The first Sacrament – Baptism
Our Parish Baptism preparation team has grown since Geraldine and Louise got together before Covid in 2018. The team now consists of Louise, Vicky and Richard with support from Geraldine if needed. Between them they have rewritten the course using a variety of different sources so that the sessions are more relevant to families today. Even though this has been done this quite recently, minor tweaks still occur. Deacon Stephen is the celebrant for the sacrament, and he leads a very busy life!
There are many highlights to being involved in the first sacrament; starting a child on their relationship journey with God, meeting lots of different families and being welcomed into their homes, meeting new families who may not know anyone else in our Parish and so we are the link that could support them in their new Parish.
Ideally, about 6 weeks are needed to prepare families for the sacrament before the celebration happens and we aim to have about 3 sessions with the families in that time. We realise that this might not always be possible with everybody’s busy lives and so each family is considered to have a bespoke preparation that is tailored to their needs. Most sessions usually happen in the family home and one in Church, with a walk through of the service, but all sessions have also taken place in Church too. The actual service can be in the Sunday Mass or if requested can be at another mutually convenient time. There is also a chance after the celebration to meet up and check in and see how things are going and this usually happens after Mass one Sunday.
There are many highlights to being involved in the first sacrament; starting a child on their relationship journey with God, meeting lots of different families and being welcomed into their homes, meeting new families who may not know anyone else in our Parish and so we are the link that could support them in their new Parish.
If you would like your child baptised, please contact Fr Kevin or Deacon Stephen and they can email you a form.
