Baptisms

Thanksgivings and Baptisms (also called ‘Christenings’) at St. Mary’s.

Firstly, if you are thinking of having your child baptised at St. Mary’s please be aware that we also offer a service called ‘Thanksgiving for the Birth of a Child’. This service is in some ways similar to a baptism, but it does not involve the parents making solemn and binding promises before God.

Secondly, please be aware that we only baptise children who live in the parish – please check the list of roads in the parish on this website to see if you live in the parish. The other local Anglican Churches are St. Paul’s, Penketh (Tel. 723492), St. James, Hood Manor (Tel. 492631) and St. Philip’s, Westbrook (Tel. 630057).

If you live in St. Mary’s parish, and wish to think about having a Thanksgiving Service or a Baptism for your child, please attend the church service on any Sunday morning at 10.30.a.m. You will then be shown a short video about Baptism (lasting about 7 minutes), and your child’s details will be noted down.

You will then be invited to attend a ‘Baptism Information Evening’ together with other parents who have recently made enquiries on a Monday evening. At the end of the Information Evening, parents will be able decide if they would prefer a Thanksgiving or a Baptism for their child, and there will be an opportunity to book a date for the service.

Once a definite date has been made, then a church member will call on you to go through the service with you, so that on the day you will know what you are doing.

At St. Mary’s we take both Thanksgiving and Baptism very seriously and we as a church family want to extend to you the warmest of welcomes and we wish to give you the best possible service in every meaning of that word.