Baptism and Confirmation
We are pleased to offer baptism to babies, children, young people and adults. God knows us and loves us from when we first come into being. Through baptism we belong to God, we are members of the family of the Church, and we are beginning a new life. It is a cause for celebration and joy.
Arranging a baptism for your child
- Please email baptisms@christchurchepsom.org.uk including your postcode so that we can check whether you live within the Parish. If you don’t, we may still be able to baptise your child – each enquiry is assessed individually. If baptism at Christ Church is offered, we will notify the Vicar of your ‘home’ parish.
- We invite you to come to a Sunday service to meet the clergy and a member of the Baptism Team.
- We will find you a suitable date for your child’s baptism. These are usually held at Christ Church on the 1st and 3rd Sundays of the month at 12 noon or 1pm.
- Around one month before, you will be invited to a Baptism Preparation evening, where you will meet with the clergy and other parents who have also brought their children for baptism. This is an evening to consider the meaning of baptism, confirm your individual arrangements and answer any questions you may have. Our baptism team members are on hand to help. Baptism preparation is usually held on the third Monday of the month at 8pm, but may also be held on Zoom.
- Your child will be baptised.
- After the baptism, you will be invited to our next Bubble Church service, which is at 4pm on the second and fourth Sundays of the month and is especially for children and their families. Here you will be welcomed into the Christ Church family and given your baptism certificate, as well as a glass angel to hang on our baptism tree.
- The following January, when we celebrate the baptism of Christ, all families who brought children to be baptised in the previous year are invited back to collect their angels and take them home as a treasured memento of the baptism of their child.
Your child’s Baptism is an opportunity for the whole family to become involved with and support your child. We hope that you will be encouraged in your faith and pray that you will experience baptism as an important event on an exciting and longer journey of faith with God, and with us at Christ Church.
Baptism for older children and adults
We warmly welcome older children (usually 12 and above) and adults who wish to be baptised. Usually baptisms of teenagers and adults take place in our Sunday morning service. Please speak to one of the clergy, who will be delighted to discuss this with you. For adults and teens, often baptism is part of their preparation for confirmation.
To enquire about baptism, please email baptisms@christchurchepsom.org.uk
Confirmation
Confirmation is a wonderful and important step in the journey of faith. In a special church service, a person confirms the promises that were made when they were baptised. If you were baptised as a child, your parents and Godparents made these promises on your behalf.
At a confirmation service, you make these promises for yourself. Your friends and family, as well as members of the church family, will be present and promise to support you and pray for you. During the service, you’ll renew your baptismal vows, and the bishop will lay hands on your head and ask God’s Holy Spirit to give you the strength and commitment to live God’s way for the rest of your life.
We warmly welcome enquiries about confirmation preparation. To find out more, please email office@christchurchepsom.org.uk