Baptisms - Easter 2007

Stephen Chandler's story ....

My first experience of church was as a member of the Cub Scouts as a young boy a long time ago. We were made to attend church once a month, an event I would frequently try to get out of as I found it boring and didn’t enjoy it. Not a very successful first experience, which fortunately did not put me off church for life. Other than weddings I did not attend church again till I was 24, when I met Charraine.

It was Charraine who first brought me to church here at Burlington. I remember thinking that this was not how I remembered church – I actually enjoyed the service. From that point on for several years we both attended once a month, but a few years ago I started enjoying my Sunday morning lay-ins too much and stopped going regularly to church.

During this time I felt that though I believed in God I didn’t feel that I was getting any stronger in my faith. All those around me seemed to be so strong in their faith that I thought I must be missing something, or just not understanding some crucial point. Just before Christmas 2005 this feeling of missing out was getting stronger and I felt a calling to attend church each week, foregoing my lay-ins. I hoped that this would allow me to find what I was missing in my faith. I thought long and hard about how to tell Charraine that I wanted to go to church every week, wondering what she would say, especially as her faith had been stronger than mine.

Fortunately I didn’t have to worry as during this time she was getting the same calling to go to church and she told me that she wished to go more regularly and asked if I wanted to come along. I told her I felt the same and so from January 2006 we started regular attendance here at Burlington.

Since that time I have felt so welcome here and quickly came to feel at home here at Burlington. In February I was delighted to find that Charraine was pregnant with our first child, after trying for so long. Like Charraine, I feel that God was waiting till we were both spiritually ready to bring up a child.

It was at this point that I feel I found what I was missing in my faith, and I have found my faith has grown every day since. This has been aided by our membership of a small group, which has enabled me to gain a deeper understanding of God and the Bible with the fellowship of other members.

Since Rebecca was born in October, I have found myself praying to God every day to give me wisdom and patience in bringing up Rebecca, and found this a great help, especially at those times when she won’t stop crying. It was also at this time that I have truly seen what it means to be a member of a church. The help, love and support that we have received from other members has been overwhelming.

I would like to thank all those who have helped us with our faith and with Rebecca, especially Julie and Adrian Kite, Ceri and Simon, Claire and Rich, Charraine’s Mum and Dad and most of all my wife, Charraine, who brought me to Burlington in the first place.

I now feel that I am ready to commit my life to God and I am so happy to be getting baptised at the same time as my wife Charraine, starting our new life in God together.

 

Charraine Chandler's story ....

I first went to Burlington at the age of 5, in 1983, with my Mum, Dad and my younger sister, Natasha. Not long after that, my Mum and Dad decided to be baptised and make Burlington their spiritual home. So from then on I attended Sunday School every week and later on joined the Girls’ Brigade. I enjoyed both of these once I had made some good friends.

It wasn’t until I went to High School that I realised not everyone believed in God and it was considered un-cool to go to church. So from then on I hid my faith from my school friends. When I was 13 most of my friends stopped attending Sunday School and Girls’ Brigade, so I found it hard as I have always been shy and nervous and lacking in confidence to make new friends. So I asked my parents if I could stop going too. They refused, but after a while they could see that I was unhappy so they reluctantly allowed me to stop going to Girls’ Brigade.

Just before my sixteenth birthday, my parents decided that I was old enough to make up my own mind about going to church. At first I continued to go fairly regularly as I was now old enough to stay in for the sermons. After I started work, I once again let the pressure of what other people thought of going to church stop me going. So I adopted the attitude that I could still believe in God and, as long as I was a good person and prayed regularly, that would be enough and I could get away with not having to go to church regularly.

By the time I met Steve in 1996, I was attending church occasionally. One week, as usual, my Dad asked if I was going to church that Sunday. I said, “Yes”, but was worried what Steve would think or say. Somehow I worked up the courage to ask Steve if he would like to come along as well and to my surprise he said, “Yes”. I was surprised and pleased that he enjoyed it, so from then on we would both attend once a month.

In 2002 I married Steve here at Burlington. We continued to attend church once a month, but by 2004 we had both lapsed to once every few months. Even when not attending church regularly I still continued to pray, and found that even though I was not giving my all to God he was still there for me, helping me through the loss of several close family members.

In 2003 we decided to try for a baby. At first I didn’t get too stressed when I didn’t fall pregnant, but as the months went by it was harder to hide the disappointment. It was at this time I felt God’s presence and I came to believe that if God wanted me to have a baby I would. This gave me the strength to enjoy my life and not worry about whether I was pregnant or not.

Towards the end of 2005 I felt a calling to begin attending church regularly again, so I made the decision to start afresh in 2006. I then told Steve my intentions. Luckily for me he had been feeling the same way too. So in January 2006 we began attending church every Sunday. We were made to feel very welcome and soon felt at home here. In February I found out that I had finally fallen pregnant. I feel that it is no coincidence that after I had found my spiritual home here at Burlington, God then blessed me with a baby. All throughout last year I felt my relationship with God grow and as my faith continues to get stronger I now feel ready to give my life to God.

This would not have been possible without the love and support of so many people here at Burlington. I would also like to thank my Mum and Dad for not allowing me to give up my faith when I was younger – and a big ‘thank you’ to Julie Kite and Sue Head for helping me this past year to explore my faith.

I would also like to take this opportunity to thank Ceri Harris and Sally Sago for all their help and advice with regards to Rebecca.