Baptism is an important event in the life of any Christian. It marks the beginning of a journey with God which continues for the rest of our lives. At St Barnabas, baptisms take place during our main Sunday service, normally one Sunday each month.
If you live in the parish and would like your child (or yourself) to be baptised, the best thing to do first is to pay us a visit at our main Sunday 10.30 service which will give you a chance to experience our worship, meet existing members of the congregation and the clergy. Ian or Joy will get some details from you and shortly arrange to come and visit you in your home in order to discuss the next steps.We ask any parents contemplating the baptism of their child to attend a preparation for baptism evening before any firm dates for the service can be made- these happen regularly throughout the year and give your family the chance meet with the clergy and other parents to reflect on all the baptism entails.
Adults seeking baptism are normally asked to attend an ‘explorer group’, which is normally run every year.
It is usual to choose three godparents, normally two of the same gender as the child. However, there are no hard and fast rules, and if you would like to have more or fewer godparents, do discuss this with the clergy. It is important that they should be able , in conscience, to support the education of the child into the Christian faith, and ideally should be confirmed, or at the minimum, baptised.
