Infant Baptism
Child Baptisms are usually held as part of the Morning Services at 10.30, please contact the Vicar's PA if you are unable to come to a morning service, then in exceptional circumstances a separate service could be arranged. The purpose of baptism is that a child is being welcomed into the Christian family, as a whole, and therefore it is right and proper that the current Church community is present to welcome the child. We as a Church community welcome families to come and attend the church regularly.
Adult Baptism
If you have recently come to faith, or you were not baptised as a child, you may want to be baptised as an adult. You will need to talk to the Vicar about this, and to talk about your understanding of what Baptism means. the Vicar's PA will arrange a meeting for you to discuss this.
(Child baptism is performed on the basis that the parents and Godparents are standing in their place, and in the service, they declare that the child will be brought up as a Christian, in the understanding of the Bible stories, and encouraged to persue their faith in adulthood. A child's baptism is confirmed personally by the child when they are old enough to go through some preparation for confirmation, and make their own declaration of faith. It is only after confirmation, that the person will be welcomed to receive Holy Communion.)
Weddings
Firstly let us congratulate you on your engagement. We would love you to have your wedding at St Luke's, however, before you do there are a number of things that you need to be aware of. For instance, there are a few conditions that you need to satisfy before that can happen. The simplest scenario is that you live in the parish, and are British citizens, are both unmarried, and have enough time to go through the process of having Banns read. There are other ways, and all other combinations of circumstances get increasingly involved, and sometimes we need advice for instance on foreign nationals. Most situations can be overcome, although marriage is a very serious process personally, practically, and spiritually. But because it has so many implications, it is also very serious legally. So we have to get things right. The best advice I can give you is to go to the excellent Church of England Website Your Church Wedding which has sections on all aspects of getting married what to expect, planning the service, music, legal matters etc. also we look forward to hearing from you as soon as you are ready to proceed. The earlier you plan and book a date, the less likely you are to be disappointed that the time and date is taken already.
Family Funerals
We are really sorry that you need to arrange a funeral. It is a very sad time, but there are a few things it would be helpful for you to know. Usually the first thing to do is to contact an undertaker. It is their job to coordinate all the different agencies, and arrange things so that everything comes together seamlessly. The next thing is to contact us at the Church to make sure that the Vicar is available. If you are arranging a Crematorium Ceremony, then the Undertaker will arrange things. But make sure that the Vicar is available at the time you want, otherwise it is possible that you will not get the Vicar taking your service. As for the details of arranging the service there is another page focussing on the decisions that you need to make. You can find out more on the Church of England Website explaining more about Funerals and the service.