Life Events

Life Events

We hold special services to remember important life events, including births, marriages and deaths of members of our church and local community.

Baptism and confirmation are public commitments to follow Jesus. At a baptism, an adult promises to follow Jesus or, in the case of children, parents and godparents promise to bring up their child to follow Jesus. Water is used either to immerse or to sprinkle on a candidate as a public sign of their decision to begin their journey of faith with Jesus.

Confirmation is for adults or older children who have been baptised as babies or young children and who wish to ‘confirm’ the promises made by their parents.

A thanksgiving service does not involve making promises; it is service to give thanks to God for the birth of a child and is suitable for parents who are not Christians or Christian parents who decide not to have their child baptised so that the child can decide to be baptised as an adult.

Baptisms, thanksgivings and confirmations take place during the main Sunday morning services. St Saviour’s service is at 9.30am and St Paul’s service is at 11.15am. If you wish to be baptised or confirmed, or to have a child baptised or have a thanksgiving service, please contact any member of our clergy team at one of our Sunday services. You will meet with us to discuss how we can support you on your faith journey, the steps you are taking, and the service itself. For more information please speak to Rev Andy Blacknell or look at the Church of England website.

A Church of England marriage ceremony marks the joining of a man and woman in a committed lifelong relationship before God. It is an important step to take and we encourage couples considering marriage to undertake marriage preparation with one of our team. This helps couples think through some of the important areas of married life together. You can find lots of information about weddings in the Church of England, including fees and ideas to help you plan your day.

Fees specific to our parish are as follows: Verger £50, Heating & Lighting £50, Organist £100.

Please contact to make an enquiry.

To get married in church, it is a legal requirement to publish your banns of marriage in the parish church where you live or are on the electoral roll. Find out which is your parish church.

To publish your banns of marriage at St Saviour’s or St Paul’s, you should contact .

The fees for this service can be found here.

We are not currently permitted to offer same-sex weddings in the Church of England. However, there are members of the clergy team who are willing to do same-sex blessings to those already in a civil-partnership or marriage.

Please contact to make an enquiry.

Funerals are an important way of remembering the life of a person after death. Funeral services can be held in our churches – one of our team will meet with the family beforehand to discuss the service and your requirements.

There is no charge for pastoral care and meeting with families. The Church of England sets fees for funeral services and searching the funeral register, which can be viewed here.

For details of Church of England fees follow this link.

Please contact or ring 07546 539737

This page has details of resources which you may find useful at this time.

See our Bereavement Support page for information about what support is available. We know bereavement can be very difficult to cope with and we are available to talk or pray with people after services or by appointment if wished. Also you are welcome to come into St Paul’s church on a Thursday, when it is open for private prayer, and light a candle as you remember someone who has died.

Please contact or ring 07546 539737