St Luke's Church Eccleshill - What the media say

Don't have Brooklyn baptised, Yorkshire churchman urges soccer star Beckham

A YORKSHIRE priest has written to David Beckham urging him not to have his son Brooklyn baptised.

The Rev John Hartley believes the England midfielder and wife Victoria might not be able to live up to the pledges parents make at baptisms. Mr Hartley has written to Beckham, care of Old Trafford stadium, urging him to consider a "thanksgiving" christening instead. The letter is printed in the latest newsletter for the parish of St Luke's at Eccleshill, Bradford.

Beckham was recently reported as saying: "I definitely want Brooklyn to be christened, but I don't know into what religion yet." Last night Mr Hartley told the Yorkshire Post that reading Beckham's comment prompted him to write with some advice. About 300 parishioners had received a copy of his letter, which begins "Dear David".

Mr Hartley wrote: "You might find your local church tells you about baptism if you mention christening. "My advice is to go for the other christening option. It's called 'Thanksgiving for the Gift of a Child'." He goes on to explain in simple terms the differences between the two christening services.

"The Thanksgiving is what Jesus did when the people brought their little children to him. "He took the children in his arms, laid his hands on them, and blessed them. "The service says 'thank you God for this child, and please help ('bless') him as he grows up'."

But he warns: "If your son is baptised you parents have to say 'we are committed followers of Jesus ourselves, 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 so on, and (say) 'he will be an active disciple of Jesus when he is an adult'. Obviously that's quite a promise! You have to be certain enough about which church is the one you're going to take Brooklyn to week by week."

Mr Hartley ends by urging Beckham not to make a promise he might not keep. "David, you're an honest bloke – honest enough to say that you aren't dead sure for 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!"

Mr Hartley is awaiting Beckham's reply, which he promised to keep private if the player wished.

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 Yorkshire Post, 1st April 2002, page 7.
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	Don't have Brooklyn baptised, Yorkshire churchman urges soccer star Beckham A YORKSHIRE priest has written to David Beckham urging him not to have his son Brooklyn baptised. The Rev John Hartley believes the England midfielder and wife Victoria might not be able to live up to the pledges parents make at baptisms. Mr Hartley has written to Beckham, care of Old Trafford stadium, urging him to consider a "thanksgiving" christening instead. The letter is printed in the latest newsletter for the parish of St Luke's at Eccleshill, Bradford. Beckham was recently reported as saying: "I definitely want Brooklyn to be christened, but I don't know into what religion yet." Last night Mr Hartley told the Yorkshire Post that reading Beckham's comment prompted him to write with some advice. About 300 parishioners had received a copy of his letter, which begins "Dear David". Mr Hartley wrote: "You might find your local church tells you about baptism if you mention christening. "My advice is to go for the other christening option. It's called 'Thanksgiving for the Gift of a Child'." He goes on to explain in simple terms the differences between the two christening services. "The Thanksgiving is what Jesus did when the people brought their little children to him. "He took the children in his arms, laid his hands on them, and blessed them. "The service says 'thank you God for this child, and please help ('bless') him as he grows up'." But he warns: "If your son is baptised you parents have to say 'we are committed followers of Jesus ourselves, 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 so on, and (say) 'he will be an active disciple of Jesus when he is an adult'. Obviously that's quite a promise! You have to be certain enough about which church is the one you're going to take Brooklyn to week by week." Mr Hartley ends by urging Beckham not to make a promise he might not keep. "David, you're an honest bloke – honest enough to say that you aren't dead sure for 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!" Mr Hartley is awaiting Beckham's reply, which he promised to keep private if the player wished. 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."
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