Special Services
Holy Comforter offers several special services to mark the significant moments in one’s life. We are here to share the joy of a new child or celebrate the union of two people as well as to mourn the passing of a dear one. Please contact the Rector.
Baptism
Baptism is full initiation by water and the Holy Spirit into Christ’s Body, the church. God establishes an indissoluble bond with each person in baptism. God adopts us, making us members of the church and inheritors of the Kingdom of God (BCP, pp. 298, 858). In baptism we are made sharers in the new life of the Holy Spirit and the forgiveness of sins. Baptism is the foundation for all future church participation and ministry. Each candidate for baptism in the Episcopal Church is to be sponsored by one or more baptized persons.
Celebration and Blessing of a Marriage
This rite is for holy matrimony in the Episcopal Church (BCP, p. 423). Marriage is a solemn public covenant between two persons in the presence of God. At least one of the couple must be a baptized Christian. Prior to the marriage, the couple sign a declaration of intention. It states that they hold marriage to be a lifelong union; that they believe this union in heart, body, and mind is intended by God for their mutual joy, for help and comfort given one another in prosperity and adversity, and for the procreation (when it is God’s will) of children and their Christian nurture. There must be at least two witnesses for the ceremony.
Funeral
Burial of the Dead is a funeral rite for the burial of a baptized Christian. The BCP provides both traditional and contemporary liturgies (pp. 469-507). The BCP also provides an Order for Burial which permits the composition of a rite to suit particular circumstances, such as the burial of a person who was not a baptized Christian or who rejected the Christian faith.
