St Stephen's Church, Skipton

Virtual Tour - the Font

The font is used for the Sacrament of Baptism. This first of Sacraments incorporates a person into the Mystical Body of Christ, the Church and causes the person to be reborn by water and the Holy Spirit as a adopted child of God. As such, the font is like the 'womb' of the Church.

The octagonal form is usual for a font as it signifies a new creation and alludes to the Resurrection of Christ (the eighth day). So, just as the first creation was completed in seven days (as narrated in the book of Genesis), the new creation in Christ Jesus was completed on the 'eighth day', the day of the Resurrection.

The close relationship between the Resurrection and baptism is found in the Scriptures, as St Paul says to the Romans:

"So by our baptism into his death we were buried with him, so that as Christ was raised from the dead by the Father's glorious power, we too should begin living a new life" (Rom 6:4)

This font was installed in 1969 in honour of the FCJ nuns who had devoted over 100 years of service to the parish. The font is carved from stone and it has a simple wooden cover which is locked and only opened for a baptism.