“Congratulations on wanting to explore baptism or confirmation with the Church of England. Baptism and Confirmation are both an important part of a lifetime journey of faith as a follower of Jesus Christ.”
Adult Baptism and Infant Baptism (also known a Christening)
Anyone can get in touch with a church to find about having their child christened. 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.
Confirmation
Confirmation is a special church service in which a person confirms the promises that were made when they were baptized. If you were baptized at a christening when you were a child, your parents and godparents made these promises on your behalf. As a young person or adult, you may be ready to affirm these promises for yourself and commit your life to following Jesus Christ. At a confirmation service, you make these promises for yourself. Your friends and family as well as the local Christian community will be there to promise to support and pray for you.
The local bishop will lay their hands on your head and ask God’s Holy Spirit to give you the strength and commitment to live God’s way for the rest of your life.
Anyone may be confirmed who has been baptized and if they are old enough to answer responsibly for themselves. In some areas of the country, the local bishop sets a minimum age for confirmation. If this is the case, your vicar will be able to tell you what the minimum age is. As a general rule, anyone who is over 10 years old and can answer for themselves could be ready for confirmation, but the right time for you might be at any age – you could be in your teens or in your nineties!
Get in Touch
If you want to find more about baptism or confirmation, get in touch.