Christenings at St. Barts
Baptism, or Christening, is the rite of initiation into the church.
We have a long tradition of baptisms here, going back almost 900 years, and including the great painter William Hogarth.
Being baptized is a wonderful and ancient thing which brings a child into the family of Christ, prepares us for heaven, washes away the earthly sin that clings to us all, and gives the child the name by which he or she is known by God. This is a cause for great celebration!
Some families would prefer to have the christening done away from the main Sunday service, where you can invite all your friends, choose any music you want to have, and hold it at a time that works for you (and us). Quite often this happens on a Sunday afternoon at 1pm, but that isn’t set in stone. Others, especially those who often come to church at St Bart’s, would prefer to see their child baptized in the middle of the main service. Both options are available to you – please chat with us to work out which might work best.
(A quick note on the words baptism and christening. They both mean the same thing: ‘baptism’ came into English through Norman French and ‘christening’ came from Anglo-Saxon; the oldest bible in English, written by John Wyclif, talks about Jesus being ‘christened’ in the River Jordan.)