The celebration of a child’s baptism is one of the great hallmarks of his or her life. It is also a great event in your family life together.

But there is another and much deeper importance in Baptism.

Baptism makes a person a member of the family of God, the Church. The popular term for Baptism, christening, reminds us of that. Christening means being made Christ’s, being made a Christian.

Because of that, we take baptism very seriously. Just as your child’s baptism is an important event in the life of your family, so it is also an important event in the life of the Church family.

We celebrate baptism during the 10am Parish Mass on Sundays, normally the first Sunday of the month (see below for dates). That is the time when most of the church family can be together to say Welcome to this new Christian and to celebrate this new beginning with you.

What is asked of us?

The first thing is that we ask you to come and join us for at least three Sundays. This enables you to become a little familiar with what happens and to begin gaining a sense of the family that makes up the Church.

To help you if you have other children, there is a Crèche for babies and toddlers, a children’s corner for small children, special colour-in children’s Mass booklets and plenty of room to walk around at the back if your baby is having trouble settling. No one minds a crying baby or a questioning child: they belong in the church as much as any adult.

Parish Boundaries

Normally a person is baptized in the parish in which they live or where they are already a regular member of the congregation. However sometimes people have special family links with a church and if that is so for you, then having your child baptized at St John’s is still possible. You will need to receive the written goodwill of the priest of the parish in which you live and that will sometimes mean joining in with their baptism preparation as well.

What about godparents?

Traditionally a child has three godparents: two of the same sex and one of the opposite. In practice, it is quite usual to have two, or sometimes four, godparents.

There are two important pre-requisites for godparents. The first is that they themselves must already be baptised. The second is that they must freely assent to the practice of infant baptism. Some of the Free Churches only practise adult baptism. It isn’t possible for people belonging to these churches to be godparents as we would be asking them to make promises for something they don’t believe in.

Booking the date

After you have been along and "checked us out", speak to Mother Carrie to arrange the date. Mother Carrie is also available in the church hall on Saturdays between 11am and 12pm.

Baptism Sunday Dates:

Please note that Baptisms are not usually undertaken during Lent

2008:

2009:

Any more questions?

Then please contact Mother Carrie who will be happy to help.