Christenings are a special, joyful and exciting part of every family’s life. It’s a time in which we get to celebrate the arrival of a new life, join with family and friends, and maybe even have a party! They are also deeply spiritual moments, in which a child is named before God, and made a member of God’s Church in baptism (the sprinkling of water). It begins a life-long journey of faith, in which we come to know God and his love for us in Jesus more fully day by by. In a christening, we will pray for your child, for you, and your godparents, that you may all know God’s presence in your life.
If you would like to book a baptism, feel free to join us on a Sunday morning at 10.30am
WHAT HAPPENS NEXT?
- When arranging the baptism, we’ll need your details, and the names of your godparents. You might want to book early if there’s a date you particularly want!
- When the big day comes, make sure you’ve asked the minister well in advance about things such as hymns, or people doing any readings.
- Usually there will be two families bringing their child to be baptised at a single service. This means that we are able to put on a better service for you and your child, which is able to be more intimate and special.
- We recommend that on the big day, you don’t invite more than fifty guests to the service. Unlike weddings, baptisms are at their best when there are less people there. In that there are usually two families bringing their child to be baptised, the larger the number of guests that each family brings makes the service itself much noisier and distracts from your child.
GODPARENTS
There are a few requirements in regards to godparents:
- They need to have been baptised/christened themselves
- There should be at least three, of which two should be the same sex as the child, and one the opposite sex
- They should ideally be over the age of 16
FAQS
For some of our other frequently asked questions, click on the link below:
ADULT BAPTISMS
Increasingly people haven’t been christened when they were a child, but would like to make that faith commitment when they’re older. This is more common than people often realise. St Giles’s does lots of adult christenings/baptisms over the course of the year. If you would like to enquire about an adult baptism, please speak to one of the ministers after our 10.30am service on Sundays.