Quite apart from the fact that we don't have pews in our church, it also doesn't bear out in our parish more generally.
Take a look at the figures below. These are a year by year count of the number of people who have been baptised (mostly infants but some adults) and the number of couples getting married in our parish church
over the last four years.Yes, it's quite a healthy picture, but it looks pretty static.
But what you've got to remember is the 2009 figure is still ongoing. We're not even in August yet and we've already done more baptisms than we did in the whole of 2006, 2007 or 2008. By the end of August, we'll have done almost 40.
And these aren't necessarily 'classic' people. For example, the parents of the baby we baptised on Saturday, weren't baptised by their own parents, yet they took this very seriously, it expressed what they wanted for their child and they are considering doing it themselves, as adults.
Similarly, marriage remains popular. We were quite pleased with the Church of England's new liturgy offering a combination service of baptism within a wedding: you may have read about it in the press. It matches the lifestage of many of the parents who come to us, either to get married or to get their children baptised.
They may not have done it in 'the right order', from the perspective of tradition, but I believe they are just as committed to each other and to their children as people from any other generation. In fact, maybe more so. There's no stigma in having children outside marriage or 'living in sin', as there once was, when people may have got married 'for the sake of form'. To choose to come to the House of God for a union of your relationship is more of a commitment than ever before.
If you want to come to get married or have your child baptised ("christened"), or be baptised yourself, just come to our parish office any Saturday at 10.30am.
And you're always welcome at our Sunday eucharist at 10am. With people away for the summer on holidays, it's easier to get a seat on a Sunday morning, and there's a generally quieter feel, so it can be a nice time to 'try out' a church.
One more important notice: Mother Sylvia's funeral is confirmed as happening at church at 10.30am on Friday (31st July). Apparently, she requested that people wear colourful clothes, rather than black, so please feel free to let your wardrobe run wild!
Father Robert
