Hypothetical Christening,....

[PasstheBucket89]

please if any knowledge much appreciated,
If a person was to hypothetically get a 12,9 and 1 year old christened fairly stress free, without weeks of going somewhere etc is it possible? how would someone go about doing that?
The reasons it hasn't been done before are varied and not for lack of wanting to,
it wouldn't do to go into all the ins and outs,
its just attending church 6 or so weeks in advance isn't really doable in regards to SEN.
, as I'm not getting much look online.

The only one who can tell you this is your own parish. Different priests/vicars have a lot of leeway on who they will or won't baptise/confirm. If you're not a regular parishioner I'd be tempted to lie and say you'd just moved to the area, and worry about what that does to your heaven cred later 😆

I haven't had my dc christened because I'm an atheist, but I did join the Church as a teenager. Prepatory lessons were essential for that, and are also essential for a christening, so that you truly understand the nature of the commitment you are making.

Speak to your local minister/priest/vicar/whatever and see what they say, they may be able to make allowances for your needs.

I will admit I'm curious about your motivations. How do your children feel about this?

I would let your children decide, when they are adults, if they want to be christened. This is about their life, not yours.

Are you wanting to do this as some schools require your child to be christened for enrolement?Or do you truely believe in god?

I think only the priest could answer that, and probably only the priest of the church you would want the christening at as they seem to have different rules (I wasn't required to attend any courses or anything to have my DC baptised as babies but I gather from MN that you usually do). Do you go to church yourself at the moment? I would imagine they would want the older DC to choose for themselves. Depending on the denomination of the church, your older DC is of an age to be confirmed which they are supposed to choose for themselves.

there's been various reasons but the main one being, im definitely having no more but would like them all done together, plus the people I'd choose now have been in their lives for some time now anyway,more reliable people.

I think the 12 year old is probably old enough to be starting to explore their own faith so you might have trouble there. Speak to your church and see what they say.

Contact thr churrch iffice of your local church and open up the conversation.

Yes it would be fairly quick and easy to organised. Speak to your church and go from there.

Office, not iffice in case you thought that was some weird church thing.
There will be a website for the church.

Thanks for all replies xx

Explain situation to priest. Can you leave the SEN child/ children at home and just attend alone. It's not for 6 weeks I would have thought you'd have to be regularly in attendance. All churches are different.

I'm not sure I understand wanting baptism without church attendance. I did it but when dc were much younger mainly for school reasons but I had a change of heart and got back into it.

I think it would be worth going along alone. Introducing yourself to the priest and taking it from there.

At my (C of E) church, the vicar would want the two older ones to make the decision to be baptised for themselves.

Didn't need to attend church to get DD christened.

Chatted to vicar at local fete. Booked date in and had meeting a month beforehand with details of godparents (one couple non religious supporters, one couple occaisional church goers).

Just ask the local church.

DS arranged his own Christening at 13 - the vicar had him go to the vicarage once a week after school to talk about why he wanted to be baptised and his beliefs, this went on for 6 weeks and at the end of it they arranged his baptism with the hymns he chose and the readings he wanted. He also chose his own godparents. The reason I mention this is that your older children are likely to be asked to get involved in some of the planning if they have capacity to do it, and explain their faith.

As an Anglican vicar...

Contact your local vicar (email or phone or Facebook) and be honest! Explain that you want your children baptised and that they have Sen.
A 9 and 12 year old would generally have to agree to being baptised as they make the promises themselves - unless their Sen mean they aren't able to. Every priest does different Baptism preparation but generally with children that age I would like to meet them and talk to them and make sure they understood what they were doing and promising.

Contact your vicar. Lots of places are still doing zoom sessions which you can have on in the background rather than having to physically attend which might make a difference to you too.

It's absolutely doable, it might be a bit of a wait though, we're booked up fairly fully for months.

In the RC church mass's attendance and a preparation course is pretty much mandatory.

You can get young children baptised in local C of E church, or another one if you prefer. Older children would need to consent themselves. I really recommend just explaining about SEN. Most clergy will be very understanding and be happy to zoom baptism prep when younger kids are in bed.

thanks for all responses lots of helpful advice