BAPTISMS

Baptisms in  St Peter’s

What is Baptism (also called Christening)?

Christening (or baptising) a baby or child is an opportunity to give thanks to God for the precious gift of your child, and a commitment to help them discover God’s love for them and what faith in Jesus means as they grow. Baptism as a child can be followed by Confirmation once your child is old enough to choose Christian faith for themselves.

You can be baptised as an adult (or youth)  if you were not baptised as a child as a way to mark your choice to follow Jesus and the Christian faith. Adults or youth can be baptised at the font (as babies and children are) by pouring water over your head, or by full immersion in a baptism pool … or the sea if you are feeling really brave!

Renewal of Baptismal vows

If you have already been baptised as a baby or child but would like to take another step as part of your faith journey, talk to us about renewal of baptismal vows or confirmation.

When can I be baptised?

Baptism is joining God’s family: when you are baptised we welcome you into God’s family as part of his church, and celebrate God’s grace through relationship with Jesus. Baptisms and Christenings at St Peter’s are now offered as part of our Sunday morning 9.30 am services. We offer baptisms monthly, often on the second Sunday of the

When can I be baptised?

Baptism is joining God’s family: when you are baptised we welcome you into God’s family as part of his church, and celebrate God’s grace through relationship with Jesus. Baptisms and Christenings at St Peter’s are now offered as part of our Sunday morning 9.30 am services. We offer baptisms monthly, often on the second Sunday of the month.

 What to do if you are interested in Christening/Baptism:

Come along to a few of our Sunday or Wednesday services to get to know us, and so we can get to know you and your family. Have a chat with Rev Kath or one of our team and let them know you are interested in baptism. We meet regularly on Sundays at 9.30am at St Peter’s Church. The first Sunday of the month we is Breakfast church – a relaxed, family friendly service with food, crafts and activities. If you have children, this may be a good service to join us for. Other Sundays our 9.30am is a traditional Holy Communion service. We also have a regular midweek Holy Communion on Wednesdays at 10am (term time only) Everyone is welcome at our services.

Once you’ve joined us a few of times we’ll give you a booking form, chat to you about potential dates and arrange a preparation session with parents and godparents or invite you to a baptism evening preparation session.

Godparents are required for babies and children who are baptised. All children should have at least 3 Godparents: two of the same sex as the child and one of the opposite sex to the child. As Godparents are promising to support your child’s faith journey they must be baptised themselves. Those who are not baptised can become ‘Supporting Friends’ and will be involved in the service

In the same way as Godparents, but you will still need Godparents as well. If you have any questions about choosing godparents, have a chat with us when you visit church.

Adults who wish to be baptised do not need Godparents, but should have at least two Sponsors (who have been baptised) to support them in their decision to be baptised.

FUNERALS at ST PETER’S

It is the usual practice to make contact with the Funeral Director in the first instance, who will be in touch with the Parish Office. They will contact the family to arrange a visit in order to discuss the service with the family. There is always provision for individual music to be played and readings to make the funeral a unique occasion.

WEDDINGS

Getting Married at St. Peter’s

“… for this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh” (Genesis 2 :24)

We pride ourselves at St Peter's that our wedding services are always 'one-off' events, and we take a great deal of time in preparation to ensure that your wedding at St Peter's will be an event to remember for all the best reasons!

Preparation

We make a great effort to help couples plan this important part of their big day, and we like to get to know them as well as possible before the wedding itself. We hold a Preparation Evening for all couples to discuss the vows you will be making in your ceremony and a Wedding Preparation Day when every aspect of your wedding requirements can be discussed.

Although the temptation is to regard marriage in church as 'doing it properly' you are specifically inviting God to bless your marriage and be part of your married life together.
http://yourchurchwedding.org/

Banns of Marriage
What are Banns of Marriage?...
Banns are part of the legal side of marriage. As the Church of England is the State Church, the minister also acts as the lawyer and performs both the legal and religious parts of the marriage.

The reading of 'banns' is a legal requirement and serves notice of intent of a couple wanting to get married. Banns are read out on 3 consecutive Sundays normally during the 9:30 service. The purpose of banns is to make sure that you are legally entitled to get married.
These will be called automatically at St Peter's but if one party is not resident in the parish banns must also be called in the parish where they reside. It is the responsibility of those getting married to arrange this and to obtain a Certificate of Calling which is given to the St Peter's Clergy. (Banns are only current for three months and without a valid certificate a marriage cannot take place.) In certain circumstances banns are inadmissible (e.g. if one party is a foreign national). Discuss this when you book your wedding.
An alternative to Banns is to be married by Common Licence, usually when there is insufficient time for them to be called but you still must have a qualifying connection with the Parish.
If you wish to discuss booking you wedding at St Peter’s contact the Parish Office as early as possible.

Who can be married?

So, how do we know if we qualify to be married at St Peter's? The Church of England has recently relaxed its rules about who can be married at the local parish church, and here are some examples to help you.
You can be married at St Peter's if...
? one or both of you live in the parish (i.e: St Peter’s or St Francis)
? your parents or grandparents live or have lived here
? you were baptised (christened) here, or have lived here for part of your life
? there is a strong connection between you and/or your family and the parish church
? or that one of your parents at any time after you were born lived in the parish or regularly worshipped at the church
? or that one of your parents or grandparents was married in the parish
Under certain circumstances couples can be married by what is called an Archbishop's Special Licence. However, this can be costly, and we would need to discuss the appropriateness of applying for a Licence with individual couples.

We are able to marry those whose previous marriage has been dissolved, but would need to explore this possibility very fully with those concerned. As an alternative, we can also offer a service of Blessing after a Civil Marriage, which can include readings, hymns and personal music or poetry which can be chosen by each couple.

In addition some wedding couples may wish to mark special milestones by renewing their marriage vows and this can be arranged with the Parish Office.