Baptisms, Weddings and Funerals
These life events are crucially significant occasions, and we aim to make each one meaningful, memorable and well supported.
Who to Contact
For all enquiries about baptisms, weddings and funerals at All Saints’, Winterton, please contact Rev. Jenny Camm on 07894 245912.
For enquiries about baptisms, weddings and funerals at the other churches in the Winterton Group, please contact the named person at the relevant church:
- St Mary’s, Roxby: Mrs Barbara Abbey — 01724 732655
- All Saints, Winteringham: Mr Chris Knowles — 01724 734213
- St Bartholomew, Appleby: Wendy Marshall — 07471 813128
Baptisms
We see baptism as an important first step in a child’s journey in faith and a welcome into the Christian community. We usually welcome a child at our Sunday morning service, held at 10.45am at Winterton, Winteringham or Roxby, subject to seasonal variations and other occasional demands.
After you make contact, we can arrange a date for the service and a meeting with both parents and the child at a mutually convenient time. Please bear in mind we will require completion of a form, which must include the names and addresses of godparents. While the service is free, we do welcome gifts in the collection plate, which is always placed by the door. There is an optional formal baptism certificate for which there is a charge — to check these details please see our Baptisms Fees document below.
You may also like to look at the information provided about baptism on the national Church of England website: what baptism is, making decisions and promises, what happens during the service, the role of godparents, thanksgiving, and frequently asked questions, at churchofenglandchristenings.org.
Weddings
We welcome couples who wish to be married in our beautiful parish church, and we aim to make this highly significant occasion memorable and enjoyable too. The Church of England rules on weddings have recently been changed: basically, if you or your partner live in the parish, or you have a family connection, or you have lived and worshipped at the parish church at some time, you can be married here at All Saints’. For further details please speak to the Vicar.
There is still a legal requirement for the reading of Banns, but this can be discussed at our meeting. We suggest that you make contact as soon as possible, so that we can meet your requirements. Once your wedding date is in our diary we then need a meeting to discuss all aspects of the service and to arrange a rehearsal, which usually takes place in the week before the wedding.
We can provide an organist, or you can make other arrangements — we have had a brass band and a string quartet (not at the same time!) in the past. We also have a keen and proficient band of bellringers who are available to help the celebration. The charges for wedding services at All Saints’ can be found in our Wedding Fees document below.
There is a wealth of information to help you on the Church of England’s special wedding website at yourchurchwedding.org. We are also happy to offer thanksgiving services for marriage — such a service might follow a civil wedding ceremony, or a wedding conducted abroad (for the benefit of non-travelling family and friends), or it could celebrate a significant milestone or wedding anniversary. Thanksgiving services can be fairly simple or more elaborate to suit your requirements.
Wedding Reception in Church
If you wish, you can hire the church for a reception so your guests do not need to travel further after your wedding. At All Saints’ in Winterton we have 16 round tables, which can seat up to 128 guests for a sit-down meal in the church. We also have a small commercial kitchen, so the options for catering are endless — a sit-down formal meal, a buffet, or even a picnic!
Catering could be arranged through a commercial caterer that you hire, or by a friend (though to use the commercial kitchen they must be qualified or have suitable experience). If you are interested in these options, do talk to us at a very early stage so we can make sure all the details and possible costs are explored.
Funerals
At All Saints’ we offer funerals either in our church, followed by burial or cremation, or entirely at our local crematorium in Scunthorpe (Woodlands). We work closely with bereaved families and always try hard to accommodate requests for music, readings, and input from family and friends.
We attach great importance to visiting families before the funeral, so that we can plan a helpful and supportive service. We will visit at least once and are happy to arrange further visits should this be necessary — visits are important because we are holding the service for a unique person, loved by God. There is no “one size fits all” approach. We are happy to discuss your requirements and any issues you may have around bereavement, and to offer support.
Some people find it helpful to visit church and light a candle, either before or after a funeral. This can help any close friend or relative who cannot be at the funeral itself. We are pleased to be approached at any stage following a death, though many will prefer to let the Funeral Directors do this. The charges for funeral services at All Saints’ (or Woodlands Crematorium) can be found in our Funeral Fees document below.
There is a great deal of helpful information at churchofenglandfunerals.org.
As part of our ongoing care and support, we offer an annual Memorial Service, to which we invite those for whom we have provided a funeral in the past year — though others are welcome too. It usually takes place in the evening, early in December, and many people find this informal service of great help.
There are occasions when a Memorial or Thanksgiving service is appropriate, especially in the absence of a body, or if a funeral has taken place abroad. In this case, please feel free to discuss this with the Vicar — a Funeral Director need not be involved.
Burial of Cremated Remains
Most residents of Winterton will know that burials are no longer allowed in the churchyard at All Saints’. The churchyard was closed for burials in the 1870s, when the new town cemetery opened. However, it is permissible for cremated remains to be buried in a designated area of the churchyard — a faculty allowing this was granted in 1967.
The defined area for the interment of cremated remains is at the west end of the churchyard, bounded by the path joining Churchside to West Street on the east, the line of mature trees on the west, and the northern and southern boundaries in line with the walls of the North and South Aisles.
Persons whose cremated remains can be buried at All Saints’ include those who were resident in the parish at the time of their death, those who died in the parish, or those who were on the church electoral roll of the parish at the time of their death. All Saints’ does, however, reserve the right to permit persons outside of these categories to have their ashes interred where there are strong pastoral grounds.
The burial plots will remain unmarked, but the names of the deceased will be added to a Book of Remembrance kept in the church. The fee due is for permission to bury cremated remains in the churchyard, together with the fee for digging the plot. Scattering of ashes is not permitted in the churchyard.
All enquiries about the interment of cremated remains at All Saints’ should be directed to Rev David Swannack on 01724 647789.