Baptism is a gift from God which links us in a special way to Him, empowers us with the Holy Spirit, and brings us into the fellowship of the Body of Christ, the Church.

 

Baptism is a Sacrament - an outward sign of something that God is doing within us.

 

In baptism we become a part of the Christian faith - not just Anglican or Roman Catholic or Uniting Church.

 

Baptism can only be done once; it can never be repeated. The Anglican Church recognises the baptism of someone from outside the Anglican Church, provided that they are baptised in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

 

The Anglican Church baptises both adults and infants; infants are baptised on the understanding that they are brought up within the community of the church, and not excluded from it.

 

The role of Godparents and Sponsors is to ensure that the child is brought up within the church. For that reason, Godparents must themselves be baptised and preferably practicing Christians. Click to read more about Godparents.

 

At St Luke's, baptisms take place, except in real emergencies, during one of the Sunday services.

 

If parents feel that they are unable to make the promises that baptism requires we would encourage them to celebrate the birth of their child with a Service of Thanksgiving, which allows the commitment of Baptism to be made at a later date. The Service of Thanksgiving can be held at any convenient time.