This document should help you plan your child’s baptism in the Parish:

1. Am I eligible to have my child baptised?

If you live within the Parish of Badshot Lea and Hale then “YES”! You can find this out by going to the website www.achurchnearyou.com/‎ and putting in your postcode. If you live outside the Parish then you can still have your child baptised in one of the churches if you worship with us at least once a month.

2. Come to a Sunday service

Baptism is full membership of the Church of England and more importantly, it is membership of your local congregation. The congregation will make promises to support you and pray for you and you in turn will make promises to bring your children to church. There are three churches in the Parish and we would like to help you find the right place to have your child(ren) baptised, because it is important that you find a congregation where you feel comfortable as a family (if you don’t then it is hard to bring them to church). So come along to some services and see what you think. St Mark’s (by Tesco’s Express, Upper Hale) at 11:00am is more informal, with a screen and projector, St George’s (Badshot Lea) has family friendly services at 11:30am on the 1st and 3rd Sundays, as well as Sunday School (called St George’s Dragons) usually on the 4th Sunday at the 10:00am service. St John’s in Hale at 9:30am is more formal and has a Sunday school on the 2nd Sundays. Do introduce yourself to the priest.

3. Fill in the Application Form

One for each child – you can get the form from Lesley.

4. Baptism Preparation

Before the special day you will need to come to a baptism preparation evening. It is informal and about an hour long at the Rectory (25 Upper Hale Road, GU9 0NX). They are Wednesday evenings at 7:30pm. We talk through the promises that you will make and also the format of the service and how the church can support you in helping your child(ren) to be able to make the promises for themselves later on at Confirmation. The baptism date is confirmed after you have come to a service or two, filled in the application form and after preparation has taken place so please make no arrangements until you have the confirmed date.

5. Choose Godparents

When choosing godparents it is important that they are able to make the declarations in the service, so below are the Promises that you and the Godparents make. It is ideal to find Godparents who have made these declarations for themselves at Confirmation, so that they can make them confidently on behalf of your children. It is essential that the godparents have been baptised and if they are under 16 then they need to have been both baptised and confirmed.

6. Choose a date

Baptism is a celebration for the whole church, and the congregation will make solemn promises to uphold you as parents and provide a spiritual home for your children. Hence, we baptise children in our main services in the Parish. Because having a Baptism significantly changes the shape of the Sunday service we have specific dates when Baptisms will happen and you can get a list of these dates from Lesley.

 

PROMISES MADE BY PARENTS AND GODPARENTS

Parents and godparents, the Church receives these children with joy.

Today we are trusting God for their growth in faith.

Will you pray for them,

draw them by your example into the community of faith

and walk with them in the way of Christ?

With the help of God, we will.

In baptism these children begin their journey in faith.

You speak for them today.

Will you care for them,

and help them to take their place

within the life and worship of Christ’s Church?

With the help of God, we will.

THE DECISION

In baptism, God calls us out of darkness into his marvellous light.

To follow Christ means dying to sin and rising to new life with him.

 

Therefore I ask:

Do you turn to Christ?

I turn to Christ.

 

Do you repent of your sins?

I repent of my sins.

 

Do you renounce evil?

I renounce evil.

 

PROFESSION OF FAITH

Brothers and sisters, I ask you to profess

together with these candidates

the faith of the Church.

Do you believe and trust in God the Father,

source of all being and life,

the one for whom we exist?

We believe and trust in him.

Do you believe and trust in God the Son,

who took our human nature,

died for us and rose again?

We believe and trust in him.

Do you believe and trust in God the Holy Spirit,

who gives life to the people of God

and makes Christ known in the world?

We believe and trust in him.