Special Services

Christenings/Infant Baptism

 

It is not our common practice to offer Infant Baptism (Christening) at Roman Road IM Church.

Instead we offer a choice of three services:-

Service of Thanksgiving following a birth
This service includes prayers of thanksgiving for the safe arrival of your child, prayers requesting blessing on your home, family and all who care for your child. The promises required from the parent(s) are simply to accept the responsibilites of bringing up your child and giving them your attention, love and care, and to allow your child to hear the Good News about Jesus and the worship and teaching of His Church.

Presenting and Blessing Service.
This Service includes prayers of thanksgiving for the safe arrival of the child, prayers for those involved in the nurture and care of the child, and requesting God's blessing on the child. The promises required from the parent(s) are to thank God for the gift of your child and to trust God to help you to care for them, to share with your child your understanding of the Christian faith, to bring them up within the community of the Church and to surround them with goodness, love and respect.

Dedication Service.
This service requires the parent(s) to make their own profession of being followers of Jesus Christ and their acceptance of Him as Saviour and Lord. The promises required are to bring up your child within the Christian community, to share your faith with them and to provide a Christian home, living your life as an example for them to follow. To teach your child and encourage them to seek God's ways, to allow them to hear God's Word, to enable them to have opportunity to take part in the worship of Christ's Church so that they may come to know Jesus for themself and take their own place among the people of God and to undertake to help your child to discover God's will at whatever cost to yourself.

Each of these services allow your child the opportunity to make their own declaration of faith at a later stage in their life and to be baptised at that time.

 

 

Adult Baptism

Roman Road IM Church policy with regard to Services of Thanksgiving or Dedication of Infants leads the way to Adult Baptism for those who at a later stage in their life make a personal decision to accept Jesus as their personal Lord and Saviour.

The Church Meeting would consider the application for Baptism, usually recommended by the Ministry team. The individual would then be taken through a short course explaining the purpose of Baptism and arrangements made for a Service of Baptism. As we do not have a baptistery at Roman Road this service is usually held at a neighbouring church, often sharing with the other Fellowship in a joint service of Baptism.



Weddings

Each of the four Ministers at Roman Road Church are willing to conduct wedding services at their discretion.
(Please see our Statement of Faith and Practice with regard to Civil Partnerships.)

The Fellowship would want to support and guide the couple at this important time and would commit to offering:
•    A meeting with the Ministers
•    A Marriage Preparation Course consisting of six sessions looking at topics such as communication, resolving conflict, nurturing your friendship, relating to in-laws, developing a good sexual relationship, budgeting, goals and dreams etc.

In response to this the Fellowship would expect that the couple would commit to:
•    Attend the meeting with the Ministers
•    Attend all of the sessions of the Marriage Preparation Course
•    Organise for a registrar to attend the service (legally required)
•    Pay fee of £100

If you would like to discuss any of the above please contact us directly.



Funerals

It is usual for one of the Ministers to lead a Funeral Service but under our Statement of Faith and Practice it is possible for any Church member to lead a Funeral Service.

It is usual for the request for a Funeral Service to be made via the local Undertaker. A mutual convenient time for Minister and family is then agreed. The Minister will contact the family to gather background information, decide hymns, readings etc and offer pastoral care and support.

If the service is held in church the average time is 45mins but this can vary depending on the family and what they wish to be included. A brief service at the cemetery or crematorium would then follow. If a simple service in the crematorium alone is requested the maximum time allowed is 20mins unless a double slot is booked but this incurs extra expense.

After a Cremation Service there is a Service to Scatter the Ashes which may be arranged directly with the Minister at the family’s convenience.

There is a fee of:
£100 for a Service at the Crematorium
£150 for a Service in the Church and at the Crematorium/Cemetery.
There is no fee for Church members.
There is no additional fee for the Scattering of the Ashes.

All fees received go directly to Church Funds and are not paid to the Ministers.