Your child’s Baptism, or their Christening as it is sometimes known, is the beginning of an exciting journey of faith. It is a special celebration in which we thank God for his gift of life and we publically thank God for his love. Baptism is also the service through which your child becomes a member of the Christian family of the Church. Together with the godparents, you are invited to make promises on your child’s behalf, which involve turning away from selfishness and all that is evil, in order to turn towards Christ. Baptism is not only for infants, however, teenagers and adults can also be baptised.
Baptisms normally take place during the main Sunday morning services of our parish, but they can also take place on a Sunday afternoon. It is the custom to have up to three godparents (two male and one female for a boy; two female and one male for a girl) but this is not a strict rule. The only requirement is that godparents must have been baptised themselves.
Once your child’s baptism has been arranged, one of the clergy team will arrange to see you at the church, in order to explain the service and its meaning.
Baptism FAQs
Anyone who lives in St Andrew’s parish has a right to baptism. You can check whether you live in the parish here. If you live outside the parish you can still have a baptism at St Andrew’s but there are certain criteria that you will need to meet. If in doubt get in touch and arrange a conversation with a member of clergy.
We recommend that you come to our 10 am service and have a chat over coffee afterwards. Then we can look at the options for the type of service and potential dates. We try to be as flexible and accommodating as possible but a particular date may not always be possible. Please don’t book a reception before you have a date for the church service. If in doubt, get in touch.
For one reason or another you may need to show evidence that you or your child were baptised at St Andrew’s. We are happy to re-issue certificates. There is a small charge for this service. Please get in touch with your details and when your baptism happened.
No, baptism is for everyone! You can be baptised as a baby or an adult. There are some differences between baptisms for children and adults.
For more details, you can visit the Life Events section of the Church of England’s website here.
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