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Baptism 

 

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During a christening your child will be baptised with water. It’s the start of an amazing journey of faith for your child and a special day for all your friends and family.
 
Your child is precious to you and precious to God. You want the very best for them, and so does God. You want them to make right choices in life, for themselves and for others.
 
A christening is just the beginning of this and so much more.
  • Over the years to come, it’s a journey you’ll share together with your child by:
  • Being there for your child to talk to about the bigger questions of life – questions about hope, faith, and love.
  • Praying for your child through the ups and downs of their faith journey.
  • Showing them practically how to make those good choices in life.
  • Helping them to learn more about their Christian faith, through their church and in other ways.
  • So, it’s a commitment to start as you mean to go on.
 

Can I or my child be baptised at St Margaret's?

We are delighted to conduct baptisms for adults and children who, after proper preparation, decide it is right for them or their children. Most baptisms are for people who either live in the parish or who are regular worshippers with us (or both).  Ideally people who live locally or intend to make St Margaret's their home church. If you live a long way away, we encourage you first to give proper consideration to using your local church.
 

What is involved for infant baptism?

Baptism takes place in one of our regular Sunday services currently at 10.15am.  So, the first step to preparing for the baptism of your child is to come along and worship with us and get to know the community of the church which your child will be baptised into. After you've introduced yourself at church and become a regular worshipper with us on a Sunday, we will send you a form to complete and a booklet entitled “Making the most of your child’s baptism”. 
 
We will also arrange a visit by one of our team where we will spend some time talking through what you believe and discussing the promises made in the baptism service.  We find that the preparation gives understanding about baptism and also helps families to get to know us and vice versa.
 
With infant baptism, parents and godparents have to make important promises before God; promises to be followers of Jesus Christ, to teach children about the Christian faith and to bring your child regularly to church.  Ideally both parents are willing to make these promises. If not, we ask for the agreement of both to go ahead with the service.  After this initial meeting a member of the team will be in touch to arrange the date of baptism and to answer any remaining questions you may have.
 

What about baptism as an adult?

Young people and adults are also welcome to be baptised if they would like to be – you are never too old! 
 

Godparents

Godparents are really important. It’s a lovely way of drawing special friends into your family. Choosing them is one of the biggest decisions you will make. Godparents also make the promises and decisions in the service and receive a certificate to confirm their new role! 
 
Here are some key things which might help you decide:

Because of the very special role godparents have in supporting your child’s faith journey, they must be baptised themselves. Ideally, they should be confirmed too.
  • If the people who you'd like to be godparents aren't baptised, they can still be involved in the christening service and in your child's life as they grow up.
  • Godparents will be people who’ll be in touch with your family for many years to come. They may be relatives or friends of the family.
  • They’ll be people who you know you can trust and who’ll be there for your child to talk about the bigger questions in life; questions about faith, hope and love.
  • They should feel ready to make some big promises about faith for your child in church.
  • Every child should have at least three godparents, two of the same sex and at least one of the opposite sex to your child. Although there is no official maximum number of godparents, three or four is usual.
  • Parents may be godparents for their own children, providing they have at least one other godparent.
  • If you’re thinking about asking someone who is under 18 to be a godparent, talk to a member of the team first. There’s no minimum age for godparents, but they must be mature enough to understand the responsibilities they’re taking on.

What if we decide we can't make the promises?

All is not lost! We can offer a service of Thanksgiving for the Gift of a Child. This is a special church service, different from a christening and can be used as a way to say thank you to God for your child and ask for his blessing for him or her. You can have sponsors, and we will give you a certificate to mark the occasion. This service does not require you or the sponsors to make any promises.

You might also choose this service when your baby is just born, or if you have adopted a child into your family and you simply want to celebrate this with special words said by a vicar in church. Whatever the reason, we would be delighted to talk to you about this service.
 
For more information, please contact our Parish Administrator.
Hello
Hello and welcome to our church. If you are a new visitor, we have a page for you to get to know us and learn more about planning a visit.
Click here to see more.

Planning your Visit

New to Church?

The following information is specifically for those planning a visit, so that you know, beforehand, what to expect on a Sunday morning.

Where and When

We meet at St Margaret’s Church for our Sunday Services . We now have two services of differing styles on offer, Holy Communion will be celebrated at one of these services every week. 
 
The first service starts at 8:45am and this will be BCP (Book of Common Prayer) traditional worship with hymns.
 
The second service starts at 10:15am and will be more contemporary worship with band led music. Groups for under 18's will be held, starting off in church together. Communion will be held at one service each week.
 
We will hold a Unified service at 10am celebrating the best of both traditions. This will be for occasions such as Remembrance Sunday, Christmas Day, Easter Sunday, and our Patronal Festival. We will also come together as one church family when there is a 5th Sunday in the month.  

For your first visit, we recommend arriving 10-15 minutes early to ensure you get a parking space and find somewhere to sit before the service begins. When you arrive, you will be greeted by someone on our Sides Team, please make yourself known, that you are visiting for the first time so that we may give you a welcome pack.

We serve tea, coffee and biscuits after each service.  It is a great way to meet people, or simply take time to find your bearings. All refreshments are free.

Accessibility: There is wheelchair access, and a sound loop for anyone who needs it. Please let one of the Sides Team know on your arrival and they will help you to get set up. There is also a disabled toilet and baby changing facilities.

Our Service

Each service begins with a warm welcome from our Rector. We have a mixture of services, comprising of Morning Prayer, Holy Communion, BCP Communion, Morning Worship and All Together. Our music is organ and band. We typically have 3 or 4 songs. We then share news and notices, usually about what’s going on in the life of the church. Our Rector will then give a sermon that is bible based and that we can apply to our everyday life. We then finish with a final worship song. There is always an opportunity to receive private prayer at the end of the service.

What about my children?

We have a great programme lined up for children of all ages:

  • Bubbles (3-5 years)
  • Juniors (6-11 years)
  • Ignite (11-14 years)
  • Youth (14+ years)
Children stay with their parent or grown-up at the start of the service for the welcome, songs, and notices. We really value worshipping God all together as a family. At the end of the notices someone will announce that it’s time for the younger members to go to their various groups. You will need to go with your children to their groups and register them as part of our child safety policy.

The children’s group activities vary depending on the age but usually there is a friendly welcome, bible stories, testimonies, praying, music, craft, drama, fun games, and free play. Please pick your children up as soon as the service finishes, usually around 11.15am.


Getting Connected

 
Small Groups
While Sundays are a great way to meet new people, it is often in smaller gatherings that you can really get to know someone. Being part of one of our small groups allows you to make new friends, share together and support each other. We have a variety of groups that meet throughout the week, some afternoons, and some evenings. Check out Small Groups and see if there’s one that you could join, or we can put you in touch with a small group leader who will be more than happy to invite you along to their group.

Serving and Volunteering
If you want to get involved in the life of the church and help us, make Sundays run smoothly, you can sign up to serve on a team. 
 
Get in touch with us to plan your visit
If you would like to come and visit the church beforehand you are more than welcome! Get in touch and we can arrange a time that suits you.
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Telephone:
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Comments / Questions or anything you would like to say?
Next, we will contact you by email to say hello and help arrange anything necessary for your visit.

 
We hope that whoever you are, you will feel at home at our church.

Best Wishes