Baptism

If you are a resident of Shoreham Beach, or of the roads leading up to Shoreham Airport to the North, and up to The Broadway going west towards Lancing, then you live in the Parish of the Church of the Good Shepherd. This means that you are entitled to ask for your child to be baptised in the church - some people think of this as 'Christening', which is a perfectly correct word, but we usually call it 'Baptism' because that is the way it's described in the Bible. You do not yourself have to be baptised for this to happen, but you must choose Godparents who have been Baptised themselves, as this is one of the rules of the Church of England.

If you contact us about a Baptism but are not a regular member of the Church Family, you will be invited to come to a service here at the church. This is not some sort of 'test', but it's  to help you make sure this really is what you want and is part of the Preparation for Infant Baptism that we undertake with you. We would usually suggest that, particularly if you're not very familiar with church, you come along to one of our 10am First Sunday Services, which are shorter and easier to get to grips with than our usual Parish Communion Service - but obviously the choice is up to you. When you come along, do introduce yourself so we know who you are and that you are interested in proceeding further with the Preparation.

Gail will get in touch to arrange to come and see you and talk about baptism - we have a DVD to share with you which will hopefully help you to understand what it is all about, and give you an opportunity to ask any niggling questions you may have. You will also be taken through the Baptism service, and if this is still what you want, we can discuss dates and arrangements.

There are a number of different ways we can arrange Baptisms, and we can discuss what suits you best when Gail visits. Baptism can be great fun and a really joyful occasion, so we do hope you will feel welcomed as a family when you come along - indeed, we hope to see you become part of this Church Family as a result!

A few months after your baby or child's baptism you will be contacted by one of our Baptism Visiting Team. They will arrange to visit and see how you are doing. They can tell you about what is going on at the Church of the Good Shepherd that might be of interest, and you may receive letters from time to time telling you about the special services that are being planned - for instance, for Harvest, or Mothering Sunday - which families might particularly enjoy. On the Anniversary of your child's baptism, you will receive a card, and we will continue in this way to keep you, your child and your whole family, in our hearts and minds, whether you are coming along to church regularly or not.