Baptisms at St John’s URC, Orpington
BAPTISM (Christening) is a bringing of your child into the Christian community, affirming your own faith in God and your desire to bring your child up in the Christian faith. The water of baptism, which is sprinkled on a child’s head is a sign of cleansing and new life, given to us by Jesus Christ.
In the United Reformed Church, baptisms are celebrated with the whole congregation present, promising that they will play their part in providing a safe and welcoming community in which your child can grow and explore the Christian faith for themselves.
Some parents prefer a service of Dedication, in which they state their beliefs and promise to bring their child up within the Christian community but they want their child to be able to decide about baptism for themselves when they are older.
And some parents want to offer thanks for the gift of their child but do not feel able to make statements of faith or promises of Christian upbringing, so ask for a Service of Thanksgiving and Blessing.
All of these celebrations take place within our regular Family Service at 10:30am on Sundays.
We try to do our best to keep the promises we make by:
- remembering each child in our prayers on a regular basis
- providing groups for learning about the Christian faith in age-appropriate ways on Sundays eg TGIS, Sunday Fun Club, The Place
- by inviting all the families to all our special events for children and young people eg Family Christmas and Easter Parties