Baptisms at All Saints' Ainslie |
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are baptisms held? Baptisms are usually held on the
third Sunday of every month, at noon. We have a separate baptism
service, and baptise up to three babies in each service. This sometimes
means you may have to wait a month or two to have your child baptised, but
it also means the service is more personal and friendly. We do not hold ‘private’
baptisms. Baptisms are a sacrament of the church, and all are welcome to
attend. We
understand that sometimes this Sunday may not be a convenient time. You
may have family visiting, school holidays etc, and hope to have a baptism
on another Sunday. Please contact us and we will try to fit in with your
plans. What
preparation do we need to do? During the baptism service you will be making some statements and promises to God about your future care of your child. To help you understand what these involve we hold a baptism preparation class on a regular basis, usually once every two months. The class runs for one and a half hours and touches a number of different issues:
When you make contact with us at All Saints one of our staff members will visit you and arrange with you the date of the preparation class. Do
adults get baptised? Certainly. The service is slightly
different; as an adult does not need godparents (though they can have a
sponsor) and they will answer for themselves when making the promises. We
often baptise parents and children together. For adults baptism can be the first
step towards confirmation, which is the reaffirming of our faith. Who
are godparents? Godparents play a special role in your children’s life. They make the same promises as you about the spiritual upbringing of your child. It is appropriate for them to be Christians. We encourage Godparents to celebrate the annual baptism anniversary with their Godchild. What
does baptism mean? At your child’s baptism you promise to bring your children up knowing about Jesus, teaching them to learn God’s way to live, and helping them to discover Him for themselves as they grow older. God promises to make your child part of his family, the Church. Many families understand first hand what it means to ‘adopt’ a child into loving family relationships. In the bible it says we are “adopted” by God at our baptism service. We become part of God’s loving family relationships. During the service we will say your child is a “child of God”. It is important to remember that God loves and cares for your child whether they are baptised or not, but the baptism service is a public way for us to say we want to be part of His family. What
happens in the baptism service? At the preparation class we will
discuss how the service is organised. During baptism we use three symbols
to describe God at work: Water for washing away of our sin
(Mark 1. 9-11), oil to be anointed by God Can
we take photographs? You can take flash photos during the actual baptism service. Also, there will be an opportunity after the service to take photos of the family groups with the priest at the font. Videos are fine during the service. Please remind your family and friends to turn off their mobile phones. What
does it cost? We ask for a donation of $50 per family towards the cost of the upkeep of the building. If this is a problem for you, please ring the office and speak to one of the priests. What
if I can’t make it? If you can’t make it to the service for any reason please contact us as soon as possible so we can fit you in again quickly, and to allow another family the opportunity of the date. How to
book: To make a booking, telephone the
Parish Administrator, Elaine Jones, on What happens afterwards? During the baptism service you have promised to help your child find God as they grow up. We have begun a new service designed especially for families with babies and small children. This is on the 1st Saturday in the month and lasts for exactly 45 minutes. You and your little ones will really enjoy themselves at this service. Little Saints on Saturday 6.00pm (1st Saturday in month) Sunday Mass 9.30 am with
children's church each weekend when Little Saturday Mass 6.00 pm During the year we run classes for adults about Christianity, and confirmation classes for both adults and older children. Please contact the office if you wish to know more. You can learn about these and other exciting events via our email newsletter. Just send an email to the office and ask to be put on the list. You will also want to check our website out at the same time. admin@allsaintsainslie.org.au
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