Baptisms
Baptism is often called ‘christening’ but at St. Peter’s we prefer the term baptism because it’s the term the Bible uses, added to which ‘christening’ could give the misleading impression that we are making your child a Christian in the act of baptism. Getting a child baptised doesn’t make them a Christian – that is a decision your child will have to make for him or herself once they are older. If you are thinking of having a child baptised, the first thing to do is to start coming to church.
Why should you come to church?
Coming to church won’t make you a Christian any more than going to a supermarket would turn you into a can of baked beans, but if you’re thinking of having a child baptised, it’s important to come to church for a number of reasons.
1. It’s good practice. In the baptism service you promise to bring your child to church and be part of the church family with them. It would be silly to make you promise to come to church after your child’s baptism if that wasn’t your practice before it.
2. It helps you understand the baptism service and the promises you make. Coming to church will help you make sense of what it means to be a Christian and what is involved.
3. It helps you get to know us. Baptism is partly about bringing a child into the church family. You will want to know whether ours is a church family that you want yourself and your child to be part of.
4. It helps us to get to know you. In the baptism service the whole church family promises that they will welcome your child and pray for them. That is hard for them to do if they have never met you!
Where and When?
We meet on Sundays at 10.30am and our main service for baptism is at 10.30am on a second Sunday. There is a Crèche for 0 – 3s. The crèche is manned so that you can leave your child with trained and responsible helpers whilst you enjoy the service. Our only condition is that you pick the child up at the end of the service! We ask that you commit to coming along to services for a couple of months to help you get a feel for things.