When 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:

• Introduction to baptism
• What is Christianity
• The Baptism Service
• How families with young children share in the life of All Saints'?

When you make contact with us at All Saints one of our staff members will visit you to discuss the baptism and complete the paperwork.

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 upringing 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 (1 Samuel 9.27 – 10.1) and
• light for the new life Jesus brings (John 1.4-5)

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.