The Sacrament of Baptism

If you regularly attend St Philip Evans Church, wish to present a child aged up to 7 for baptism, and have already attended a Baptism Preparation Course, you can make a direct approach to Fr Keith or Deacon Steve to arrange to have the baptism either at the weekend Mass you usually attend, or at one of our Baptism Ceremonies.

If you live within the parish, or regularly attend St Philip Evans Church, wish to present a child aged up to 7 for baptism, and have NOT already attended a Baptism Preparation Course, please contact us (baptism@sphilipevans.co.uk) so we can give you dates of the next available preparation sessions. 

A date for your child’s baptism will not be finalised until you have completed the course. (It is only necessary for one parent to attend the church, but both are welcome – even if one is not Catholic – and if your chosen godparents are local, they would be very welcome to come, too.) If you are expecting your first child, you are very welcome to attend the course before childbirth.

In a baptism ceremony, parents make solemn promises to God that the child will be raised as a Catholic. What do those promises mean? In other words, what will be different about your child's life because they are Catholic? Most parents understand that this includes teaching their child to be a “good person” – caring, considerate, putting themselves out for the needs of others. Of course, lots of other religions believe in this, too! So what makes us distinct as Catholics? it's about a life which includes prayer, knowing Jesus as a person who loves us, and choosing to be part of a church family which gathers every week to do what Jesus asked us to do. For this reason, Catholic parishes run a Preparation Course for parents before they can make promises to raise their child as a Catholic.

If you live outside St Philip Evans Parish (which covers Llanedeyrn, Pentwyn, Pontprennau and St Edeyrn's Village), please be aware that the permission of your local parish priest is needed for the baptism to take place here.

If you live in Llanedeyrn, Pentwyn, Pontprennau or St Edeyrn's Village, but approach another priest or deacon about having the baptism elsewhere, they will ask you to come for the Parish Priest's permission for the baptism. The best time to see him is at the end of one of the parish Masses.

Every child being presented for baptism must have one godparent whose parish priest affirms that they receive Holy Communion regularly. Other baptised Christians (Catholics or other denominations) can be listed as witnesses alongside the certified godmother and/or certified godfather. Friends and relatives who are not baptised are welcome to stand alongside you as 'honorary godparents' at the ceremony but will not be listed on the baptism certificate.

Baptism are usually held on at 3pm on a Saturday or 12 noon on a Sunday. 

Once you've completed a preparation course you will be given a Baptism booking form to complete. Once we receive your completed form we will put you on our waiting list. We will then be in touch when we are in a position to offer you a date.

We offer baptism dates in the order we received completed booking forms. 

There is no fee for attending the Baptism Preparation Course. The Catholic Church does not charge for its sacraments, but it is customary to make an offering to the minister conducting the baptism, and a donation towards maintenance costs of the church. (If paying by cheque, the first is made out to the minister by name, and the second is payable to the “Parish of St Philip Evans”.) Separate fees and booking arrangements apply if you wish to hire the Parish Hall for a reception afterwards.

When children are baptised, parents can expect to receive a copy of a baptism certificate in the post about 2 weeks later. If you need to order baptism certificates or other sacramental records, please see here.