Baptism & Confirmation

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Contextualise your life within a sense of eternity

Baptism and Confirmation are sacred signs through which we affirm our desire to grow into the unique person that God is calling us to be.

Baptism is the first fundamental step into the Christian Church, and people can be baptised as infant or adults.

Confirmation is an optional subsequent service for teenagers and adults. It is a way for an adult to confirm, in their own voice, the promises that have been made on their behalf if they were baptised as children, or to develop a relationship with a particular denomination of the church, such as the Church of England.

There is something incredibly special about baptism and confirmation because they contextualise our lives within a sense of eternity that is not easy to capture in words. It means that there has been a conscious decision to recognise that our lives are part of a bigger story, and that this story matters. It is a story of love, a divine love indiscriminate and eternal, that welcomes and holds who we are, where we are young or old, have been Christian all our lives, or have just started exploring the faith.

Baptism is based in the most ancient traditions of the church. We know that Jesus Christ was baptised in the River Jordan and we continue in that heritage. In baptism, there are big symbols: water, oil, cross, light – which come together to create a special service in which those being baptised are welcomed into the St James’s community and also into the wider Christian Church worldwide.

Whether you are choosing to be baptised yourself or you are making the decision on behalf of a child, know that you are welcome here. We would love to be part of your story.

We offer baptism to anyone who lives or works in our parish or otherwise has a strong connection to our parish or our church. Should you live outside our parish boundaries, we would seek the good will of your local parish priest that we may baptise you. 

Confirmation Service at St Paul's Cathedral

Confirmations at St Paul’s Cathedral

Confirmation marks the point in the Christian journey at which those who have already been baptised affirm for themselves their Christian faith, and at which, through prayer and the laying on of hands, the Church asks the Holy Spirit to empower them to live a life of committed discipleship.

The next Confirmation Service at St Paul’s Cathedral will be at Easter 2022.

Frith, William, Marie-Louise, Elena, Ryan,James & Tchansia at their Confirmation Service in November 2021