On Sat, 30 Dec 2000 13:50:13 +0000, Eve McLaughlin <eve@varneys.demon.co.uk> wrote: >In article <8e.f1cd470.277ea531@aol.com>, EvanBarr@aol.com writes >>Can someone please tell me the difference between baptism and christening in >>the UK? >>Thank you kindly, >>Dinnie >> >There isn;t any, apart from the choice of word (we had a long and silly >discussion about this a few weeks back: PLEASE, not again.) c.f. >marriage and nuptials, burial and sepulture. It depends on the >clergyman. This is a topic that seems to come up quite frequently in genealogical forums. Since most of those who are researching genealogy in Britain will be using baptism/christening records of the Church of England, the following official press release should make the position clearer, and should perhaps be incorporated into a faq: http://tinyurl.com/k589x9t Quote from the Church of England web site: "What is the difference between a baptism and a christening? There is no difference between a christening service and a baptism service. Some churches will use the word 'baptism' and some the word 'christening'. Babies are 'baptised' during a 'christening' service just as couples are 'married' during a wedding service. Christening is a traditional English word which means to become a member of the Christian church. Baptism means to be immersed in water. During a christening service a baby or child will be baptised with water and welcomed into the community of the local church." -- Steve Hayes Web: http://hayesgreene.wordpress.com/ http://hayesgreene.blogspot.com http://groups.yahoo.com/group/afgen/