I sort of had godparents.

That is to say I was baptised by a nurse. Anyone can baptise. You do not need to be ordained. I was then welcomed according to my baby book, which was amongst my mum’s things, into the church later. I have to say that being welcomed after baptism, which for me marks the entry point into the life of the church, seems to be a contradiction in terms.

My Aunt and Uncle, the late Mary and Stan, became my godparents. Indeed, I believe that they met me before my mum did, such was the length of time it took me to be born.

They were good to me. More importantly they prayed for me. They even took me to Israel when I was 17, the first time I had been on a plane… although I appear to recall I saved for the plane ticket from my weekly newspaper round.

One of the best parts of my vicaring is meeting godparents. If you are about to be a godparent, then this site is worth visiting: https://churchofenglandchristenings.org/godparents/role-godparent/

I enjoy meeting godparents because it presents an opportunity to talk about the Christian faith to a range of people. One of the questions, I often ask is ‘if you could describe God in three words, what would they be?’ I wonder what they might be for you?

I find that most godparents want to engage with such questions or maybe they feel with me that they have no choice.

I hope as importantly I leave them with no doubt that they are about to undertake one of the most precious tasks in the world; journeying with a child.