the Vicar will then contact you to arrange a date, time and location
* For Baptism, you then start coming along to Sunday worship, and after you've been at least four times, we will arrange the preparation session and book the baptism date with you