Baptisms
Infant Baptism
Congratulations on becoming a parent! We are excited for you as you take on this responsibility. We welcome all children, parents and godparents who want to join us in this journey. Baptism is our response to God’s love, by bringing ourselves and our family into the promises of his love shown to us in Jesus Christ, his example, by his crucifixion and resurrection. As baptism is about joining God’s family, we invite you to try a Sunday service or two before applying. This is to give you a chance to meet us and get a feel for the different kinds of services you might want to hold your child’s baptism in.
As part of the preparation for the baptism we would like to meet you to go through the meaning of baptism, the promises which the parents, godparents and the congregation make and what happens in the service. We will also cover confirmation. Baptisms at St. John’s are usually in the main 10am Sunday service, and often at the All Age service. If you would like your child to be baptised, please see a member of the team, on a Sunday morning after the service. You can find more information about baptism by following the link below.
Godparents
It is important to have reliable and supportive friends and family who will journey with you as Godparents. As they are making promises with you, they ought to be baptised and confirmed members of the Church of England. However, if that isn’t the case, it we may still be able to go ahead, again, please speak to a member of the team
It might be possible to have your child baptised at St Nicholas’ Thorney Island, if you are connected to that church through marriage or have lived on the island or served there as part of the armed forces. We understand that it might be difficult to attend any services there before applying, so please speak to the Padre.
Thanksgiving
We recognise that some parents find it difficult to make the promises expected at baptism. They may include things that parents and godparents haven’t thought about before, or which you may be unsure of. We can also arrange a service of Thanksgiving instead. In a Thanksgiving, we simply give thanks to God for the birth of the child, there are prayers and a short talk. You would have Sponsoring Friends rather than Godparents and no water is used. Thanksgivings can be held at other times, aside from the main morning service. We would be very happy to talk through the differences in the services.
Adult Baptism
If an adult wishes to be baptised, adult baptisms are usually by immersion. We often have adult baptisms at confirmation services (which is the time a person baptised as an infant professes their faith for themselves) or at St. John’s a few days before the confirmation. It is also possible as an adult to be confirmed through immersion.
Confirmation
If you were baptised as a baby, you may have subsequently come to faith and decided that you want to declare you believe Jesus has done for you. Congratulations! Each year, the our local group of churches holds a Confirmation service where lots of people make the promises that were said for them as children, together with other adults.
Links
Baptism and Confirmation
https://www.churchofengland.org/weddings-baptisms-funerals/baptism.aspx
Thanksgiving Service
Fees.
Baptism is free, we do not charge for the service or for preparation meetings. However the certificate costs £13.