Baptism and Thanksgiving

The arrival of a new child is usually an event of great joy, and one which many families wish to commemorate at a church service. Here at St Wilfrid's there are two options:

• Baptism into the Church of England
• A service of Thanksgiving for the Gift of a Child

There are also many older children, or adults, who wish to be baptised as a public declaration of their Christian Faith.

Whatever your wishes, or even if you are not sure which service is right for you - please contact Revd Fiona Jenkins (01756 720331) to discuss this in greater detail.

Baptism

The service of Baptism includes a public declaration of Christian faith - either by the candidates themselves, or by their parents and grandparents. The church family then welcomes the newly baptised into the Church.

At St Wilfrid's, we use the order of service found in Common Worship. This has a number of core elements, which are:

• An explanation of the meaning of baptism.
• The expression of a desire to be baptised, made either by the candidates or by the parents and Godparents on their behalf.
• The renunciation of the devil and all that is evil and a declaration of turning to Christ, made either by the candidates for baptism or, in the case of infants, by someone speaking on their behalf. In Common Worship it is the parents and Godparents who do this
• The making of the sign of the cross on the candidates for baptism to signify that henceforth they belong to Christ and must be prepared to live as His followers.
• A prayer asking God to use the water of baptism to cleanse the candidates from sin and give them new life as part of His people.
• A declaration of Christian faith based on the ancient statement of Christian belief called the ‘Apostles’ Creed’, made either by the candidates or by the parents and Godparents.
• Baptism with water in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit
• A prayer that those baptised may grow in holiness and may come eventually to share in the life of God’s eternal kingdom.
• A declaration of what it means to live as a baptised follower of Jesus Christ or, in the case of infants, a declaration of the responsibility of parents and Godparents to bring them up to follow Christ.

In the case of the Common Worship services there is the option for additional elements, which are also practices that go back to the early days of the Church. St Wilfrid's follows one of these.

This is the presentation of a lighted candle to those who have been baptised.

This symbolises the fact that Christ said that those who follow Him should glorify their heavenly Father by shining like lights amidst the darkness of the world (Matthew 5:14-16).

If you would like to learn more about Baptism, please get in touch with the Revd Fiona Jenkins by email or on 01756 720331. Alternatively, you can find out more on the Church of England website.

Thanksgiving

Many people seek baptism for their children because they want to give thanks to God for their child’s arrival into the world. From a Christian perspective, it is right that they should want to do this, but, as can be seen from what has been said about baptism above, this is not what the baptism service is for.

However, the Church of England provides a service of Thanksgiving for the Gift of a Child. As its title indicates, this service is about giving thanks for the miracle of new life, and it is not an alternative to baptism since it is not part of the process of Christian initiation. If a service of thanksgiving is held, baptism may then follow at a later date.

As the notes accompanying the service in Common Worship explain, the service is designed to meet the needs of:

• parents who see this service as a preliminary to baptism;
• parents who do not wish their children to be baptised immediately;
• others, who do not ask for baptism, but who recognize that something has happened for which they want to give thanks to God.