The latest Children’s Ministry Think Tank question is about baby dedications in church. Here’s the question:
What is your church’s practice of baby dedication? Does it integrate with a family ministry strategy? Are there membership requirements for the parents? What do you include in the ceremony?
Here’s my response:
Baby dedication in my current Children’s-Family ministry is offered to parents and families on an individual basis. The ceremony becomes more personal to each family when it is their choice of time, not at the same time as other families in the younger preschool small groups. A professor once told me that a baby dedication service with multiple participants looks like a cattle herd – get ‘em in, get ‘em out. That’s not personal at all.
Parents choose to dedicate their children usually before the child’s first birthday; although, some parents wait until their child is close to 3 years of age. They consult the pastor on times. If there are other families desiring a dedication service, then those families are encouraged to work out times in which they are the only family participating on a particular day; therefore, each family is secured a personal service and not hurried through the ceremony. The service is performed in the spirit of Hannah dedicating Samuel in the Old Testament.
In my children’s ministry experience, I have not been given the responsibility of planning a service or an order of worship. I have only organized the special day with details of the family names, ages, guests, other information, and special lunches afterward to assist the senior pastor. Without planning or having input into the elements to include in a ceremony, I consulted some senior pastors about what they normally include for the families.
One pastor in Maryland said at his church they hold their baby dedication service for multiple families. He shares an informational sheet of questions with parents who are interested in a baby dedication service. If they can sincerely answer “yes†to each question, then he invites them to begin the planning process for a service. The following questions are included on the informational sheet:
1.   Do you confess your faith and commitment to Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord?
2.   Do you acknowledge that your child is a gift and a trust from God, and that you are responsible to God for his/her Christian nurture?
3.   Will you pray for your child’s salvation and teach your child the way of salvation through faith in Jesus Christ?
4.   Since your child will learn by both your word and example, will you set a Godly example in prayer, Bible reading, church attendance, giving, and serving others in your church home?
5.   Do you, at this time, present your child before God, saying that whatever God might want your child to do or be, you are willing to release him/her to His perfect plan?
The following is a draft of a typical baby dedication service:
Pastor: The purpose of baby dedication is to establish the partnership between the parents and the church in passing on the faith to their children and their children’s children.
The pastor speaks to the congregation: reading Deuteronomy 6:4-9 and Psalm 78:1-8.
Each family has read the scriptures and more and are impressed to make a public proclamation to dedicate their children and to bear witness of their intent to pass on their faith to their children.
The pastor then introduces the families and speaks to these families, saying the following:
God gives clear commands to parents to pass on their faith to their children. The church is your faith family that will walk along side you with love, support, and prayer in this endeavor. We do this by promising to equip you as parents for this task, by praying with and for you, by providing solid, biblically based developmentally appropriate programs, for you and your child to learn, and by giving you opportunities with and in the family of God to worship, study, fellowship, service, and witness as a family unit in the larger community of faith setting. We want to be the best friend a parent can have as they seek to pass on their faith to their children. We want to be available to you and your family.
The pastor asks each family participating in the dedication to respond by saying “I will†to each question if they agree before God and the church family. The questions are the same questions that were asked of each family on the informational sheet in the initial meeting between pastor and family.
Dedication is a serious public declaration of your intent to commit to obey God’s word, and pass on your faith to the next generation. At the same time it is also an affirmation that you are not alone in this awesome task; the body of Christ is standing with you.
The pastor finishes the service by asking the congregation the following question:
“Church, are you willing to take on the responsibility to love, care, and support these parents as they work to pass on their faith to their children. Promising to love them, equip them, pray for and with them, supporting by example and involvement in their lives as they work toward this end. If you agree to that please stand and say, ‘I will.’â€
Then, the pastor closes in prayer.
Here’s the link for responses from other children’s ministers.
