Baptisms, Weddings and Funerals

We offer a warm welcome and personal consideration in regard to all services for transitions whether joyful or sorrowful.

Births

We offer thanksgiving and blessing services for those families who want to seek the love and blessing of God on a new born life gifted to them.

We also offer dedication services for those who want to dedicate themselves and their children to following Christ. These involve promises to bring the child up in the Christian faith, prayers for the child and family and a blessing for the child. This service enables a child to make the decision as to whether to be baptised at a later point.

Baptism

We offer the rite of initiation into the life of the church for babies and for believer’s that is those old enough to make the promises to follow Christ for themselves.

This may be administered by water being sprinkled on the babies forehead in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit following the parents and sponsors (God parents) promising to follow Christ and to bring the child up in God’s way of love.

Alternatively for believer’s and those confessing faith for themselves we offer baptism by full emersion in water; the believer testifying to their desire follow Christ and be part of Jesus’s body on earth, the church.

Local church membership

While baptism makes one a member of the one holy, catholic and apostolic church, Wells United Church also invites people to make a public covenant of membership with the specific local congregation. This often goes alongside Believer’s baptism but may also be from transfer from another church or on re-affirmation of one’s baptismal promises made earlier by the person or on their behalf as a child.

Marriages

We are a registered building for marriages. We welcome those who are seeking God’s blessing on their union and are able to personalise the service to meet the couple’s desires within a Christian framework.

Currently this service is not available to same sex couples. The church is a United Church and whilst the United Reformed Church has agreed local churches can make the decision for themselves, depending on the local context, the Baptist Church has not yet made a similar decision. Therefore we are legally currently unable to offer same sex couple marriage ceremonies.

Special anniversary services or blessings within or separate from regular worship are also available; for instance silver, gold or diamond jubilee anniversaries.

Funerals

We offer funerals, thanksgiving and memorial services to anyone for whom this would be helpful. These can be held in the church or our minister is available to conduct them at the crematorium or in other venues. Again these can be made personal to the life of the person and the families’ wishes within a broadly Christian framework.