Baptism and Christening

What better way to celebrate new life than to come to Church for a Baptism. Whether you’re bringing a child for a Christening or decided that now is the time when you’d like to mark the start of your journey of faith, Baptism is the once in a life time celebration of God’s love for his children.

Often people who don’t live here ring up because there is a strong family connection, so do get in touch and we can explore the options. Many people choose to celebrate their baptism as part of the main Sunday service, but where that’s not feasible, we can make alterative provision and people then take up the opportunity of coming along to a Sunday service to meet the wider congregation at another time. If you think Baptism or Christening might be for you, then please do get in touch to discuss the options.

Marriage

Congratulations if you’re thinking of getting married in Church! If you live in one of the six parishes covered by the Valley News ie. the Winterborne Valley and Milton Abbas Benefice, you have the right to be married in any of the six churches and the Abbey at Milton.

Whatever your beliefs or none, whether or not you are christened and regardless of whether you go to church or not, you have the right to be married in one of these churches. There are other circumstances that provide the right qualification to marry in one of our churches, for instance, you may have moved away but were christened or confirmed in one of the them, your parents or grandparents were married here, your parents have moved here, you once lived here for six months or more. Whatever the case, we will always happy to talk through the possibilities. Things can get a bit complicated if one of you has been divorced. Again, be encouraged to talk this through and let’s see what is possible.

Funerals

We are sorry that you have experienced a bereavement amongst your family or friends. It is at these times that you may find the Church Community of great help. You may feel lost and don’t know where to turn for guidance and help. We are here for you and will do all that we can to help you through this difficult time. Everyone is entitled to have a funeral in their parish church regardless of whether they attended church or not. Some of our Benefice churchyards are still open for burials, others are open for the interment of ashes.

Funerals can be big occasions with a packed church or can be very small quiet ceremonies. The whole service can be in church, or the first part can be in church and the committal at the graveside or crematorium or the whole service can be at the crematorium. There can be a private family funeral with a public memorial service at a later date. There are no right or wrongs. For more information on Anglican funerals please visit https://churchofenglandfunerals.org or use the Contact Us page on this site to get in touch. The key thing to remember is that your parish church community is there for you before, during and, most especially, after the service.