Pastoral Care

A child dedication ceremony is an opportunity for parents to make a commitment to God to do everything within their power to raise their child in a godly way until they can make a decision on their own to follow God; to model faith to the child; to seek God’s strength, grace and wisdom in raising the child; to raise the child in Christian community.

The Bible says that “children are a heritage from the Lord” (Psalm 127:3). Christian parents (including single parents) are called to recognise that children belong first and foremost to God. God has given parents the awesome responsibility of caring for this gift, as well as the wonderful privilege of enjoying them. We are told in 1 Samuel 1 that Hannah presented her son Samuel to the Lord. In Luke 2:22 we read that Mary and Joseph brought their baby Jesus to the temple in Jerusalem in order to present him before the Lord. Child dedication is a modern way for Christian parents to make the same expression of faith - it is a public ceremony done within the presence of the church family, as well as other family and friends. The church is also charged to stand with and enable the parents in their decision and to contribute in sustaining a church culture and personal example which will inspire the child to walk with Christ.

The commitment is one of the church and one of the parents, but not one of the child, who is of course not old enough to make that decision yet (in that sense, though we pray a powerful blessing over the child, it is important to note that a child dedication ceremony does not make the child a Christian, which can only happen when a person makes a personal confession of faith in Jesus as Lord and Saviour).

At City Church we do not practice infant baptism but we encourage families to have their child(ren) dedicated, which we think is a brilliant way to commit children to the Lord. Generally we dedicate children 2 and under. However, it is not uncommon to meet families who are new to faith where the children are a little older and who the parents still want to be dedicated. In this case we are more than happy to talk with you about having your children dedicated.

If you would like your child to be dedicated at City Church, please fill in this application form. Child dedication is open to all families where at least one parent/carer is a member of City Church.

Marriage is God’s idea and we love having the opportunity to prepare couples for marriage. Getting married is one of life’s major decisions – and we want to enable couples to have the best possible start by helping them build a firm foundation for the future - and for life beyond the wedding day.

We offer a range of ways to help couples prepare for married life; we run marriage preparation courses and also hold bespoke 1:1 sessions as needed to prepare couples for both the joys and challenges that married life can bring.

If you are a church member or are now attending City Church, please complete this form if you’d like to enquire about marriage preparation.

Weddings are a time of great joy and celebration – and we warmly welcome applications to conduct wedding ceremonies from couples where at least one of them is a church member, or at least has a meaningful connection to City Church. We are not a parish church so don’t normally conduct weddings for those who are not part of the City Church family.

The wedding service provides a place for the bride and groom to come before God and commit the rest of their lives to one another in a bond of love and faithfulness. Marriage is a wonderful, good and God-given blessing to those who enter into it, and the wedding ceremony celebrates this as the couple make vows to one another in the presence of witnesses.

As well as conducting the ceremony, a City Church pastor can also act as the authorised person to oversee the legal aspects of your wedding. The City Church team can also assist with musical and technical requirements.

If you would like to enquire about getting married at City Church, please complete this form.

If you have recently lost a loved one, we are so sorry and extend our deepest condolences to you. We appreciate that bereavement is a very difficult and painful experience and this is why we seek to come alongside church members in their time of loss and share the compassion, care and hope of Jesus.

If you are experiencing bereavement, the best support mechanism at City Church will be your Collective – do let your Collective leader know so that he/she and the group can support and pray for you.

Please also feel free to complete this form if you’d like to receive prayer or support from a member of the Pastoral Care Team.

The opportunity to gather, remember and celebrate the life of a relative or friend is a precious and significant thing.

City Church conducts funeral ceremonies in instances where the deceased was a church member or had a meaningful link to City Church. Please note that we are not a parish church and so don’t generally conduct funerals for those beyond the City Church family.

If you wish to enquire about holding a funeral for your loved one at City Church, please complete this form.

Pastoral care is a vital part of life at City Church. As well as creating a culture where we love and care for one another in real and practical ways, we also have a team of lay and staff pastoral care workers that church members can call upon when they need to access more specific forms of support (e.g. bereavement care, hospitalisation support, etc.).

Our midweek small groups – Collectives – provide the first point of pastoral support, so do speak to your Collective leader if you require pastoral assistance. If you’re not in a Collective, then this is a great thing to be part of - see here.

If you require support beyond this, you can book a phone or in-person appointment with a member of our Pastoral Team. Complete this form or call the Church Office and we’ll be in touch. Please note that this facility is only open to church members.

If you are a church member who has been hospitalised or become house-bound or is sick for an extended period, do let us know. We really want to be able to talk with you and pray with you, and also arrange a visit where appropriate to ensure you can stay connected to the church family.

Our Pastoral Care Team can conduct visits and phone calls to come alongside and support church members who physically are not able to come to our church building in person. If you wish to arrange a visit, please complete this form or call the Church Office. Please note that we are only able to arrange visits for church members.

Often when children start primary or secondary school, or move to another school that has a Christian character, we are asked to provide a reference. We would be delighted to support church families in this regard, though please bear in mind the following before asking us for a reference.

• One or more of the parents/guardians should be an active church member.

• Schools will ask us to provide honest and accurate information about your attendance and commitment to City Church. We are usually asked to comment about how often you attend Sunday Services and how often your child attend children’s groups run by the church. We are asked how long you have attended and if you are committed to the church - the way we measure this is by considering the following: how long you have been on our church database, whether you are active in your membership (e.g. regular attendance, part of a Collective, serving on team), etc.

If you are eligible for a reference, please complete this form so that we can confirm that we are indeed able to support your child’s application. We will then verify the details according to our membership records and get back to you to confirm that you can put down our details.

Note that sometimes schools will simply ask you to put down the name of a pastor on team and will then contact us to progress the matter (in which case, once you have received authorisation from us, the name of the pastor to put down on the school application is Rev. Stephen Gibson; on other occasions a school may ask for a letter from us to accompany your application. Regardless, we still require anyone wanting a reference to fill in this form first and then we can assist you accordingly.

Please note that references are provided to specific schools for individual children (i.e. we cannot provide generic references).

Please also note that we require a minimum of five working days to process a school reference request.

We can potentially provide references at no charge for applications for passports, visas, jobs, etc. Please note, however, that we can only do this for church members.

If you require a reference and are eligible, please fill in this enquiry form and we’ll be in touch.