C Of E - Christening - Can i have my DD Christened?

[brainache]

Hi i am a single mum who wants to have her DD Christened.

My concern is that her dad is around but not in a nice way. I do not want to tell or invite him. (Im not being petty because he is far from a nice man)

Do the church need permission from both parents? He is not on the birth certificate and has no perental rights.......

Can anyone advise?? Thank you

yes of course you can.

Oh excellent, i didnt even think about it being a problem untill a friend said the other night that he thought both parents had to give permission.

Im soooo happy now I had already sent out the invitations lol

Part of me feels bad but when she is older she will totaly understand. Well i hope she does

Thank you

The parent(s) with parental responsibility have the right to 'determine' the religion of the child (whatever that means!) so if he doesn't have parental responsibility then legally there's no problem.

I'm not sure whether the Church requires more than the law but I'd imagine that they'd not need his consent in this kind of situation. Check with your vicar/priest to put your mind at rest.

Go and see the vicar and explain your situation. He will be able to organise something for you.

We've had lots of baptisms at our church where only one parent made the promises. My own godson's mum was single at the time of his baptism, with the father playing no part in his life.

Baptism is not just about you making promises, but about the church family making promises to support you. As a single parent, you are in a position to benefit more from this support.

We do not have a vicar at the moment, ours retired last year. I live in a small village.

I am seeing the lady who organises the Christening's tomorrow, she knows me and my situation so i will see if she says anything. I know when i was 4 my mum and dad had to go to another church as they were not married but that was early 80's and not in this area.

Thank you - i am feeling more positive about tomorrow now.

I cant wait, we have 4 weeks to go

Just to let you all know i have spoken to the lady today and she has informed me that the Archdeaconwill be holding the service on the Sunday we have chosen!! Oh this is going to be sooo special

brilliant! Very happy for you - hope it goes swimmingly (although doing a few laps of the font would be bad form).