St. Peter's Church Slinfold
The Street, Slinfold, W. Sussex, RH13 0RR
Information on Baptisms (commonly called Christenings)
Baptism is the service of Christian initiation. It is something that Jesus Christ commanded his disciples to go and do: 'Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.' (Matthew 28:19-28).
It is the outward sign of an inward grace, something sacred, of God's calling people to him. At baptism God puts his mark upon you to say that He will never let you go. Though we should not be complacent. Although God will not let you go, this is the start of a conscious loving relationship with him. Like any loving relationship, it takes two to tango, thus if God's love is not reciprocated by the baptised person, the relationship will not work. Baptism is a call to follow in the way of Jesus Christ; It does not itself guarantee a trip to heaven! To gain eternal life one needs to have faith, to love and believe in God through Jesus Christ. Therefore the relationship with God needs to be kept alive if the hope of salvation is to be looked forward to with confidence.
For this reason no-one should enter into baptism lightly. As an adult you are responsible for making your own promises. The chances are that as an adult you are being baptised because you have carefully considered why you wish to be so.
Many parents like to baptise their children when they are still small. There are different opinions within the church community as to whether this is something that should be done at all. The churches in this benefice do agree that infant baptism should be allowed. However this demands an obligation on parents and godparents to encourage their children to continue in public worship and private prayer, preferably following the example of their parents.
There is no 'correct' age for baptism. If you are interested in being baptised yourself, or if you wish to have your child baptised, then I will need to see you initially to take details and explain procedure. Then you will need to undergo a course of preparation. Having noted how some parents and godparents feel somewhat nervous or uncomfortable come the day, we have reviewed our baptism preparation.
As we think preparation for baptism is something to take seriously, from September 2011, our baptism preparation will require the person to be baptised or the family (with at least one parent), in the case of a small one, to attend Sunday worship on at least six occasions. The reason for this is that parents can find coming to church a daunting prospect. People are often out of their comfort zone and do not understand what is going on. We feel this will help parents (godparents and friends are most welcome too) to get used to the atmoshere the building, the people, and to feel welcome and relaxed before the big day. We are a child-friendly church and children are welcome at any of our services. In addition we hope that people will begin to understand that coming to church is not some weird thing to do, but an important development of faith that brings the child to baptism in the first place and hopefully encourages the family to keep coming in order to look after their spiritual health.
At the same time, parents attend two sessions with a power-point presentation of an hour or so, with some 'homework' (this is fun!) in between. These will now take place normally on the 1st and 2nd Mondays of the month at the Rectory or in church. We can do no more than four baptisms in any one month. You would need to complete both sessions before fixing a date for the baptism. This might require you to start the preparation well in advance of any particular date you have in mind.
With the sessions completed, a date can be arranged. We normally like to do baptisms in the context of a Sunday service. However, it is recognised that this might not be possible and another date and time can be arranged, but we do not do 'private' baptisms and there may be another couple bringing their child to baptism at the same time.
If the baptism is at a time outside of a normal service, the part of the service called the 'Welcome and Giving of a Lighted Candle' will be postponed and parents are requested to return on a Sunday service in the weeks following to do this. This enables the church family to welcome him/her into the church family.
There may be occasions where in the opinion of the Rector the baptism preparation is not deemed appropriate (e.g. an emergency baptism), in which case the PCC will support the Rector in any decision he makes regarding baptism preparation.
If you wish further details please contact the Rector.
