To be Baptised at St Denys you have to live in the parish or be a member of the church family and worship here regularly. Baptism services only take place after an informal preparation course of teaching on the meaning of Baptism and the Christian faith for the parents, as it would be unfair to expect you to make promises without considering them carefully beforehand. If you don’t usually go to church we would also ask that you worship with us regularly before you or your child is Baptised. Everybody is welcome to come to any of our services. There is a family service once a month and a safe play area at the back of the church for babies and young children.

Thanksgivings

A Thanksgiving is a public opportunity to say thank you to God for your child.

It is a beautiful service and suitable for those not yet wishing to make the promises of Baptism, or for those wishing to give their child the choice to be Baptised when they are old enough to make their promises themselves. However, it can also be used less formally for those who want to offer thanks to God after adopting children or who want a quiet service after having been brought safely through a difficult childbirth.

Like Baptisms, Thanksgivings normally take place during a Sunday morning service although sometimes we may be able to do them at other times and on other days of the week. During the service

Although we don’t officially have godparents at this stage, you can choose ‘sponsors’ to fulfil a similar supportive role in the Christian upbringing of your child. It is a great privilege to be involved in this way and we will be delighted to discuss this with you.

Weddings

Getting married is one of the most important and exciting steps in your life. If you choose to be married in church then you are seeking God’s blessing on your relationship and we will do everything we can to help you prepare for your special day in addition to enjoying the rest of your lives together.

We are able to marry you if either of you lives in the parish of Stanford in the Vale with Goosey & Hatford. If you don’t live here, but have very strong links with the village and/or the parish church then we might still be able to marry you. The Church of England’s laws on marriage are reasonably flexible and we would be happy to discuss whatever options are available to us.

The Bible teaches us that marriage is intended to be between one man and a woman for life. However, we understand that some relationships break down and become painfully beyond repair. If you have been divorced and your previous partner is still living we would still want to discuss whether you can be married in church. There are some restrictions on remarriage after divorce and it is not always possible for us to marry everyone, but whatever the details of your situation are we hope that we can be as helpful and supportive as possible.

There is a lot to prepare before any wedding. The service itself takes some planning and we will assist you with everything that needs to be done from selecting music and readings, rehearsing the ceremony, who to ask about flowers and the order of service. We like to offer a couple of meetings to talk through the service with you, but beginning a few months before that, we also like to offer some informal preparation for Christian marriage.

Alpha

Alpha is an opportunity to explore what it means to be Christian today. It is relaxed, low key, friendly and fun and is relevant whether your want to look at Christianity for the first time, are new to church or just want to brush up on the basics. We are currently running Alpha, Youth Alpha and the Marriage Course at St Denys. If you would like to find out about any of these courses please contact the Alpha course administrators David and Anne de Leyser on 01367 718839.

You can find out more about Alpha on their website... http://alphacourse.org