Baptisms
St Mark's welcomes all those wishing to be baptised, whether child or adult, and we have special responsibility for offering this to all those who live within the parish boundary. If you do not live within the parish boundary, the clergy will need to consult with those in the parish where you do live, so that, between us, we can offer helpful preparation for baptism, and a warm, ongoing welcome in the life of the church afterwards.
To arrange a baptism, please contact the Vicar on (01223) 327621 or the Church Administrator via the contact form. The Vicar will arrange to visit you to prepare you for the baptism and to explain the nature of the service.
You may want the baptism to take place during one of the Church's main services or you may prefer to have a baptism service by itself, either before or after lunch on a Sunday. If you choose the latter, you will be invited to attend a short 'welcome' ceremony by the local congregation during a main service soon after the date of baptism.
If you feel that baptism is not appropriate for their circumstances or beliefs, but would like to celebrate the birth or adoption of a child with prayer and thanksgiving, the clergy would be very happy to discuss this with you also.
Whether for a baptism or thanksgiving, you will probably want to choose supporters or godparents for a child. The traditional number of godparents at a baptism is two of the same sex as the child, one of the other. However, this number is not mandatory. It is better to have fewer godparents who will undertake a real commitment towards your child and their Christian upbringing, rather than many who take the role lightly.
At the baptism of a young person or adult (which frequently takes place at the same time as confirmation), it is also customary to have godparents, often known as 'sponsors'. It is very good if these are people who have helped and accompanied the candidate in their journey into faith.
Weddings
The clergy at St Mark’s love taking weddings, so, if you’re looking at this page with a view to getting married - welcome! You don’t have to be baptised, members of the Church of England, or regular churchgoers to get married at St Mark’s. The Parish Church is here for you! Under new 2008 legislation, you can get married at St Mark’s if you or your partner live within our parish boundaries, or on one of these other seven conditions:
one of you:
• was baptised in St Mark’s Church or
• was prepared for confirmation in the parish or
• has at any time lived in the parish for a period of at least 6 months or
• has at any time regularly gone to normal church services in the church for a period of at least 6
months
or
one of your parents, at any time after you were born:
• has lived in St Mark’s parish for a period of at least 6 months or
• has regularly gone to normal church services in the church for a period of at least 6 months
or
one of your parents or grandparents:
• was married in St Mark’s parish.
If you don’t qualify to be married at St Mark’s under any of the above headings, still get in touch, and we’ll see if we can help you in another way – perhaps by putting you in touch with a church where you would meet one of the criteria.
If you’ve been previously in a marriage or civil partnership which has been legally dissolved you may well be able to get married at St Mark’s. We’ll need to meet you, though, and talk things through and consult the Bishop. If, in the end, we’re not able to conduct a full wedding service for you, we would be able to offer you a moving service of Dedication, to follow on from a civil ceremony.
Some people like to have a service of Dedication for their friends and family in England to attend, after they have been married in a ceremony abroad.
Couples planning to get married or have a Marriage Dedication Service at St Mark’s are asked to give good notice (preferably at least six months) so that we can talk all these matters through with you and go through a course of preparation with you both. This includes asking you each to do a questionnaire on-line, covering all sorts of topics which are important in married life (family, sex, money, beliefs, friends, ambitions – to name but a few), and then looking through your answers with you as a couple. This way, you may get to know each other a bit better (!), the vicar who’ll be taking your wedding will get to know you, and you’ll get to know her. We’ll also want to advise you on planning your service, and talk through the meaning of those very special vows. In these ways, we aim to give you a really ‘personal service’ at St Mark’s.
For more information on Church of England weddings, visit www.ourchurchwedding.org.
