Thank you for enquiring about a special service for your child. Things have changed from when we were young, the Church of England now has two slightly different services and increasing numbers of parents are choosing to have a Thanksgiving service for their children instead of a Baptism service.

We are delighted to offer a service of Thanksgiving to God for the birth of every child. This service which involves family and friends is a wonderful time of thankfulness, blessing and prayer, in which we as a church undertake to pray for and support you and your family at this exciting time. We love it when thanksgiving services take place in our Sunday morning service but they can be arranged for any mutually convenient time. Your child may have supporters, and we will give you a certificate to mark the occasion.

We ask all families thinking about a service for a child to have a thanksgiving service.

Many families find that the service of thanksgiving is exactly what they are after. Committed Christian parents often proceed from a thanksgiving service onto a service of Christian Family Baptism (sometimes referred to as a Christening). The service of Christian Family Baptism is a significant step of commitment to Jesus and ongoing participation in the life of our church family, for that reason our baptism services are always a part of one of our main services. Solemn and joyful promises are made by you and your child’s godparents before God and the implications of baptism are far reaching. It isn’t a service for everyone but we would prepare you and your child’s godparents for the solemn and special promises that you would be making.

We very much look forward to welcoming you and your family at HPC on Sunday at 10:30am.