Baptism
Many members of our church family become involved at St Anne`s through the baptism of their child. Baptisms take place within the main Sunday service.
Baptism is a Sacrament of the Church. In Baptism we welcome new members to the family of God. We give thanks to God and pray for their journey of life in Christ. For children, in baptism their parents promise to raise their child within the Christian faith. In baptism we are born again into the life and love of God.
The Christian journey begins in the heart of our Sunday worship as we celebrate the new life baptism brings. Anyone can be baptised, but if you live outside the parish and are not a regular member of the congregation then you will need to discuss a request for baptism with the Vicar. We expect that those wishing to be baptised will have attended St Anne’s for 3 months prior to the baptism. This allows us all to be familiar with the service and each other.
For more information about Baptism in the Church of England see
http://www.london.anglican.org/BaptismsAndChristenings
Confirmation
What we now call Confirmation was originally part of a wider ceremony of Christian initiation and only became a separate rite when bishops were no longer able to preside at all baptisms.
As a separate rite, Confirmation marks the point in the Christian journey at which the participation in the life of God’s people inaugurated at baptism is confirmed by the bishop by the laying on of hands, and in which those who have been baptised affirm for themselves the faith into which they have been baptised and their intention to live a life of responsible and committed discipleship.
Confirmation takes place through prayer and the laying on of hands by the confirming bishop, the Church also asks God to give them power through the Holy Spirit to enable them to live in this way.
According to the Canons (laws) of the Church of England those who receive Holy Communion in the Church of England should either have been confirmed in the Church of England or should be ready and desire to be confirmed. It is normal for Confirmation to be followed straight away by Holy Communion, although in cases where Confirmation has not taken place in a candidate’s parish church they may instead take Communion for the first time in that church on the following Sunday.
Our older young people – and sometimes adults – are prepared for Confirmation in classes designed to address both the overall issues of Christian teaching and catechism, together with the particular issues of any one group or person. In Confirmation we see our young people assuming for themselves more responsibility within their faith journey.
