By GB News (World News) | Created at 2026-09-20 04:10:47 | Updated at 2026-09-20 08:01:49
3 hours ago
A Church of England parish has been refused permission to install a full-body baptism pool after a judge warned it would result in a “needless waste of water”.
St Mary’s Church in Radcliffe-on-Trent, Nottinghamshire, had applied for permission to use a portable immersion baptistery capable of holding 940 litres.
But Christopher Ockelton, chancellor of the Diocese of Southwell and Nottingham, rejected the application after concluding that the church did not need full immersion to carry out baptisms.
The judge also raised concerns about the huge increase in water consumption that would result from using the pool.
He said: “If doctrine and the law had been on the side of the petitioners, the court might well have felt nevertheless that its discretion should not be exercised in such a way as to endorse needless waste of water.”
Mr Ockelton said each use of the proposed baptistery could consume “thousands of times more” water than a baptism using the church's existing font.
He added that it could require as much as ten times the amount of water used for a domestic bath, with the contents subsequently drained away.
The ruling comes as the Church of England pursues its target of reaching Net Zero carbon across its operations by 2030.
The judge raised concerns about the huge increase in water consumption that would result from using the pool
GETTY
Mr Ockelton said churches should “take a lead in the stewardship of natural resources”.
But water consumption was not the only reason the church's plans were rejected.
The parish had argued there was a “pastoral need” to provide full-body immersion for people seeking baptism.
Mr Ockelton rejected the argument, finding that Anglican teaching did not require baptism by immersion.
St Mary's describes itself as a Church of England congregation with around 150 members
He said: “The necessity for baptism by immersion, asserted to exist at Radcliffe-on-Trent, has no theological basis.”
“In the Anglican church there is never any need for baptism to take place by immersion, if provisions exist for baptism in some other lawful way.”
The judge acknowledged that baptism in running water was a familiar Christian practice, pointing to the baptism of Jesus in the River Jordan.
However, he said the historic use of fonts demonstrated that Christians had long practised baptism without completely immersing the person in water.
The ruling comes as the Church of England pursues its target of reaching Net Zero carbon across its operations by 2030
Mr Ockelton also dismissed the suggestion that the preferences of people seeking baptism justified installing the pool.
He said: “If there is a pastoral need, it may lie in teaching that there is no difference in the effects of the various modes of baptism.”
Responding to the parish's argument about the preferences of baptismal candidates, he added: “I think ‘overstated’ is intended; but the doctrine and practice of the Church is not determined by those about to join it.”
St Mary's describes itself as a Church of England congregation with around 150 members and currently holds traditional and contemporary Sunday services.
