2008-02-09T14:00:00.000-08:00

Welcome to our Baptism web page - please scroll down to read information about Baptisms and Services of Thanksgivings!

We warmly welcome anyone interested in booking a baptism (also known as "christening") at All Saints church. We also welcome those who choose not to have a baptism ("christening") but who are interested in having a "Thanksgiving for the Gift of a Child" service.

Please read on to find out about both

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BAPTISM
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Baptism is an important entry point into the Christian family and represents a very important spiritual moment in the baptised child or adult's life.

Before you go ahead and book a baptism you may want to explore more by clicking on this link, although please note that baptisms at All Saints take place in the afternoon, not in the morning as it says on this website:

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http://www.cofe.anglican.org/lifeevents/baptismconfirm/baptism1.html

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THANKSGIVING FOR THE GIFT OF A CHILD

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If you have read the text of the Baptism service on the above link, and for any reason you do not feel comfortable answering the questions, you might like to go for a "Blessing" or "Thanksgiving" service for your child. The Vicar is much more keen that you do what feels right for you than feel under pressure in any way to do what is traditionally the norm.

So why not think about the "Thanksgiving for the Gift of a Child"service?

You can find out about that by clicking this link below . Anyone booking a baptism may find it helpful to look at this anyway, just so that they are sure that Baptism is the right thing for them.

http://serviceofthanksgiving.blogspot.com/

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BOOKING BAPTISMS (Thanksgiving text is on above link and text below only relates to Baptisms)

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If you want to go ahead and book a Baptism service please come along to the church on Saturday mornings from 10am to 11.30am to do this. The entrance is round the back of the church, to your right as you approach the building.

Please note: Simon, our vicar, is unable to book or pencil in possible dates for baptisms by email or telephone. The reason is that he does not look after the baptism bookings folder at home. It is maintained centrally and only available on a Saturday morning. If you do not live in Whitstable, do you know someone in Whitstable who could come along on a Saturday on your behalf?

There is no charge for a baptism service. If you live in the parish of Whitstable, it is fine for you or your child to be baptised (christened) here. If you live elsewhere please can you contact you local vicar first before contacting us, just to check he or she is happy that you come to us for the service. We do not expect you to bring a letter from the vicar of your home parish, this is entirely on trust.

At All Saints you do not have to be married to have your child baptised, although we are obviously keen that you do consider marriage as we believe it provides the best context in which to raise children.

Before you come to book your baptism, have a think about who you would like to be godparents for your child, and find out if they are baptised. It is a great help to have godparents who are already baptised as it is a requirement for godparents to be baptised. The average number of godparents is three per child, though there is no set maximum. Each godparent should be 18 years old or more.

Baptisms take place on the first Sunday afternoon of each month. It is usual for there to be two baptisms at each service. They take place at 3pm, 3.45pm and 4.30pm. As we have up to fifty baptisms a year we cannot offer other weeks in the month as this would mean our volunteers who help with the service would be out every Sunday afternoon. We do hope you understand.

Once you have booked your baptism a member of the congregation will arrange to come and visit you to explain the details of the service, and then the vicar, Simon, will arrange to meet you also to get to know you and explain the deeper meaning of the service to you.

It is possible, if you are not keen on making the promises of baptism, to go for a service of thanksgiving, which is a very special service in itself. The website link above has details of this option. It is important that you contact Simon our vicar about this before you go along to the church so please email him at tillotsons@googlemail.com or telephone 01227 272308.

Baptisms (Christenings) and Thanksgiving for the Gift of a Child services at All Saints Whitstable