The coming of a new child into the world is a wonderful and joyful event. It is natural that we want to give thanks to God for this, either soon after the event or after a few months or years when you have got to know and love your child even more.
Castle Square United Reformed Church offers three types of celebration service:
Infant baptism (often known as Christening)
In this service we give thanks to God for your child, and God’s love for the child is symbolised by pouring water on his or her head and making the sign of the cross.
We believe that infant baptism makes your child part of the church, and therefore it is part of the service that you – or someone on your behalf – can make this promise:
I promise, by God’s help, to provide a Christian home for this child and bring him/her up in the faith of the Gospel and the fellowship of the Church.
To help you fulfil this promise, we will arrange for a member of the church to visit you regularly and keep you in touch. If you live a distance away from Trefforest, we will arrange for a church near to your home to do this work.
Dedication service
Because a child who has been baptised as an infant cannot usually be baptised again later, some parents prefer to leave the choice whether or not to be baptised up to the child. A Dedication service provides the parents with an opportunity to make their promises, but leaves open the option for the child to make his or her own promises later on. The promises and the arrangements to keep in touch with you as a family are the same as with Infant baptism.
Thanksgiving service
You may not want to promise to bring up your child in the worship of the Church. But God still loves your child, and you may well want to thank Him for that. A service of thanksgiving provides you with an opportunity to do that, without promising more than you are able. You can write your own service with the help of our minister.
In all three cases, you can if you wish choose one or more Godparents, who will promise to pray for you and help you as best they can in your work as a parent. But you do not have to have Godparents if you do not want – the choice is yours.
Whichever service you choose, we will usually hold it as part of a Family Service on the fourth Sunday of the month at 11am. However, we can usually accommodate you on another Sunday, provided you contact us well in advance.
In cases of illness, the minister may arrange a service in your own home or in hospital.