How to Book a Baptism at Holy Trinity

Children and Baptism

A family’s first encounter with Holy Trinity is often through Baptism and we may be able to help you with this.

When a child is born, it is a time for great celebration, and what follows on in church terms, should also be a joyful time. After a child is born, many parents would like to ‘do something’ to mark this wonderful event. Here at Holy Trinity, we suggest two alternatives

*You may like to bring your child for baptism. This will involve one of the clergy team visiting you and going through the service with you, for as parents, you will have to make promises about bringing up your child to be a Christian.

*Some people might have concerns about this, and the Christian commitment it involves. If this is the case for you, why not think about bringing your child for a blessing.The ceremony is simple and moving.In it we pray for all members of the family, and we ask especially for his blessing on the child concerned.

The Baptism Service

This is a wonderful occasion when your child is welcomed into the family of the church, and an important step for the family. Parents make some promises during the service. They wish to give their child a Christian upbringing in the family of the Church, and, during the baptism ceremony, they are prepared to say that they turn to Christ and trust him.

This is important for your child, as we pray for them, and ask God to bless them. The service, however is much more than this, as it also focuses on you, the parents, and asks you if you are going to bring up your child to know Jesus, to become familiar with church services, and to learn how to pray at home - a tall order!

The service asks not that you do these things to perfection, but that you should try to make the effort, not on your own, but with the church community helping where possible, and praying for you and your family.

Godparents

It is quite a responsibility to be asked to be a godparent, and one that should not be accepted lightly, for they too will be asked to declare their faith in God, to encourage and support the child and parents, practically and prayerfully as the child grows up. It is important they understand this before accepting the responsibility. They must be baptised Christians, and ideally, they should be confirmed, or communicant members of their own churches.

Adults and Baptism

Often people make a conscious decision to be baptised in later life. There is no need to do this if you have already been baptised in another church, but if not then you will find that being baptised is a wonderful way of stating your commitment to Christ and his church. Adult baptisms are very similar to infant baptisms and the arrangements are identical.

To Book a Baptism

To book a Baptism please contact our Rector, Rev'r Canon Janet Eastwood. She will give you an application form and a leaflet explaining the Baptism Service. After your application form has been received, then one of our clergy will contact you to arrange a short meeting to go through the service with you, and answer any questions you may have.

Please note that generally we have services of Baptism on the first Sunday of the month at 11.45am (following our 10.00 Parish Communion service).