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 continues for the rest of our lives, which involves turning away from all that is evil, turning towards Christ and becoming a member of the local and worldwide Christian family.

If you live in the parish or have strong connections with the Church you or your child can be baptised at Christ Church. There is no minimum or maximum age for baptism.

Baptisms usually take place on the first Sunday of the month either during the 10.30am Service or afterwards at 12.00noon or 1.00pm. Other times by negotiation.

At 10.30am the baptism is part of the main act of worship when other members of the congregation are present. It is a full service with readings and hymns and lasts about an hour. As the regular congregation is present you or your child will be welcomed into the church family and presented with the Certificate of Baptism.

The later service is a Baptism Service and only families and friends attend. There are no hymns. The service lasts about thirty minutes and usually there is more than one baptism. At this service you will be invited to join the regular congregation on the first Sunday of the month where the newly baptized will be welcomed in to the church and presented with their Baptism Certificate.

The date and time of the service will be arranged when you contact the Baptism Co-ordinator

Godparents: For children there is a tradition that for a girl you have two women and a man, and for a boy, two men and a woman - but this is not a rule. It is more important to choose Godparents who will take this role seriously and be sympathetic to the Christian faith. You can have as many Godparents as you wish but we would recommend at least two.

Also Godparents must be baptised themselves.

There's more information on the Church of England's website: http://www.churchofengland.org and click on the tab "weddings-baptisms-funerals"

Sponsors: For older children and adults there is a period of preparation. The preparation will be six weekly meetings where we will explore together what it means to be baptized. During that time the candidates for baptism will choose a sponsor to support them and pray for them during the time of preparation and continue to do so after baptism.

There is no charge for baptisms. However, at the service there will be a collection plate at the door and you may like to make a donation towards the upkeep of our Church and its ministry to the parish.

If you are interested in finding out more about Baptism at Christ Church please contact the Baptism Co-ordinator:

Miss Sheila Astbury, 3 Mossbank Way, Copthorne, Shrewsbury, SY3 8XW. Telephone: 01743 364650.
e-mail: sheila-astbury@talktalk.net