Arranging a Baptism at St Nicholas', Halewood
Thank you for your enquiry about arranging a Baptism (sometimes called a ’christening’) at St Nicholas’ Church, Halewood.
Here are answers to some questions you may have.
HOW DO WE ARRANGE A BAPTISM AT ST NICHOLAS’ CHURCH?
Our usual time to meet those who want to arrange a Baptism at St Nicholas’ is between 7:00 and 7:45 PM on Thursday evenings at the St Nicholas’ Centre (70 Church Road, next door to the Church). You don’t need to make an appointment, just call in. We will do our best to find a convenient date from those we have available. You will need to fill in an application form. If Thursday evenings are difficult, please contact us to make alternative arrangements. Please note that on some occasions, e.g. during school holidays and around Christmas or Easter, we may not be open. Please ring one of the numbers given at the bottom of this page.
WHO CAN BE BAPTISED AT ST NICHOLAS’?
Anyone who lives in the parish of Halewood can be Baptised, or bring a child to be Baptised, at St Nicholas’. If, however, you live in the area of Halewood around St Mary’s (Leathers Lane), it might make more sense for the service to be held there, as this is your local Church. (To contact St Mary’s, see details at the end of this page.)
If you don’t live in the parish of Halewood, but you particularly want to arrange a Baptism at St Nicholas’—because you have a genuine connection with the Church—it may still be possible. Before such a Baptism can go ahead we ask you to make contact with the Church in the area where you live and to seek the goodwill of the Minister there. Normally he or she will write to us to indicate that there is no objection to the Baptism taking place at St Nicholas’.
If you are not sure which parish you live in, please ask—we can usually help!
WHEN WILL THE SERVICE BE?
Baptisms normally happen on certain Sundays in the month and the service is usually at 12:45 PM. We arrange some services at 4:00 PM, but these take place only occasionally.
When you book the Baptism service you will be offered a choice of dates. We will do our best to find one to suit you, but please bear in mind that some dates get fully booked well in advance, and certain dates are not available for other reasons. (For example, we do not usually have Baptism services in August because of holidays, nor in December because of the extra services in the period leading up to Christmas.)
Please don’t make any other arrangements (e.g. booking a venue for a party) until we have agreed a date and time.
HOW MUCH DOES IT COST?
You will be pleased to know that there is no charge for a Baptism service! We will also provide a Baptism certificate and cards for Godparents at no cost to you.
During the service, a collection will be taken and you will be able to make a donation then, if you wish. The collection helps with the Church’s running costs. You will probably be aware that it is an expensive business to keep St Nicholas’ ’afloat’ and that we rely on the generosity of parishioners and visitors.
If you want to know more about supporting the Church on a regular basis, or making a donation, please ask. If you are a tax-payer, please consider making your donation a Gift Aid payment, allowing us to reclaim the tax you have paid on your gift.
WHAT ABOUT THE SERVICE?
St Nicholas’ uses a contemporary form of service and we can let you have a copy to look at beforehand if you wish.
If you have a particular hymn that you would like to sing, or a prayer or Bible reading that you would like included, please let us know. The Minister taking the service is responsible for making the final choices, but we welcome suggestions.
GODPARENTS
When you book the Baptism, you will be asked to give details of the people you would like to act as Godparents. If you don’t have this information at the time, it will be possible for you to let us know later.
Church law requires Godparents to be Baptized and Confirmed. It doesn’t matter in which Christian Church they were Baptised or Confirmed. If it is not possible for you to find Godparents who have been Confirmed, then this requirement may be relaxed. Someone who has not been Baptised, however, cannot be a Godparent.
Traditionally, children have three Godparents—two of the same sex as the child, and one of the opposite sex. If you cannot find three Godparents, then one of each sex will be sufficient. It is possible to have more,
if you wish.
Godparents share responsibility with the parents to see that the child is given a Christian upbringing within the family of the Church. At the service, they will be asked:
| Minister: | Will you pray for them, draw them by your example into the community of faith and walk with them in the way of Christ? |
| Parents and Godparents: | With the help of God, we will. |
| Minister: | In baptism these children begin their journey in faith. You speak for them today. Will you care for them, and help them to take their place within the life and worship of Christ’s Church?
|
| Parents and Godparents: | With the help of God, we will. |
Since Godparents promise to help the child to become a regular worshipper, it makes more sense if they are themselves regular worshippers.
HOW MANY GUESTS CAN WE INVITE?
Some people invite just the immediate family and Godparents to the service, while others throw a big party for everyone they know! Please bear in mind that the Church holds around 220 people. At Baptism services, we often have four families taking part, so if each family comes with 50-60 guests, the place will be full. We love seeing lots of people in Church, but please be aware that if you invite too many guests, we cannot guarantee that they will all get a seat!
ON THE DAY
We ask parents and Godparents to be in their places at least 15 minutes before the service is due to start. In fact, we like all guests to arrive in good time so that we can start promptly. (Please remember that if you arrive late, it is not just your own family and friends that will be inconvenienced.)
Those who are to be Baptised, and their parents and Godparents, will be seated at the front of one of the sections of the Church. We try to make sure that all of your guests are seated together in one area of the Church.
We can make arrangements for guests in wheelchairs to be seated with the rest of their party: please let us know if anyone requires this. We are doing our best to make St Nicholas' accessible to all our visitors, but the building does have some limitations.
CAR PARKING
We have some car parking space at the Church, but not a lot! Parking for all services at St Nicholas’ is an issue, but the 12:45 PM Baptism services are a particular problem as the congregation from the 11:00 AM service may not have left by the time you arrive. Please let your guests know what the options are, and suggest that they leave enough time to find a space elsewhere and walk to Church, if possible. If you are coming by car, please consider sharing. We ask all Church users to park safely and considerately, and particularly ask that cars do not block the pavements or access.
CHILDREN
We love having children in Church—that’s why we Baptise them! But we understand that little ones can get restless and we don’t expect them to be still and quiet for the whole service. Please feel free to get up and take them for a walk—at the back of Church there is a carpeted room with comfortable chairs. There are some toys and books for little ones. You can still see what is happening in the service through the glass screen, and the sound is relayed through a speaker, so you won’t miss out too much. We don’t have anyone on duty to run a crèche during Baptism services, so a responsible adult will need to stay with them. (You might like to know that on Sunday mornings, we do provide a crèche, so that you are free to leave little ones while you stay in Church. Our crèche staff are all volunteers who are trained in Child Protection, and all have been CRB checked. The same is true of all those who work with children and young people on behalf of our Church.)
There is a toilet at the back of the church.
If your child is upset during the service (it happens!), please don’t be embarrassed to provide whatever he or she needs—food, drink, a changed nappy, or just a change of scenery. We recommend that you use the room at the back, and promise that when we need you to return to the service, someone will come and get you—we won’t forget about you!
If you have any other queries, please speak to one of the Wardens or Sponsors on duty.
PHOTOGRAPHS AND VIDEOS
We ask the congregation not to take pictures or use video cameras during the service. They can be off-putting for other people and we think that everyone who attends the service should take a full part in it: there are more important things than taking pictures. You may want to stay behind in Church for a while after the service has finished and take photos then.
MOBILE PHONES
We ask that phones and pagers are switched off when you are in Church—for obvious reasons. (Phones that are put on ‘silent’ may still interfere with the Church’s sound system.)
WHAT PREPARATION WILL WE HAVE?
BAPTISM SECRETARY
The administration for Baptism services is done by our Baptism Secretary. Her telephone number is given at the bottom of this page if you have any queries.
THE CHURCH VISIT
We ask you to attend the 11:00 AM Service at St Nicholas’ on the Sunday two weeks before the date of the Baptism. This will help you to familiarise yourself with the Church so that you feel at home. It also enables us to meet you—something we enjoy doing! We like both parents to attend if they can, but we quite understand that it may not be possible. Please invite the Godparents and the child’s grandparents or other members of the family and friends. In fact, the more the merrier!
At the end of the service, please don’t rush off, but introduce yourself to a member of the Clergy or someone who is on duty as Sidesperson or Warden (e.g. the people who are collecting the hymnbooks. Someone from the Church will come to speak to you. (If possible, it will be the Minister who will be taking the Baptism service and your Baptism Sponsor—see below.) We will try to arrange a convenient time to meet you to talk through the Baptism.
THE BAPTISM SPONSOR
Each child who is Baptised at St Nicholas’ has a Baptism Sponsor— this is a member of the congregation whose job it is to help make the Baptism go as well as possible. Baptism Sponsors are all regular worshippers at St Nicholas’ who know how important these occasions are, and who will do what they can to help you feel at ease when the big day comes. They can also tell you a bit more about the life of the Church—activities for children and adults, services and so on. (Baptism Sponsors are all volunteers, so you will get a genuine, unbiased opinion!)
If you have a connection with one of our Sponsors (e.g. if you have previously brought a child for Baptism here, or one of the Sponsors happens to be a friend or neighbour of yours), please let us know. We will see if we can arrange for them to be your child’s Sponsor.
THE HOME VISIT
This will usually be arranged with you at the Church visit, some time in the fortnight before the Baptism. The Minister and your Baptism Sponsor will be able to tell you everything you need to know about the service. If it is convenient, we will come to you—but if you prefer, we can arrange to meet somewhere else (like the St Nicholas’ Centre, for example). If Godparents are available, we like to meet them too and can help them to understand their part in the service and the responsibilities that they will take on. If for any reason we are not able to arrange a visit, it may be possible to go through the basics with you by ‘phone; but, on the whole, we like to meet you!
The visit may be arranged for an evening or a daytime—whichever is most convenient.
WHO WILL TAKE THE SERVICE?
We have a team of Clergy (male and female) who take Baptisms at St Nicholas’. If you have particular contact with one of the team, it may be possible to arrange for that person to take the service, but we can’t guarantee your first choice!
WHAT IF WE NEED TO POSTPONE OR CANCEL THE BAPTISM SERVICE?
PLEASE GET IN TOUCH AS SOON AS POSSIBLE!
We will do all we can to help. If for any reason you change your plans, please let us know. If possible, we like to see you in person—Thursday evenings are usually the best times—but you may prefer to write. We prefer not to change arrangements over the ‘phone.
If your address or telephone numbers change, please let us know. If we are not able to contact you we may assume that the Baptism is cancelled!
FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Ring one of the numbers below, or call in at the St Nicholas’ Centre on a Thursday evening (7:00-7:45 PM), or come to Church on a Sunday morning (our main service starts at 11:00 AM). If you are not familiar with St Nicholas’, the best way to get a feel for the Church is to attend a service—you will be very welcome!
We trust that all your plans go well, and that the Baptism service will be the special and important occasion that you hope for.
Parish Office:
(0151) 487 9965
The Revd Alan Jewell (Team Rector):
(0151) 487 5610
The Revd Sarah Errington (Team Vicar, St Mary’s):
(0151) 486 1159
Mrs Sandra Brown (Baptism Secretary):
(0151) 487 5987
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