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Baptisms

Infant Baptism

We’re delighted you’re thinking of baptism for your child. Your child is precious to you and precious to God. At baptism you promise to raise your child to know God loves them, and to help them to follow Jesus as a member of the Church.

What is baptism?

In baptism, you as parents are: thanking God for his gift of life, making a decision to start your child on the journey of faith and asking for the Church’s support.

For your child, baptism marks the start of a journey of faith, which involves turning away from all that is evil, turning towards Christ and becoming a member of the local and worldwide Christian family.

In baptism, we thank God for his gift of life and publicly acknowledge his love. In the Anglican Church it is common to baptise young children; this is sometimes known as christening. At a later point in life the child is encouraged to be Confirmed.

Confirmation

Confirmation marks the point in the Christian journey at which you affirm for yourself the faith into which you have been baptised and your intention to live a life of committed discipleship. This affirmation is confirmed through prayer and the laying on of hands by the confirming bishop. The Church also asks God to give you power through the Holy Spirit to enable you to live in the way of Jesus.

Dedication or Blessing

A Baby Dedication is a ceremony in which believing parents, and sometimes entire families, make a commitment before the Lord to submit a child to God’s will and to raise that child according to God’s Word and God’s ways. Some parents may wish to ask for a simple Blessing which is also in keeping with scripture.

People were bringing little children to Jesus for him to place his hands on them, but the disciples rebuked them. When Jesus saw this, he was indignant. He said to them, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. Truly I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.” And he took the children in his arms, placed his hands on them and blessed them.

Mark 10:13-16

Commonly this type of service is chosen so that the child might be able to choose a Believer’s Baptism at a future point in time when their faith comes into fruition.

Believer’s Baptism

Christians who practice believer’s baptism believe that saving grace and church membership are gifts from God by the recipient’s faith alone. It is a public expression of faith, symbolically representative of the inner conversion of the person being baptised. At All Saints we have baptised individuals who acknowledge Jesus Christ as their Lord, in full immersion baptism. These are very significant and powerful events in the life of the church.

If you would like to know more about Infant Baptism, Dedication, Confirmation or Full Immersion Baptism then please contact us and make an appointment.