Baptism at St Stephens Belrose.

Adults

For as long as people have been following Jesus, Baptism has been the symbol of the start of their faith.

Jesus spoke of being born again (John 3:3) and Baptism is the physical sign of this spiritual reality. When we are baptised we publicly declare that we want to let go of our old self-centred life to receive the new life Jesus offers us.

In other words, Baptism is about being reborn. And just like our first birth, our new birth brings us into a new spiritual family who are there to support and nurture us as we grow in our faith.

To get baptised at St Stephens, please fill out the form on this page and we'll be in touch.

If you were baptised as an infant, and want to rededicate yourself to following Jesus, we'd love to help you do that too.

Babies

The birth of a child is almost always accompanied by great joy and celebration as a new life comes into the world. And children have a way of making you slow down – firstly with nappies and later with flowers by the footpath and big trucks going by.
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Alongside these experiences of parenthood comes a feeling that there is something greater at work that just two people, and following the birth of their child parents often want to ‘look up’ and connect with God.

The Bible says the God who made the cosmos also made us. King David of Israel wrote in Psalm 139 (written 1,000BC):

You [God] created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
your works are wonderful, I know that full well.
My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place.
When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body.

And Jesus himself has a very high view of children, which was counter to the prevailing culture of his day:

People were bringing little children to Jesus to have him touch them, but the disciples rebuked them. When Jesus saw this, he was indignant. He said to them, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.  I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.”  And he took the children in his arms, put his hands on them and blessed them. (Mark 10:13-16)

We want to help you celebrate and mark the birth of your child, whether your s/he is newborn or on the path to school, we have a range of baptism, or christening, services available to parents.

Some take place at our Sunday morning family service, whilst others can be more private affairs.

Irrespective of where you are on your spiritual journey and your history of church involvement (or not!), we are confident we can provide you with a meaningful and personal service of thanksgiving for your child.

We recommend you do come to a Sunday morning family service to meet our ministry team and see for yourself one possible context for your child’s service. From there, one of our ministry team will arrange to meet with you to explain the different options available to you. This way you can choose a service that is full of words you can say with integrity which will make the celebration of your child’s birth and life so much more meaningful.

Every service is recorded in our parish Baptism Register and every child receives a special Certificate, as do their godparents.