Within the Christian denominations, there are some churches that believe in baptizing a baby and others that provide an opportunity for dedication. Perhaps there are churches that do both, but I’ve never attended one.
When I was told of my own dedication, I was under the impression the purpose of it was to give the baby to God by recognizing them as His child. Though I think that is part of it, I realized when it was time to dedicate my own sons, it was so much more.
With my first son, my husband, me, my mom and aunt all went forward with other families (it was a larger church). The pastor identified the names of the kids to the congregation. He led us in a prayer where we vowed before the Lord and, in doing so, making a promise to our child that we will raise them up in a Godly way. We prayed for their lives that they would come to accept the Lord at the earliest age possible. The prayer continued to include the congregation’s support as a church family to help us in this. The associate pastors went around to the individual families. The assistant pastor anointed our son’s head with oil and prayed with us.
Our younger son’s dedication was a bit different. We were the only ones dedicating that day. The pastor shared with the congregation, with our permission, a little about my son’s life. We had a very emotional journey trying to adopt our youngest. Getting to be surrounded by the support of our church in dedicating our son was such a blessing! The pastor laid his hand on my son and prayed a similar prayer as the previous pastor did. As well, he too included the congregation in the support.
With both boys, we were given a beautiful certificate. With my older son, we were given a bible for him, with our younger we were given a letter. At first I thought the pastor made an error in my son’s age as it said “Happy 12th Birthday.” I read it and it was beautiful. It basically stated that 10 years prior, we dedicated him before the Lord. He explains what dedicating him meant. It went on to talk about Christ’s love for him and that the Church vowed that night to help him with his walk and would be there if he needed.
When my husband and I brought our boys for dedication, we took it very seriously. We were well aware of what precious gifts God entrusted in our care. We understood that our boys could be anywhere but God allowed for them to be with us to grow in Him.
Please check out my other Christian parenting blogs from this series:
Getting into Your Kid’s Business
Honoring Your Mother and Father
Teaching Our Children Self-Respect