Enquiring about Baptism
Thank you for your interest in baptism at St Stephen’s.
In England everybody has the right to be baptised (sometimes called ‘Christening’) in their Parish Church. If you live in the parish of South Dulwich or if you regularly worship at this Church you are welcome to be baptised here.
Children and babies are generally baptised on Sundays at a special baptism service at 12noon, or sometimes during the main Parish Eucharist, which starts at 10am. Adults wishing to be baptised will usually be baptised and confirmed by a Bishop following a period of preparation.
You can also read more about the meaning of baptism/christening or look at the Church of England’s Christenings website.
Booking a Baptism
We take bookings for baptisms on Saturdays between 10.30 and 11.30am in the Parish Office (come through the church to the room at the back) or by arrangement with the Vicar.
The papers you will receive at booking will include a Application Form for Baptism and a list of Bible passages. During the week before the baptism one of the priests will come and visit yo
u to explain the service and the meaning of baptism. Please have your form filled in and choose a Bible passage in time for this visit.
If you are planning to have your child baptised at the 12noon service, it is expected that you will be present at the main Service (10am Sundays) on at least one other Sunday sometime before your baptism.
Fees
There is no set fee for baptisms in the Church of England. Parish churches, nevertheless, have no income other than what members contribute. It is expensive to keep a church building open and at the same time keep the mission of the Church alive.
There is a collection at baptism services and families of baptism candidates may want to consider what it is worth to them to have a church living and praying in the middle of their community.
At St Stephen’s we regularly pray for our community and our church and hall is used as a community facility. In addition we pay our verger working to prepare the church for the baptism and to clear up and we ask baptism families to consider making a donation of £35 to cover this cost.
We are very much looking forward to welcoming you to St Stephen’s, South Dulwich.
