Are you interested in …
Exploring what Faith Means?
Growing in Faith
Baptism & Confirmation?
What is “Growing in Faith”?
Growing in Faith (GiF) is a Course that looks at Faith – what is it, what we have faith in, how faith is expressed in a relationship and what it means to stand up and say we have faith.
Who is Growing in Faith for?
Anyone who wants to explore their faith and, well, grow it. Growing things involves planting, nurturing and watering, tending and pruning and, ultimately, seeing fruit appear. All of us are at one point in this process and GiF is designed to encourage us to move to the next part.
I’m Interested in Baptism and Confirmation – is this for me?
Yes, very definitely! GiF was originally written as a course, preparing people for making a public statement of their faith.
I’ve already been Baptised and Confirmed – is this for me?
Again, yes, very definitely! If you are interested in growing your faith, then it is for you, however long you’ve been a Christian or however you may have publicly expressed it in the past.
What is Baptism & Confirmation?
What is Baptism & Confirmation – In the Bible?
Symbols were big in the Bible – people did lots of things which meant something particular to them and those around them. Washing was one particular thing – symbolising the desire to live a good and holy life by washing and bathing. When Jesus’ friends went around telling people about him, and they accepted Jesus as Lord and Saviour, they would Baptise them and lay hands on them to receive the Holy Spirit – the new power in their lives.
What is Baptism & Confirmation – Today?
Baptism, today, is where someone is “washed” as a symbol of the way that Jesus’ action on the Cross washes us clean of our sins. Nothing has changed, but the way we do it is slightly different.
Baptism sometimes happens when babies are brought by their parents to Church and we do what we call a “Christening” and the Parents make promises about how they will encourage the child to follow Jesus. When the child is old enough and has worked out what they believe, they are encouraged to “Confirm” the promises for themselves. So Confirmation is a service where they declare their faith for themselves and a Bishop lays hands on them and prays for God to fill them with the Holy Spirit.
Baptism sometimes happens when a person becomes a Christian later on – as a teenager or an adult. So they get Baptised then and, if possible, the Bishop does his stuff soon afterwards. But it is not always possible to do it immediately.
I was Baptised / Christened as a Baby – what about me?
Getting Baptised is something we only need to do once – Jesus died, once and for all, for us and we dont need to go on getting baptised any more than he needs to go on dying for us. However, if you were Baptised as a baby, it is totally understandable that you might want to be baptised as an adult, doing it as your decision, rather than that of your parents. And confirmation doesn’t feel quite the same. Totally understandable.
So, let’s be honest! We can’t do “Re-baptisms” but we do what we call “Re-Affirmation of Baptism Vows”. In other words, we re-enact your Baptism, with you making the same promises. We throw some water over you and remind you of what was said, that you are now saying for yourself.
If this is something which applies to you, please be assured that I understand what you would like to be able to do but hope this will be something you are able to consider as a way forward, but talk to me if you have anything you would like to unpack further. Tim
What does Growing in Faith involve?
We recognise that life is busy and that trying to arrange a course for everyone to attend at the same time is virtually impossible! So the aim is to have a “course’ that is a mixture of different aspects:
Starting on Monday 25th May, for five weeks …
Each week, you will receive some “homework” and a short video.
The homework will have 3 parts to it, and each will take you no more than 20 minutes – and won’t be hard! It will include some Bible verses to look at, some things to think about, with you writing a couple of sentences in response to each topic. The video will be no more than 10 minutes, with me talking about the topic for that week. Nobody will mark your homework!
One “Get Together” on either Thursday 3rd July (evening) or Saturday 5th July (morning)
We will get together to look at any questions which have been raised and think about one final topic – together. My hope is that everyone will be able to make one of these two sessions (which will be the same).
Write a letter
At the end of the sessions, I will invite you to write me a letter to answer a few questions, such as “what does faith mean to you?”, “why do you want to take the next step in your walk with Jesus” and “why is now the right time for you to be Baptised/Confirmed?”
And then a service … Sunday July 20th @ 10am
We are hoping that Bishop Pons from Nebbi (our Church partner in Uganda) will be here and will join me in being a part of a service of Baptism & Confirmation. We are aiming to be outside, with a pool on the green opposite the Cafe – a service of joy, praise and commitment.
Interested?
All you have to do is email gif@stpy.org
Please tell me if you are interested in Baptism, Re-Affirming Baptism Vows and/or Confirmation or simply Growing in your Faith.
And please say which of Thursday 3rd July (7.30pm) or Saturday 5th July (10am) is possible for you.
And anything else I need to know!
I know there are already a number of people who are interested in this and I am very excited about 20th July as being a significant day in the life of St Peter’s. If you’ve git this far in the email, then I know you are interested!! I look forward to hearing from you.
Tim