St Luke's Church Eccleshill - What the media say

Vicar says: 'Don't baptize Brooklyn'

A Bradford priest has sent a letter addressed to David Beckham to his 15,000 parishioners urging the England football star not to baptise his baby.

Responding to the news that Brooklyn Beckham is going to be christened, the Rev John Hartley has asked the Manchester United player to think twice before having him baptised, warning that it could be a “terrible” mistake.

“You have to be certain enough about which church is the one you’re going to take Brooklyn week by week,” says Mr Hartley, vicar of St Luke’s, Eccleshill. “If your son is baptised you, as parents, have to say (i) we are committed followers of Jesus ourselves, (ii) we will bring up our child as a Christian to come to church with us regularly, and teach him about Jesus, and pray with him, and (iii) he will be an active disciple of Jesus when he is an adult.”

In the letter, circulated to his parish, and addressed ‘Dear David’, Mr Hartley suggests that Mr Beckham would be in danger of breaking his word if he uttered these words, but could not commit to their meaning. "David, you’re an honest bloke – honest enough to say that you aren’t dead sure yourself which religion is right. I hope you’ll discover a living faith in Jesus for yourself. But don’t make a promise for Brooklyn that you don’t mean. That would be a terrible start to his life!”

The item also carries a picture of David and Victoria Beckham and Brooklyn with the caption "Message from the church: Soccer star David Beckham with wife Victoria their young son Brooklyn."

	St Luke's Church, Eccleshill - our appearances in the media From time to time we have appeared in the press and been interviewed on the radio and TV. As far as possible we try to record the articles and interviews. If you find press cuttings about us, please send us copies if possible. Arising from: "Don't Baptize Brooklyn Beckham", The Link April 2002 Church of England Newspaper, 28th March 2002 (Number 5608), page 1.
Home Page. Index of articles. In this series: Original article. CEN Yorkshire Post The Sun Radio Leeds Radio Leeds 2 Jimmy Young Bradford T&A Follow-up article. Further reading: www.baptism.org.uk	Vicar says: 'Don't baptize Brooklyn' A Bradford priest has sent a letter addressed to David Beckham to his 15,000 parishioners urging the England football star not to baptise his baby. Responding to the news that Brooklyn Beckham is going to be christened, the Rev John Hartley has asked the Manchester United player to think twice before having him baptised, warning that it could be a “terrible” mistake. “You have to be certain enough about which church is the one you’re going to take Brooklyn week by week,” says Mr Hartley, vicar of St Luke’s, Eccleshill. “If your son is baptised you, as parents, have to say (i) we are committed followers of Jesus ourselves, (ii) we will bring up our child as a Christian to come to church with us regularly, and teach him about Jesus, and pray with him, and (iii) he will be an active disciple of Jesus when he is an adult.” In the letter, circulated to his parish, and addressed ‘Dear David’, Mr Hartley suggests that Mr Beckham would be in danger of breaking his word if he uttered these words, but could not commit to their meaning. "David, you’re an honest bloke – honest enough to say that you aren’t dead sure yourself which religion is right. I hope you’ll discover a living faith in Jesus for yourself. But don’t make a promise for Brooklyn that you don’t mean. That would be a terrible start to his life!” The item also carries a picture of David and Victoria Beckham and Brooklyn with the caption "Message from the church: Soccer star David Beckham with wife Victoria their young son Brooklyn."
Top of page.	This web page was last updated on 5th July 2002.