Baptisms and Weddings
During the centuries the Church has had the privilege of being involved in the lives of people at very significant times, and although this is not still quite the case, nevertheless we are very happy to be available at these special times in the lives of families. Please contact the parish office if you would like further details (020 8649 7620)
Baptisms
For many hundreds of years the Church of England has been baptising children, sometimes this ceremony has been called Christening, so called, as the child was given its Christian name. Whilst it is less true these days that parents will just hope to turn up at the church to get the baby 'done' it is still the case that some parents are not aware of the seriousness of the promises that they are asked to make if their child is being baptised. They promise to turn to Jesus Christ and to follow him as their saviour, They also promise that the family will be committed to being an active part of their local church and that the child will be brought up within the Christian faith.
These are significant promises to make and many parents feel that it is more appropriate for them to have a service of Thanksgiving and Blessing. Some parents prefer that their children should make up their own minds about being baptised and so will have a dedication service when the child is young, and then baptism may follow at a latter time.
Those children who were baptised as babies are able to make a public declaration of their faith at confirmation and/or by being immersed in water and reaffirming the promises that were made on their behalf.
Christ Church is fortunate in that it has its own baptistery and for those who have come to faith or who want to reaffirm their faith we are able to have baptism by immersion which is a very powerful picture of the new life that we have in Christ. Our baptism services will follow a period of instruction, so please contact Bill Muncey if you are interested.
Weddings
Every parishioner has the right to be married in their local parish church, although some churches, ourselves included, feel they are unable to offer a marriage service for those who have been divorced.
The Church undertakes all the necessary legal arrangements, this includes having your Banns called or advising you about obtaining a licence. Many people like to have an input into the structure of the service and we are happy that this should be so (providing that the legal part is not altered!).
Prior to your wedding we encourage all those getting married to partake in a marriage preparation course, this is a course that we run or we can direct you to a course which may be more suited to you. (Holy Trinity Brompton run an excellent course in Central London).
It should be noted that there are sometimes complications around those who are not British citizens and you will be asked to provide a ‘Superintendant Registrar’s Certificate’
Please contact us if you would like any further information or would like to book a wedding.