Our normal policy on all of these is that those requesting a baptism, a wedding, or a funeral should be members of the
congregation (see below for reasons). However, on occasion this policy can be flexible to take into consideration the
specific spiritual needs of those asking for such a service.
Baptisms always take place during Sunday
morning church services - as entry into the visible church it would not be right for it to take place hidden away at another
time when the Christian community that gather here are not present. There is no cost for a Baptism, though a donation to the
congregation is always gratefully received. Baptisms of both infants of professing Christian parents, and of unbaptised adults
who wish to make a profession of faith are performed.
Weddings normally take place on Saturdays,
although there can be some flexibility in this. There are costs for weddings, to cover the church and the minister - we do
not provide an organist and we expect couples to organise this themselves - though we have some telephone numbers and contacts
which they can use to do this. Weddings between two Christians are performed, but for Biblical reasons we are reticent to
perform weddings between "unequally yoked" couples where one is not a Christian - and will normally not do so.
Funeral
services taken by our minister will have the normal costs associated with this - as organised through the undertaker. Should
the service be in church there will extra costs for non-members to cover the expenses of running the building. The minister
will not normally do funerals where there is no link between the congregation and the family, or between the minister and
the family. This is because of the tremendous amount of time organising and taking such a service takes up. There is, however,
always some flexibility in this policy to take account of local situations.
