Baptism_booklet

What is Baptism?
The role of Godparents
Baptism (or to use its other name, Christening) is a way for you to be able to Godparents are very important people who are chosen by the child’s parents thank God for the gift of life in your new child and to start your child on the because they are someone who can be relied upon to pray for their child, tell journey of faith with the support of the Church and his or her Godparents. them about God and encourage them in their Christian faith. Their task is to For the child, or in some cases an adult, it’s the turning from self and turning encourage their godchild to come, along with his or her parents, to church to Jesus to guide them in life. It is also becoming a member of the local and take an interest in their spiritual life. Godparents must be baptised church and the family of Christ throughout the world. Baptism is often themselves in order to take on the responsibility, particularly as making very referred to as a ‘sacrament’, which means a sign that God loves us and has important faith promises on behalf of the child. If you are not Baptised (Christened) you will not be able to be a Godparent. As ‘The Church’ we take Baptism very seriously so in the Baptism service For many Godparents this is also a time when they ask questions about faith parents and godparents renew their own baptismal promises and also make and the church is here to support them as well in their growth in to faith promises to bring up their child in the Christian faith by bringing them to Here in the Parish of Llantrisant we do not baptise adults in order that they Some adults worry that in having their child baptised (Christened) as a baby can become Godparents. As an adult we see Baptism as an important or infant, they are imposing their views on them and would therefore prefer statement of you witnessing to your faith and not a means to becoming a to wait until the child is older so they can make that decision for themselves. For that reason we also offer a service of Thanksgiving But we do encourage adults to be baptised and each year will run a short, six session course called ‘Start‘ which we ask them to undertake before they are What is Thanksgiving?
A Thanksgiving service is slightly different. At this service the priest will set aside part of the main church service, usually near the beginning, to give What do I do next?
thanks for the life of your child and to pray for them. During the service Once you have read through this leaflet and decided whether you want to parents will bring the child to the front of church to be prayed for but they make the commitment to the promises of a Baptism or would like the do not make the same promises as in Baptism service. If you choose to have a alternative Thanksgiving service, the next step is to contact the Vicar or Thanksgiving as opposed to the Baptism service because you do not feel at Curate. They will look at available dates and book you in for the service you that stage you are able to make that bigger commitment of the promises of have chosen. Nearer the service date one of them will ring you to arrange a faith, then there is always the possibility that you may have Baptism at a time to come and have a chat about the service, the promises and the format and give you chance to ask any questions and more importantly, get to know In the Thanksgiving service just the parents and child will be asked to come out for the blessing, (there are no Godparents in this service). We do however, encourage family and friends to come along and join with you in Some practical issues to consider
At present the Vicar (or Curate) can only baptise those who live in his or her parish so you will need to check if you are within that area. Baptisms are usually carried out during the main morning service on a Sunday because whoever is being baptised is then welcomed in to the family of The Church, In special circumstances we will occasionally conduct a service on a Sunday afternoon. Due to the size of the parish and the demands for Baptism, you may have to be prepared to wait several months for an available date. This is due to the number of Baptisms we perform and also because we only ever baptise the children of one family at a time. We only take multiple baptisms if candidates are related to each other. What happens after baptism?
As mentioned earlier, we take Baptism very seriously and want to do all that we can as a church to encourage you and help you and your child to grow in your Christian faith. There are services in each of the three churches in the parish every Sunday. All the services are slightly different and we can advise which might be most appropriate to you and your family. In Llantrisant church we also have a children’s group (Sunday School) which runs during the 11.00a.m. Family Service each week and everyone is welcome to join. This allows parents a time to grow in faith and a safe place for children also to do the same. We also have two youth groups for when the children get older. For adults, there are various House Groups each week where people meet to study the bible and basically enjoy each others company. There are also opportunities to pray and various social groups and activities. So, lots in which you can become involved and make some life long friends. (Please note that we have a Child Protection Policy in place in the parish and a Child Protection Officer. All those who work with children and young people have been CRB checked. We are committed to a safe environment for both Contacting us
If you would like further information or would like to contact parish clergy Email: vivparkinson@parishofllantrisant.org.uk You can also access our parish website which will give service times and further information about life in the parish.

Source: http://parishofllantrisant.org.uk/baptism_booklet.pdf