© 2010 All Saints' Church, Crofton

Jesus said that to enter the Kingdom of God, we must be born of water and the Spirit (John 3). The water he speaks of is the water of baptism.

Baptism represents the washing away of our sins, allowing us to be completely clean and new before God. It also marks the way of giving our lives to Jesus who laid down his life for us. The waters in one sense are like a drowning of an old way of life (Romans 6). It also provides the means of entering the resurrection life of Jesus when he rose from death to give eternal life.

People can be baptised at any age but our heritage as a Christian society has meant that people are mainly baptised as children. We still welcome this practice and believe that God opens His Kingdom to all who are brought to baptism. However, we realise that not everyone has a basic understanding of the Christian faith when bringing their children for baptism. This makes the keeping of promises to bring the child up as a practising Christian as well as making solemn vows before God less than fully honest.

With this in mind, we always seek to help everyone who approaches the church to make this process of baptism as meaningful and honest as possible.

In the first instance, enquirers will need to contact Revd. Louise Tinniswood, who will then normally arrange a meeting in church after a Sunday morning service. A date for baptism is then set and a further meeting fixed to meet informally in your home. This helps us to get to know you in your normal setting and gives you the opportunity to ask questions.

Baptisms most often take place on Sunday afternoons at 12.30pm or 2.00pm, although we sometimes make them part of the main service.

Baptism Checklist

• Phone Louise to arrange meeting
• Work out a number of suitable dates
• Consider who you would like for godparents (have to be baptised to be eligible)
• Meet vicar to fix date for baptism
• Invite guests and ask godparents
• Read through the service sheet and other material
• Meet vicar informally at your home
• Baptism!