During this period from Ascension Day to Pentecost, when the Church of England calls on all Christians to pray for more people to come to know Jesus through its ‘Thy Kingdom Come’ prayer movement, we thought it would be encouraging to share some of the wonderful photos of adults and young people who have taken the step of declaring their commitment to Christ by being baptised, or affirming their baptismal vows, by full immersion in water.
Highfield Church, Portswood
Several young people were recently baptised at Highfield Church. Connor Crane (pictured below in the ‘number 4’ top) said: “God knew what I needed, to find my way home and he provided it through the students here at church. They have welcomed me with open arms and I knew I had stumbled into something special and of God. This church has been an incredible witness to me of the goodness of God and a clear speaker of truth and encouragement to me, helping to rebuild and strengthen my faith in Jesus Christ.”
St Francis Church, Valley Park
Sarah McClelland, vicar of St Francis, was delighted to baptise the Frisby family last week. “Parents Elliot and Liz, though spiritual, hadn’t been regular church goers, until the pandemic,” explained Revd Sarah. “They came across us on Zoom and have been been with us ever since! Elliot had a dream in which he believed God was asking him to be baptised, and Liz had initially not wanted to take the step saying, ‘I have never ever called myself a Christian and that has been quite deliberate. I think I’ve been scared of the commitment just to step over the line, and I think that is because I was concerned about church, thinking it was all about rules and regulations!’ We’re so glad they’ve found a spiritual home here to continue their faith journey.’
Christ Church, Winchester
Four students were baptised at Christ Church Winchester the other week, Kate, Mallory, Sammy and Kit (pictured below). All of them attend Winchester University and are part of Christ Church’s thriving student outreach work. Here is how Mallory described her decision to be baptised (see the others’ testimony on the YouTube channel here):
LOVECHURCH, Bournemouth
It was a wonderful morning at LOVECHURCH a couple of Sundays ago when the Revd Tim Matthews had the privilege of baptising his own son Caleb (pictured below). In the same service Adrian Charters affirmed his baptismal vows by full immersion. Adrian had this to say about his journey of faith:
“It was a wonderful day and the culmination of my long 62 year journey to fully accept Jesus Christ into my life. It started with a spiritual feeling during the passing of my late wife Liz Charters back in 2009 when I felt a presence in her hospice room and then was reawakened in 2022 whilst feeling what I now know to be the Holy Spirit when watching Songs of Praise from Gas Street Church in Birmingham with my dying mother. I reached out to Gas Street Church, and they suggested I look at the Alpha Course closer to my home in Swanage at LoveChurch in Bournemouth, as I clearly had questions about Jesus Christ! I met my wonderful “Alpha Family” and over 10 weeks accepted Christ into my life. The reaffirmation was one of the most meaningful events of my life and I am so much happier having found Christ and can now share my faith with my loving Christian wife Sharon.“
