Baby Dedication Ceremony

"As surely as you live, my Lord, I am the woman who stood here beside you praying to the Lord. I prayed for this child, and the Lord has granted me what I asked of him. So now I give him to the Lord. For his whole life he will be given over to the Lord." And he worshiped the Lord there. (1 Samuel 1:26-28)

From the above it is clear that in the baby dedication ceremony, the parents make a commitment before the Lord to bring up a child as per God's will. This ceremony is a challenge to the parents as well as the grandparents to raise the child to serve the Lord. Let us now learn about this ceremony in details.

The Ceremony

When you have a new member in your family, it's a joyous moment for the entire family. To the parents, the child is a gift from God the Almighty. Parents thank God and expresses their gratitude to Him, through the ceremony. It's a religious ceremony in which the Christian parents dedicate a child to the Lord and promise Him that they will bring up the child in a godly manner, until and unless the child reaches a stage, where he or she can make their own decisions when it comes to follow God. In the ceremony, the parents are given the responsibilities of teaching and training their child by the God's Word, disciplining them according to God's ways and also praying for the well-being of the child. Many Protestant churches usually follow this practice in place of infant baptism.

History

Now let us see where does this all go back to. What is the reason behind the ceremony? The reason behind this ceremony can be found in the Bible. The story goes somewhat like this. There was a barren woman by the name of Hannah, who had promised the Lord that if He would give her a son, then she would dedicate him to the Lord. (1 Samuel 1:11). Another story goes that Joseph and Mary had taken baby Jesus to the church, eight days after his birth, to dedicate him to the Lord (Luke 2:21). This ceremony of dedicating a child to the Lord, is still followed by the Protestants.

If you are planning to organize a program, then you need to know what are the ways in which you can do that. Here are some ideas which you can follow in order to make the ceremony a special one.

Conducting the Program

Get the Things Required
Before starting off with the ceremony, make sure that you have the following things at hand

• A white rose
• A red rose
• A bud of a red rose
• A child's testament
• A dedication certificate.

Talk to the Parents
Minutes before the ceremony starts, talk to the parents and let them know what they are supposed to do and where they and the rest of the family are supposed to stand. The pastor usually stands in the front and center in the sanctuary. To his right stands the father of the baby with the mother and the other siblings. The grandparents and the godparents, stands to the left of the pastor. As the family moves forward, the mother holds on to the child, but once the service starts, she passes it on to the father. This shows that the father is the spiritual head of the family. Then for the prayer of dedication, the baby is passed on to the pastor.

Mention Everyone in the Family
When the ceremony begins, everyone of the family members present there has to be mentioned; the grandparents, the siblings, the parents and the god parents. Show that everyone is important.

Keep Your Cool
The baby, during the entire ceremony, might be sleeping. But sometimes they might even start crying. In these situations you must remain calm and handle the situation in a humorous manner.

Invitation for All
Each and every member of your family would like to be a part of the ceremony where the gift of God is welcomed into the family of Jesus Christ. So send out invitation cards to all. Let everyone be a part of this auspicious event, let everyone get together and pray for your child.

So now that you are well aware of what is a baby dedication ceremony program, and how is it conducted, attend one and enjoy it.