Baptism

On Sunday 31st December 2017, Diana and Isabella were baptised at St. Peter’s Church. It was a very special day for the family, and for us. It was made more special because their father and mother live and work in Jordan. I thought it was curious that while Jesus went to the River Jordan to be baptised, Diana and Isabella were brought by their family to Westcliff to be baptised. I also thought about the journey recorded in Luke’s Gospel of Joseph and Mary who travelled from Nazareth to the place of Joseph’s birth, Bethlehem.

I have been thinking a lot about “place” recently. I think we do not pay enough attention to “place”. St. Peter’s is where the parents of Diana and Isabella came to church as children. It is where their faith was established, and it felt natural for them to return to the place of their “formative years”.

As I write this, I am looking forward to spending a few days in my home town, and as part of that visit, I plan to visit the place where I was baptised many years ago. I have only a poor memory of St. Giles Sheldon, but I think it is about time I reacquainted myself with that place where my family brought me to be baptised.

In this coming year, I think it would be interesting if we could all remember where we were baptised, and maybe make a collection of photos of those places.

This photograph is of St. Giles Church in Sheldon where I was baptised in August 1949