Did you know that you have two options? You can have either a Baptism or a Thanksgiving.

It is natural for adults who have a Christian faith to seek baptism for themselves. They may also want to seek baptism for their children since those children are going to be brought up within the church and in a Christian household. However, some families find that baptism isn’t what they need.

In baptism, you make some big promises about how you are going to raise your children. You promise to pray for your children, to raise them as Christians and ensure they become part of a worshipping community (i.e. a local church) regularly attending church. Some parents don’t feel ready to make those kind of promises.

For some other families, what they want to do is primarily about celebrating and giving thanks for the arrival of their child, and they find that the baptism service doesn’t quite hit the mark. They aren’t looking to do any more than simply welcome their child into their wider family and give thanks to God that their child has arrived safely.

A Service of Thanksgiving provides that alternative and it’s a good alternative! In a Service of Thanksgiving, the focus is on welcoming the child into the family, giving thanks for the new child and ending with a prayer for God’s blessing on the child. It doesn’t involve making the big promises that baptism demands.

Baptism or Thanksgiving, have a look at the services:

Sometimes the best way to work out what fits you best is to look at the prayers and the promises in each of the two services. Use the links to the Church of England website for Holy Baptism and Thanksgiving for the Gift of a Child to see which you like best.

Please speak with Rev Kelly when you meet her to discuss which option is best for you.