Peer seeks alternative to baptism in church

He warned that baptism was in decline and called for an alternative naming ceremony which could be conducted outside of the Church.

The registrars of birth - who currently just record births - should be re-trained to conduct such ceremonies, Lord Young told the BBC Radio 4 Today programme.

''Baptism is something that can only be conducted in a Church,'' he said.

''Alternative ceremonies, welcoming ceremonies, for children, can be conducted anywhere the parents want.

''As ordinary baptisms are declining in all churches, except perhaps the Catholic church, so there needs to be some alternative.

''The baptism is a very valuable ritual and it exists in many racial minorities in Britain and it has existed for many hundreds of years.

''But now, unfortunately, it is in decline and a new ritual is needed for a very important occasion for parents and grandparents and families generally,'' Lord Young said.

Such ceremonies were often conducted now by members of the family in the garden, or in a hotel, with Godparents sometimes called co-parents instead.

However many couples wanted a formal, structured ceremony conducted by an official, he said.

Nicholas Coote, assistant secretary of the Catholic Bishops Conference, said non-religious people were abusing the ceremony of baptism.

''One has a problem in the Church when people come for a baptism and you know fairly well that they have no intention of living as Christians or bringing up their child as Christians,'' he said.

''If they're not believing Christians, baptism is really abused.

''I can see no objection to a secular alternative to baptism for what people call generally rites of passage, whether it's death, the naming of a baby or marriage,'' he said.

However it was not the state's job. It was the job of a voluntary society, he said.