GENERAL INFORMATION ON BAPTISMS AND DEDICATIONS

It is always an honor and a delight to celebrate a new life at First Parish. Below is some basic information regarding baptism and dedication. Please speak to the pastor for more information, or to discuss scheduling a baptism or dedication.

Three words are often used interchangeably in reference to the bringing of a baby before a congregation: baptism, christening, dedication. To oversimplify a bit, baptism is the sacrament of admitting a person into Christianity. Christening is the ceremony of giving a name to an infant. Dedication is the act of bringing your child before the church congregation and dedicating him or her to God. A single liturgy may include more than one of these elements (for example, in most churches a baptism of an infant not only brings the child into Christianity but also formally names the infant and dedicates the infant to God, and christenings usually include baptism). In all of these rituals the infant is blessed, the parents are promised support by the congregation, and the congregation is declared a partner with the parents in the spiritual nurture of the child.

The importance of the distinctions between these liturgies varies from person to person and tradition to tradition. Members of a Baptist church will have their children dedicated to God but not baptized; baptism does not take place until early adulthood, called “believer’s baptism”. A parent might believe that if they do not have their child baptized, she will not enter heaven. Another parent might choose dedication as a way of having their child blessed and recognized by the congregation without participating in a Christian sacrament. At First Parish, we have the luxury of working with each family individually to determine what sort of liturgy makes the most sense for them. In turn, we have the responsibility of clarifying for the congregation what sort of liturgy we are participating in on a given Sunday morning. And so we seek to use terms like baptism, christening and dedication specifically rather than interchangeably.

But there are still more issues to consider! If at all possible, we prefer to celebrate child blessing rituals during regular Sunday morning worship; the congregation needs to be there in order to bless the child and promise support. We also prefer to celebrate a ritual with only one family per Sunday; each child deserves the complete attention of the congregation at least once in his or her life. And we prefer to celebrate these rituals with families who are or intend to be involved in this congregation; otherwise the promises of the congregation become very difficult to fulfill. Obviously exceptions are made on all these preferences from time to time! But we always encourage parents seeking a blessing for their children to contact the pastor early on so we can discuss schedules and concepts.

One final note concerning baptism in particular. In the Christian tradition, for several historical reasons, it is declared that a person is baptized only once in his or her life; once a member of the Christian church, always a member. And so Christian churches (Catholic and Protestant alike) have agreed to respect each other’s baptisms, provided that a particular “baptismal formula” is used. The clergy must say, “I baptize you in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit”. There is much controversy concerning this formula, especially in regard to inclusive language. At First Parish, many parents choose to use this “traditional formula”. Others use other words that are meaningful to them, allowing that the child might be re-baptized if he or she converted to a more formalized tradition (an example of an alternative formula is: Child, I baptize you as a Child of God, Creator of all; into the Faith and Fellowship of the Gospel of Jesus; and into the truth of the Church Universal). Again, the pastor is very willing to work with parents and the congregation concerning this struggle. In fact, this is a fascinating place to start in understanding and growing our faith.

Please do not hesitate to speak with Rev. Cindy to share your thoughts and questions.