Special Services

Congratulations on your forthcoming marriage! Planning weddings can be a stressful experience, but we’re here to help. There are a number of steps to go through, both legal and practical so if you would like to consider getting married at HPC please contact us at an early stage and before any other arrangements are confirmed. You may also like to visit the Church of England’s ‘Your Wedding’ website.

We’re very sorry if you’ve been recently bereaved.  At a time like this we want to support you, and help you to remember your loved ones in a fitting and appropriate way.  If you’d like to hold a funeral or thanksgiving at Hailsham Parish Church or to have one of our ministers take a crematorium service then please contact us through the undertaker of your choice.

Congratulations if you have had a recent addition to your family, but don’t worry if the child is older. We hope that you and your family will find a warm welcome here at HPC. The birth of a child is always a special time and many parents want to mark the occasion with a service in church. We want to help you to do this.

Giving Thanks

When we are given a gift, it is right to say ‘thank you’. The Bible says, ‘children are a gift from the Lord’ – and so we should thank him for them. Traditionally, parents brought their children to give thanks to God in a special church service and the first thing we will arrange with you is this opportunity to say ‘thank you’ to the Lord.

The Thanksgiving Service

The Thanksgiving Service can be arranged for a mutually convenient time or included within the main morning service at HPC. The Bible says that on one occasion, Jesus ‘took … children in his arms, put his hands on them and blessed them.’ In the Thanksgiving Service, we follow Jesus’ example. We will thank God for your child and ask for his blessing for him or her. An outline of the service is below. You may have sponsors, and we will give you a certificate to mark the occasion. This service does not require you or the sponsors to make any promises.

Example of Thanksgiving Service

What about Christening?

Most parents come to us asking ‘can I have my child christened?’ (or ‘baptised’, which is the same thing). In the Baptism Service, parents and godparents make important promises before God. These include a commitment to belong to the church and to come along regularly as an example to your child, and a public declaration that you are a committed follower of Jesus Christ yourself. You will find an outline of the commitment and the promises of Baptism below. For this reason, many parents may decide that the Thanksgiving Service by itself is right for them. If however, after the Thanksgiving, you want to explore the possibility of baptism for your child, we will gladly help you to do this.

Baptism Promises

Your Move

In the meantime, why not start coming to church if you don’t already? On Sundays you and your family will find a warm welcome at the 10.30am service at HPC. We also run an ABC’s toddler group on a Thursday morning.

Adult Baptism

As an Anglican church we believe it is good to baptise the children of believers, those who know and love the Lord Jesus as they are brought up within the family of the church. But for those who’ve not been baptised as infants and come to trust in the Lord Jesus later in life then it is right that they should be baptised to mark the beginning of their new life in Christ and their belonging to his church.