Baptisms & Thanksgiving

Would you like to be baptised as an adult? Or perhaps you’re enquiring about a service for your child?

At St Michael’s, we believe you and your family matter to God. So we want to help you as much as we can. We want to give all the opportunity to honour God, honestly.  We offer a ‘thanksgiving’ service based on responding to God as our Creator, & ‘baptism’ services acknowledging Christ as Saviour.

Water baptism is only offered to people who profess faith in Christ and are attending church regularly, and to the children of such believers (read more below). But perhaps you’re interested in a special service for your child?

The arrival of a new child is an important event in your life. For every parent, it is the start of a joyful responsibility. You find yourself dreaming about your child’s future. You want to do the best for them. Perhaps this is why you’re inquiring about a special service for your child.

This is why we offer A Service of Thanksgiving for the birth of your child.

Please read on about this service (see below). We want to encourage you in your commitment to your child.

What About Water Baptism?

Baptism is a sign that points to God’s generosity.  It’s a symbol of the new life God alone can give; a reminder that God welcomes into His family & kingdom those who’ve done nothing to deserve it. He saves by His power, not our effort.

Water baptism is only offered to people who profess faith in Christ and are attending church regularly, and to the children of such believers. Regular church attendance is one of the normal expressions of the true Christian life.

Therefore we do not offer baptism to adults, nor their children, who are not attending church regularly. (Likewise for subsequent children, even if an earlier child was baptised, but the family hasn’t attended regularly since.)

Our Ministers use this analogy:

Wanting baptism for your child, without going to church, is a bit like asking a Surf Club to give you the red and yellow life-saver’s cap, yet saying you won’t bring your kids to Nippers nor serve on any surf patrols yourself.

The red and yellow cap won’t do your kid any good if he hasn’t learned how to swim safely at the beach. And it would be wrong to wear the cap yourself, if you aren’t actually part of Surf Club life and service in any meaningful way.

A minister can discuss this with you at more length if you desire.

Certainly, we want to help people decide if they’re serious about following Christ as Lord and Saviour. Participating in church life, where we learn from the Bible, is a great way of gaining such clarity, and we welcome people to come to our services on Sundays. Another option would be to attend one of our Explore Jesus Courses.

Thanksgiving Service

Every life is the generous gift of God who made us, knows us & loves us. In the Bible, children are only ever seen as a blessing – & it’s right to express our gratitude for every blessing.

In the Service of Thanksgiving,

  • We ask you formally to name your child;
  • We give thanks to God and pray for his blessing on your child;
  • We pray for you as parents in the task of bringing children up.
  • Your child’s sponsors (‘godparents’) act as witnesses to this event and promise to support you in this endeavour.

We are committing you and your child to God’s love and care. He will happily hear our prayers. This is always an important family time of thanksgiving, and we treat it as such.

Please note that there is no water in this service. And, of course, children will need to make their own personal response of faith towards God as they grow into maturity.

Thanksgiving Services typically last 20 minutes. No payment or fee is expected, as the service is our gift to you.

Available dates can be discussed with one of our Ministers. Please be aware that some lead time is often required before we can find a mutually suitable date.

If you wish to proceed, we encourage you to attend one of our Sunday services soon and ask someone to introduce you to a Minister. We’ll be delighted to meet you and can take things from there. Our 9:45am, 10am (Corrimal), 11:30am, and 5pm services have a kids church that all are welcome to attend (click here for more information!)

Of course, you can also ring our office with further queries (4228 9132).