Baptism of Children

We are very pleased that you are thinking about having your child baptised and, like you, we think baptism is a very important step for both children and their parents. You can find out more about baptism by following this link to the Church of England website: http://www.stalbans.anglican.org/faith/life-events/.

Baptism is a good opportunity for you to make contact with your local church. You will meet the vicar in your parish and some of the people who attend that church and live in your neighbourhood. These are really good contacts to make;  you may wish to have other services in your local church in the future and for pastoral reasons it is of great benefit for the church to get to know you,  and you the church.

Sometimes there are reasons why people choose to look to a church outside their parish for baptism of their children; perhaps they have family links with a different church. If that is the case for you, you may be required to attend church for a few Sundays prior to the baptism service.

Baptism Procedure at St Mary’s

Families seeking baptism at St Mary’s should attend a Sunday morning service at 10:00 am and at the end of the service ask to speak to Elaine, our Baptism Befriender.  If Elaine is not around someone will take your name address and phone number and pass it on to her, she will contact you as soon as possible.

When you speak to Elaine, she will record your families details and arrange a time for you to attend an evening baptism preparation course. You will be asked to choose a provisional date for the baptism from a pre-set selection. Currently baptism services at St Mary’s are held on Sunday mornings at 12:00. Once you have attended the preparation course the date for the baptism service can be confirmed.

When you have made contact we will give you an information sheet to take home explaining much more about the baptism service. If you have any questions before coming along to a morning service you can contact Elaine between 4 and 9pm any weekday evening on 01438 369388;  if she is not in you can leave a message and she will get back to you.

We really look forward to meeting you at our Sunday morning service.