This weekend, as the heat built up across the UK, St Luke's was the host to a baptism or, as many will also think of it, a christening.  At these wonderful life events, a person, more often than not a baby, is accepted into the Christian family and given their Christian names.  As we tend not to be able to remember our years as a baby, it's the stories, photos, videos and memories of others that tell us what happened on the day.  Christenings seem to be growing again, after a period when people did not see them as necessary in their lives.  They take all forms, from parents who wish to celebrate quietly to those who wish to invite many relatives and friends, holding parties afterwards.  All of these are acceptable to God, of course, who welcomes children into the world and loves them all.  That is the reason why many churches have enormous fonts near their entrances, signalling that baptism is about encountering Jesus as part of a Christian journey through life.  Those fonts often carry variations of the words, 'let the children come to me'.  These were the words that Jesus used to tell off his disciples when they tried to hold back some children who wanted to get close to him whilst he was in a crowd.

In those days, children in Jewish society were not valued particularly highly and were definitely not to be heard and preferably not seen.  We were a long way from proms, baby showers and games consoles!  Jesus used the opportunity to signal how highly God valued every life and how the young and helpless were especially dear to him.

In our churches, what no one thought about too much was that, if you put the font at the entrance to the church and then added pews and chairs, it was a struggle for everyone to turn around during a service to see what was happening back at the font.  Fonts have been moving back and forth ever since and nowadays many parents prefer to have a portable font used at the front of the church so that everyone gets a good view.  The heavy stone fonts are still used and it's absolutely a personal choice; in fact, the growing use of streaming in churches is allowing christenings to be viewed not only on big screens in churches but also to be viewed live by friends and relatives from anywhere around the world.

A christening is one of the few events for which a church makes no charge.  No matter how many people come along or what the time of year, the christening is free.   Although you can only be baptised once in the Church of England, you can be baptised at any time in your life.   For those who 'missed out' as baby or child, there is always the opportunity to come forward.  You or your children can be christened/baptised at any age and you will be joyfully accepted into the family of Christ.  If you are thinking along those lines, just take a look at the Newsletter and you will see contact numbers for the ministry team.  Any of us welcome questions or discussions; there is no such thing as a stupid question!

Finally, as we face this extraordinary heatwave, one that will become more common, please remember that St Luke's is open during the daytime and its thick walls and high roof mean that it will provide shelter from the sun and from extreme heat.  On the far wall of the church hall opposite the entrance, you will find a tap from which you can always get wholesome drinking water.  Please take the opportunity to use the church for shelter and take as much water as you need.  We pray that you will stay cool and well.  Amen.