Full membership of the Church is completed in the rite of Baptism and is open to all who believe that Jesus is the Son of God. This ceremony marks a turning point for every family as we welcome yet another person into the world-wide family of the Church. If Jesus’ words “let the children come to me” are to mean anything, then each and every Church has to give a lot of attention to children.

The care and the nurture of children is certainly a core activity at St Martin’s. On Sunday mornings, the younger members have their own activities outside the worship space to explore and to pray at their own level. At the end of the Community Eucharist, those taking part in Junior Church and in the teenagers programme, SMART, return for the Eucharist or the Blessing. There are very few formalities involved in a baptism or Christening. The family usually live in the parish or are in some way connected with the life of St Martin’s. They will have selected three or more Christian godparents and will be willing to share their faith with their child at home; the Church runs a number of courses each year to help with that.

But much more importantly, we hope a child’s family are hoping make a long-term relationship with Jesus and his Church. While in the past ‘getting the baby done’ was the norm, today we are working hard at building a loving community into which each and every new Christian can play their part on a regular basis. No Church can survive for long if those who are baptised are never seen again afterwards! When the children came to Jesus, he loved them and they loved him. We hope that the relationship is equally true in our Church today.