Life Events
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Pastoral Care
As a church community, we seek to bear one another’s burdens, weep with those who weep, and laugh with those who laugh. We have a pastoral care team who provide confidential, practical, emotional, and spiritual support for those in particular need through prayer, listening and visiting, especially for those who find it difficult to get out.
We hope that you will find that the leaflet below includes a few of our many church activities and services at which you would receive a warm welcome.
Please do contact the Vicar or a member of the pastoral team.
Baptisms
In baptism, you as parents are: thanking God for his gift of life, deciding to start your child on the journey of faith and asking for the Church’s support. For your child, baptism marks the start of a journey of faith, turning towards Christ and becoming a member of the local and worldwide Christian family. Baptism is a ‘sacrament’: a visible sign of God’s love.
First Communion
In Rochester diocese children can be admitted to Holy Communion when they reach an age, usually around 10, at which they understand the meaning of the Eucharist or Holy Communion (to the extent as any of us ever can understand it).
When children who come regularly to church reach the age of 9-10, we are happy to take them through a short course leading to First Communion so that they can join in receiving the bread and wine at Communion.
Confirmation
Confirmation marks the point in the Christian journey at which we affirm for ourselves the faith into which we have been baptised. You may have recently had your child baptised and made promises for that child to help them grow in faith in Christ. If you have not been confrmed this might be a good time to make those promises for yourself.
Weddings
Imagine your wedding here in the beautiful parish church with its renowned organ and bells ringing out with joy from the tower. If you wish, after the service you may hold a reception in the church rooms, which can hold up to 120 people.
A great website to help you plan your wedding is www.yourchurchwedding.org
Funerals
A funeral marks the close of a human life on earth. It is the opportunity for friends and family to express their grief, to give thanks for the life which has now completed its journey in this world and to commend the person into God’s keeping.
As far back into history as we can penetrate, human beings seem to have felt the need for a ceremonial leave-taking of those who have died. Whether in a parish church or a crematorium chapel, it can be a plain Church of England funeral service or with the addition of hymns, favourite prayers and readings, and an address.