Celebration Services

Thanksgivings - Baptisms - Confirmation - Weddings -
Prayer and Dedication after civil marriage – Funerals and burials.

The Church is very much involved with important moments in life. Whether it is right at the beginning with Christening - which we call Baptism; or the joy of seeing two people committing their lives together in marriage. Or maybe at a sadder time when a loved one has died.

Thanksgiving and Baptism are 'ways in' to belonging to the family of the church. You must either live in the Parish or be a regular worshipper for us to conduct either of these services.

Thanksgiving

It's always good to celebrate the arrival of a new member in the family - whether the child is your own or adopted. If you are thinking about asking for Baptism, please contact Richard and Anne Lee on 01934 823556. We will visit you and talk over the issues surrounding Baptism. In the service you will be expected to make promises about bringing your child up in the Christian faith. These include being an example as a Christian yourself, praying for your child and bringing them regularly to church. If you feel that this is something you are unable to do but still want to have a special service in church, then ask for a Thanksgiving service. No expectations will be made of you and – if you choose, you can leave it at that.

Baptism - what will happen next

But if you would like to go further and together with Godparents, make vows about how you want your child to grow in the Christian faith, then we will invite you to explore more about your faith. You will be invited to an evening meeting where you will meet other parents who are looking at what baptism is about. We will want to visit you again and arrange the service as well as getting Godparent details from you.

What if a parent wants baptism too - or an adult coming for baptism?

Sometimes parents who have not been baptised themselves want to be baptised at the same time as their children. This is fine, but adult baptism is about owning your Christian faith and we would expect you to think about either belonging to a church and coming regularly and/or consider doing a Christian basics courses which will run at various times through the year.

Weddings

The Parishes of Locking and Hutton conduct a number of weddings every year. If you would like to be married in Locking or Hutton church, here is a quick checklist to see if we should be able to do it

• Either you or your partner lives in the Parish – or worships regularly at your church. So if you want to be married in Hutton you must either live in Hutton or be on the church electoral roll. Likewise in Locking.

• Neither of you has got a former marriage partner who is still alive. [If you have been divorced, please speak to the clergy first - it does not necessarily mean that we cannot take your service, or it may be that we can recommend alternatives]

Funerals

When someone loved dies, there are many jobs to organise in the first few days including the funeral service. We always try to be available to take services for anyone in Locking/Hutton. We enjoy good relationships with the Funeral Directors in this area. If you want a either Richard or Anne Lee to take your service, please either contact us directly or do so through the Funeral Directors.

Every November, there is a Parish Memorial Service in Locking and Hutton where everyone who has been to a Parish - organised funeral in the last year, is invited to hear the name of their loved one read out.

Churchyard Rules

Both Locking and Hutton churches have ‘closed’ churchyards. This means that we cannot start any more new graves in the yards. We can carry out burials only in family graves where there is still space.

However, we can still take cremated remains in a wooden urn. These may be buried in an existing family grave or in a new space in each churches garden of remembrance. Locking church is getting close to being completely filled.

For a complete list of fees for weddings, funerals and burials, and for specifications regarding monument and tablet sizes, please visit the Diocesan website at http://www.cofe.anglican.org/lifeevents/ministry/workofmindiv/dracsc/ffandaw/

Please note that Hutton churchyard have a separate requirement for churchyard memorial tablets. All tablets must be ‘Roman Stone / Nabrescini’ material in order to keep within the Mendip stone character of the area.