BAPTISMS

As a church we don’t do Christenings or infant baptisms, but rather we believe that Baptism is for those who have been able to make their own conscious decision to accept and follow Jesus Christ as their Lord and Saviour.

Wherever possible baptise people by full immersion,  as we see this as the most accurate way possible for us to honour and replicate the practice of Jesus in the New Testament.

Baptism is a recurrent command throughout the Bible, and it is clearly for all people who follow Jesus. It is a both an essential & symbolic act in three different ways.

Firstly it is symbolic of someone being washed clean of sin & shame & guilt.

Secondly it is symbolic of the death & resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Thirdly it is symbolic of the willingness of the follower to put to death a self-centred lifestyle and live in the new light of a Jesus-centred perspective.

Of course it is far more than a symbolic act. It is a very special moment where ordinary people display very publicly and very clearly before friends, family and strangers their desire to live for Jesus.

So you might have only been following Jesus for a very short time, or you may have been a believer for decades, but if you have never been baptised before and yet you are calling upon Jesus as your Lord and Saviour today, then get in touch and we can discuss baptism further!

DEDICATIONS

Children are a miraculous gift from God, and a baby dedication is a ceremony in which believing parents, and sometimes entire families, make a commitment before the Lord to raise their child according to God’s Word and God’s ways.

Like many other Christian churches we practice baby dedication instead of infant baptism (also known as Christening) as our primary celebration of a child’s birth into the community of faith, enabling the child themselves to decide to be a Christian when they are older.

Typically, a dedication involves the reading of key Bible passages and the minister asks the parents if they agree to raise the child according to God’s way, before the entire congregation is welcomed to also respond, indicating their mutual responsibility for the child’s well-being.

A dedication normally happens within the context of a normal service, but occasionally they can be separate events.

WEDDINGS

If you have recently become engaged, then a huge congratulations!

We take marriage at Connect Church very seriously and invite all those who seek to be married at the church to meet with one of the ministers as soon as possible to begin thinking about planning a wedding.

During these conversations we shall be working together to considering the practicalities of the day, as well as also thinking about such topics as the purpose and expectations of marriage, the principles of Christian marriage, pressures on marriage today, and much more.

You don’t have to be a member at Connect Church to get married with us and we do consider all requests for a wedding service, though we are not always able to say ‘yes’.

At the heart of a wedding ceremony at Connect Church lies the promises a couple make to each other before God and we make no apologies for the religious content of this part of the service: the qualities of faithfulness, forgiveness and love are essential to the success of any marriage and they are God’s gifts to us, because they reflect God’s very nature.