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Baptisms in the West Norfolk Priory Group

We have a short 10 minute video about baptisms that you may wish to watch:
 
Christenings and Baptisms are the same thing, and we love doing them as well as Thanksgiving Services for the Gift of a Child. You and your family and friends will be very welcome in our churches.

If you live in one of the parishes or regularly attend our church and would like your child (or yourself) to be baptised or to have a Service of Thanksgiving, then please contact our Church Office (* details at the foot of this page). The Church Administrator will take your details and give you the services when you be able to see the priest after a Sunday service. Please do go to the service and make yourself known to the priest.

The priest will then arrange to meet you over Zoom for an initial interview and send you a video on Baptisms and Thanksgiving Services to watch. After this initial session, the priest will put you in touch with one of our Lay Ministers who will prepare you and your family for the Baptism or Thanksgiving Service. Please note that the preparation course will take between two to three months to complete and meetings are held over Zoom. The Lay Minister will meet with you having given you time to watch the video so you will understand what is required of you and your godparents. If you are seeking baptism, please make sure you have all the details required for your godparents.



At the meeting, which will be on Zoom, the coordinator will go through the practicalities and explore both Thanksgiving and Baptism services, the differences between the two and what it means for you and your child. You will also be sent a copy of the service which the Lay Minister will go through with you. Please note that English Law requires that ALL godparents must be baptised AND confirmed to be able to accept this very responsible position. If this legal requirement cannot be met, you can still have a Service of Thanksgiving where your child will be blessed and you and your family prayed for.

Nothing is said about a minimum age for someone to be a godparent, but the Church of England advises godparents should be 'persons who will faithfully fulfil their responsibilities both by their care for the children committed to their charge and by the example of their own godly living'. This suggests that godparents need to be of an age to understand and fulfil their commitments, and the expectation that godparents are confirmed also suggests that a godparent should not be a young child.

We baptise and have Blessing and Thanksgiving during our main Sunday Holy Communions service so that the congregation can welcome the child/person into the family of the church. Very occasionally there might be a good medical reason for an emergency baptism.

Thanksgivings and Baptisms should ideally take place in the local church of the person being baptised, but we are also happy to receive people who do not live in the village but who have strong local or family connections to churches in WNPG. We also have 12 churches in our Benefice, so if your local church is small and your guest list is large, we may be able to offer you one of our larger churches

There is no charge for baptisms or a Services of Thanksgiving. You can make a donation to the church if you like and any donations, large or small, are greatly appreciated.


 

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Timeline and Checklist

1. Contact the Church Office (* details at the foot of this page).
2. Come to a Sunday service and introduce yourself to the priest.
3. You will be invited to meet the priest for an Initial Interview.
4. Watch the video and continue meeting the Lay Minister as part of your preparation. These are held over Zoom.
5. Once the preparation has been completed satisfactorily, you will have a Final Interview with the priest. This has to be at least three weeks before the Thanksgiving or Baptism Service.

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Baptism and Thanksgiving Services in 2024

• 10th March - Nordelph and Stowbridge in St Peter's Church Stowbridge, 11am
• 31st March - Easter Day in Watlington Church, 11am
• 28th April - Tottenhill Church, 11am
• 5th May - Marham Church, 11am
• 19th May - Wormegay Church, 9.30am
• 9th June - Shouldham and Shouldham Thorpe in Shouldham Thorpe, 9.30am
• 23rd June - Stow Bardolph and Wimbotsham, 11am
• 28th July - Fincham Church, 9.30am
• 4th August - Runcton Holme Church, 9.30am
• 14th September - Provisional Date; time and venue to be confirmed
• October - Harvest; no baptisms
• November - Remembrance; no baptisms
• December - Advent; no baptisms

* Please note that we have limited space at our smaller churches: St James Church Runcton Holme; St Peter's Church Stowbridge; St Mary's Church Wimbotsham at Stow Bardolph; St Mary the Virgin Church Shouldham Thorpe; St Michael & Angels Church Wormegay
 

Baptism Briefing and Final Interviews

The following dates are available for initial and final preparation interviews.

• 1st February 2024, 7pm, Zoom, Baptism Briefing
• 1st February 2024, 8pm, Zoom, Baptism Final Interviews

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Contact Details

If you are interested in arranging a baptism and wish to talk to someone about it, please contact our church office.