Thanksgivings and Baptisms

At St Mary’s these both take place on a Sunday within the 11am service. The first Sunday of the month is set apart for thanksgivings and baptisms with a welcome for your family.

To book or make enquiries about a thanksgiving or Baptism, you will need to come along to one of our services at 11am, where there will be people available to talk to you. The best service would be The All Age Worship on the 1^st Sunday of the month, which is particularly good for children.

The service called “Thanksgiving for the gift of a child” is an opportunity for you to say thank you to God for your child, to pray for them with the church congregation and to receive a prayer for yourselves. Special time is set apart near the beginning of the service for this. You will be asked to come to the front of the church for these prayers. All the words are on a service sheet. No water or godparents are involved. While the prayers are quite short, this enables you and your family to celebrate the new life of your child along with God’s blessing. A small book is given to your child.

Some families then proceed to have their child baptised, in which case the Thanksgiving will have enabled you to meet with the church members and for them to meet you, in readiness for welcoming your child into the family of the church at baptism. We also hope that it will help you to feel at home in the church, in preparation for the baptism and also for being regular members as you promise at the baptism to do all you can to bring your child up in the faith of the church.
Other families may not wish to go on to have their child baptised. This can be for a number of reasons:

• You may want your child to make their own decision about baptism when they are old enough to make their own declarations of faith

• Or you may not feel that you are ready in your own journey of faith to make the promises which are part of the baptism service, and would like to take time to find out more about the Christian faith.

Baptism involves you as parents along with godparents, making declarations of faith before God after which the child is baptised with water. A baptism will only take place after a thanksgiving has been held.

Preparation. After you have applied for a Thanksgiving service a time will be arranged with you to meet to talk about thanksgiving, and also baptism for those wanting to take this step. As part of the preparation a video may be shown and the baptism, including the declarations which are to be made, is talked through. This is an important and serious undertaking and we wish you to be fully prepared.

Our Christian faith should be a journey of constant discovery and growth. Besides coming to services there are many opportunities for you to explore and discuss your faith with others. If you are not already confirmed you may wish to undergo confirmation preparation and take the vows made on your behalf at baptism for yourself. You will then be able to take the bread and wine at Holy Communion.

Choosing Godparents. While there are no hard and fast rules for his, good guidance would be for you to choose godparents who are able to fulfil the promises made within the baptism service. A godparent should be prepared to the best of their ability to help the child grow in faith and come to confirmation. (To this end it is most appropriate that the godparent are themselves at least baptised if not confirmed.) You may choose the number of godparents. Often there are three, with two being the same gender as the child.

Thanksgivings and Baptisms

Please book or make enquiries by contacting Jane in the Cottage Rooms (on Church Walk side of St Mary’s Church) Mildenhall on Fridays between 11am and 3pm or Monday 1.30pm to 3.30pm.

At St Mary’s these both take place on a Sunday within the 11am service. The first Sunday of the month is set apart for thanksgivings and baptisms with a welcome for your family.

The service called “Thanksgiving for the gift of a child” is an opportunity for you to say thank you to God for your child, to pray for them with the church congregation and to receive a prayer for yourselves. Special time is set apart near the beginning of the service for this. You will be asked to come to the front of the church for these prayers. All the words are on a service sheet. No water or godparents are involved. While the prayers are quite short, this enables you and your family to celebrate the new life of your child along with God’s blessing. A small book is given to your child.

Some families then proceed to have their child baptised, in which case the Thanksgiving will have enabled you to meet with the church members and for them to meet you, in readiness for welcoming your child into the family of the church at baptism. We also hope that it will help you to feel at home in the church, in preparation for the baptism and also for being regular members as you promise at the baptism to do all you can to bring your child up in the faith of the church.
Other families may not wish to go on to have their child baptised. This can be for a number of reasons:

• You may want your child to make their own decision about baptism when they are old enough to make their own declarations of faith
• Or you may not feel that you are ready in your own journey of faith to make the promises which are part of the baptism service, and would like to take time to find out more about the Christian faith.

Baptism involves you as parents along with godparents, making declarations of faith before God after which the child is baptised with water. A baptism will only take place after a thanksgiving has been held.

Preparation. After you have applied for a Thanksgiving service a time will be arranged with you to meet to talk about thanksgiving, and also baptism for those wanting to take this step. As part of the preparation a video may be shown and the baptism, including the declarations which are to be made, is talked through. This is an important and serious undertaking and we wish you to be fully prepared.

Our Christian faith should be a journey of constant discovery and growth. Besides coming to services there are many opportunities for you to explore and discuss your faith with others. If you are not already confirmed you may wish to undergo confirmation preparation and take the vows made on your behalf at baptism for yourself. You will then be able to take the bread and wine at Holy Communion.

Choosing Godparents. While there are no hard and fast rules for his, good guidance would be for you to choose godparents who are able to fulfil the promises made within the baptism service. A godparent should be prepared to the best of their ability to help the child grow in faith and come to confirmation. (To this end it is most appropriate that the godparent are themselves at least baptised if not confirmed.) You may choose the number of godparents. Often there are three, with two being the same gender as the child.