Local clergy are always happy to discuss baptisms which can take place at any age but are most commonly performed for small children.
Some churches use the word “christening” to describe the baptismal service. The service of baptism recalls the baptism of Jesus who himself was plunged into the waters of the River Jordan by his cousin John the Baptist at the start of the years when he began to teach.
The service will take place as part of the regular worship of the church, most likely on a Sunday morning. As Episcopalians we believe that baptism is a rite of initiation into the Christian community and so it is celebrated in community.
The Scottish Episcopal Church won’t baptise anyone who has previously been baptised in another tradition so long as the person was baptised in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit using water.
Baptism is held in common by many of the Christian denominations and so a baptism in the Scottish Episcopal Church is regarded as equivalent to baptism in many other traditions.
If you are finding a way into the church from another background your local priest will advise on different ways to mark this if you want to do so publicly.
Often parents choose godparents to share the responsibility for bringing up a child.
The traditional number of godparents is three – two women and a man for a girl, and two men and a woman for a boy.
However that is not a hard and fast rule. The important thing is to try to involve people who will have the child’s best interests at heart, ideally someone who can make connections with the local church.
View the liturgy for baptism.
