Baptism help

[Yikesivedoneitagain]

Hi all, I am due to be baptised into a c of e church during the dawn service at Easter. I am really excited to cement my commitment to Jesus, and become part of God's community. I was brought up Christian so have a basic understanding- but want to have a deeper knowledge and acceptance of my faith.

I need to prepare for my baptism, as I know it's a huge undertaking and means a lot! Lots of the things I've read online seem to apply to different branches of the Christian faith, and I was hoping to read something that might help me get a greater understanding which accurately reflects my church's stance (

I am going in to see the vicar later this week, and will ask her for some guidance then - but would also welcome the chance to do my own research!

With many thanks.

To be baptised at the dawn service sounds like a lovely thing to do. I'm sure your vicar will have ideas for reading but here are some of the things I've found helpful.

The website www.rejesus.co.uk is a good place to start.

If you want to begin to get to grips with the Bible then 'The Bible from Scratch' by Simon Jenkins is a good place to start. Etienne Charpentier wrote two books on reading the Bible and they are often available very cheaply on amazon.

For the breadth of Christian doctrine which is reflected in the broad nature of the C of E which has some parts that pass for protestant and others that more Roman Catholic than the Roman Catholics then Keith Ward's 'Christianity a Short Introduction' is really good.

For the basics of prayer then I'm a big fan of Gerald Hughes 'God of Surprises' and 'God of all Things.'

Blessings on your preparation and on your continuing journey of faith.

Yikesivedoneitagain have you met with your vicar yet?

What a fabulous idea to be baptised at dawn. Where will it be? I mean in a church or elsewhere?

Hope it goes brilliantly.

Congratulations on making this decision. I was baptised as an adult and it was a wonderful experience.

Does your church run a baptism preparation course?

Yikesivedoneitagain what a wonderful decision! Did you know that in the early church people were always baptised on Easter dawn - they began their new lives in Christ at the celebration of his resurrection. It's my favourite service of the whole year and it is so wonderful that your baptism is going to take place then.

Greeenheartofmanyroundabouts has some great suggestions for reading, but if you are still looking for a book, I recommend Tokens of Trust by Rowan Williams, which is a very Anglican book. It's quite a challenging read but really worth it.

We're discussing our way through "Welcome to the Kingdom" in our Women's Fellowship as one of us was baptised recently. We started with "Believe and be Baptised" previous to her baptism. I'll have to dig out the materials to find the authors, but both have worked well as starting points for discussion rather than reading alone. Have you got a mentor system in your church?

In the Catholic church it is usual to baptist adults at the Easter Vigil, the most important liturgy of the year and the dawn of Easter.

Ahh, thanks so much, I've just come back to this. So I am doingn some prep with a friend who is a bit of an expert on bible studies and am going through the book of Mark. With no reference point, I'm finding it really hard going, I need a sort of dummies guide, so will get on Amazon for that and other suggestions, thank you.

The service will be at my church, and there's been talk of a bonfire and darkness which sounds incredibly medieval, but also really moving.

I do appreciate the book and website suggestions, it's a bit daunting when there is just so much to learn

Tom Wright's Mark for Everyone is really helpful, and so is Rowan Williams's Meeting God in Mark. Either or both would be really good ways in to reading Mark's Gospel.

That's brill, thank you.

No bible study at my church, and my vicar is so busy, I'm still waiting for a bit of input - but I have plenty to be getting on with here, thanks again!