Dedicating Baby to the Church

[Link0126]

My sister and her husband are going to be dedicating their baby to the church this November. I had never heard of this novel sounding idea until today so I looked it up to see what it was all about. You can read about it here: bible.org/article/baby-dedication

From reading about this it looks like different member of the family are involved in the event. I don’t think me and wife would be involved but is it alright to play an active role in this if asked? It seems like they have replaced baptism of infants with this, and it looks like they use OT scriptures and one from when Jesus was a baby to support their claims.

 

[FabiusMaximus]

My sister and her husband are going to be dedicating their baby to the church this November. I had never heard of this novel sounding idea until today so I looked it up to see what it was all about. You can read about it here: bible.org/article/baby-dedication

From reading about this it looks like different member of the family are involved in the event. I don’t think me and wife would be involved but is it alright to play an active role in this if asked? It seems like they have replaced baptism of infants with this, and it looks like they use OT scriptures and one from when Jesus was a baby to support their claims.

Protestants who practice baby dedication consider it a pious tradition whereby parents dedicate their lives to bring up the child in the faith and then the pastor prays over the child and possibly (in my experience it is done often) anointed with oil. We do not consider it a sacrament, nor even an ordinance. Just a good tradition to have.

 

[SteveVH]

Protestants who practice baby dedication consider it a pious tradition whereby parents dedicate their lives to bring up the child in the faith and then the pastor prays over the child and possibly (in my experience it is done often) anointed with oil. We do not consider it a sacrament, nor even an ordinance. Just a good tradition to have.

Catholic parents (and Godparents) make the same promise at a child’s baptism “to bring up the child in the faith”. I think the practice we are talking about here is the result of not believing in infant baptism, yet acknowledging the same obligation that accompanies infant baptism.

 

[Zenas]

Catholic parents (and Godparents) make the same promise at a child’s baptism “to bring up the child in the faith”. I think the practice we are talking about here is the result of not believing in infant baptism, yet acknowledging the same obligation that accompanies infant baptism.

I think you got it exactly right. I’ve heard it said that a Protestant baby dedication looks like a Catholic baptism without water, and a Protestant baptism looks like a Catholic confirmation with water.

 

[Alix1912]

Not all protestants do not practice infant baptism. The Lutheran’s consider baptism a sacrament and it is performed on infants. In fact the wording and ceremony is almost exactly word for word the same as the Catholic Ceremony and considered valid by the Catholic Church. Same with the Anglicans, there are others out there as well.

 

[Suslar]

Not all protestants do not practice infant baptism. The Lutheran’s consider baptism a sacrament and it is performed on infants. In fact the wording and ceremony is almost exactly word for word the same as the Catholic Ceremony and considered valid by the Catholic Church. Same with the Anglicans, there are others out there as well.

You are right that the Lutherans consider it a “sacrament” - but that is with a lower case “s” and not a conferring of God’s grace as we believe.

To the OP, I’d suggest NOT taking an active role in the ceremony. As practicing Roman Catholics, you cannot make a public vow to help bring a child up in another tradition that you are not a part of. It is for this same reason that non-Catholics cannot be Godparents at Catholic Baptisms. (They can be “Christian witnesses”, but there must be at least 1 practicing Catholic as Godparent)

 

[Georgia]

My former independent Baptist church did the dedications and most certainly did not baptize infants. There were no oils nor were there any formalities.

The parents simply came to the front with the infant at the end of the service. They usually said something unscripted about wanting to dedicate their baby to the Lord. The preacher then said an extemporaneous prayer and that was it. The whole thing was over in a couple of minutes.

It was not something that would go into any church record like a baptism. There were no requirements to do the dedications either. It was something that some, but not most, did.

 

[ltwin]

My former independent Baptist church did the dedications and most certainly did not baptize infants. There were no oils nor were there any formalities.

The parents simply came to the front with the infant at the end of the service. They usually said something unscripted about wanting to dedicate their baby to the Lord. The preacher then said an extemporaneous prayer and that was it. The whole thing was over in a couple of minutes.

It was not something that would go into any church record like a baptism. There were no requirements to do the dedications either. It was something that some, but not most, did.

At my baby dedication, I was dressed special toddler clothes for the occasion, my parents and grandparents made a vow to raise me in the Christian faith, the congregation vowed to help my family do this and to pray for me and my parents, the pastor prayed over me, and water was involved. It was not baptism though, I wasn’t baptized until I was 20.

At my church, a lot of scriptures are used during the ceremony. The one I remember the most is 1 Samuel 1:21-28, and I think that is the biblical support for the practice.

 

[Alix1912]

You are right that the Lutherans consider it a “sacrament” - but that is with a lower case “s” and not a conferring of God’s grace as we believe.

To the OP, I’d suggest NOT taking an active role in the ceremony. As practicing Roman Catholics, you cannot make a public vow to help bring a child up in another tradition that you are not a part of. It is for this same reason that non-Catholics cannot be Godparents at Catholic Baptisms. (They can be “Christian witnesses”, but there must be at least 1 practicing Catholic as Godparent)

I apologize for the typo…the Lutheran Catichism actually referers to the Sacraments of Baptism, Communion, and Confession with a capital “S”. It also refers to them as means of confering God’s Grace. Again the wording and ceremony is identical to that used in the Catholic Church and Lutheran Baptisms are valid in the Catholic Church.

 

[Suslar]

Thanks for your post Alix1912. Yes, of course, you may refer to things within your community as you please and I can’t argue with that. But what I meant was, Catholics do not consider Protestants “sacraments” to be the same as our Sacraments.

We generally define a Sacrament as “An outward and visible sign of an inward and invisible grace.” But, Catholics and Protestants differ on our beliefs regarding grace. For us as Catholics, Sacraments convey grace by their operation (ex opere operato) whereas the general Protestant view is that sacraments are a means of grace only if received with faith.

It’s interesting to note that at the beginning of his book, The Babylonian Captivity of the Church, Martin Luther, then a Catholic priest, argued that there were three sacraments: baptism, confession, and the Eucharist, because Jesus commanded all Christians to do these three. However, he did not feel that one necessarily had to confess to the clergy, so it could be valid without being a church rite. So by the time he finished writing the book, Luther settled on two sacraments, baptism and communion. And even then, because Luther denied a ministerial priesthood as successors to Christ and the Disciples, your “sacraments” too had to change.

Yes, it makes sense that so much of what you use in your services and ceremonies is identical to Catholic rites because your belief system came out from under Catholicism. Martin Luther seems to have simply picked what he liked and denied that which confused, scandalized or irritated him.

Yes, Lutheran baptisms are valid Christian baptisms if performed with water and using the tridentine formula. But, they are not exactly the same as Catholic Baptisms for the very nature of Protestantism is that you are protesting facets of the Catholic Church – the one Church founded by Jesus Christ.

 

[Suslar]

To the OP, I still hold that you should not take an active part in the dedication for the same reason you cannot be a valid Godparent of a child being brought up Lutheran (or any other Protestant denomination) – we do not share the same belief system.

I once heard a Protestant friend say, “We have two sacraments but you Catholics added in 5 more.” I just had to help him remember that we had all seven when Martin Luther – the first Protestant – thought it easiest to eliminate some. We didn’t “add in” extra Sacraments but Protestants are missing out on the fullness of what we do have!

 

[JonNC]

Thanks for your post Alix1912. Yes, of course, you may refer to things within your community as you please and I can’t argue with that. But what I meant was, Catholics do not consider Protestants “sacraments” to be the same as our Sacraments.

We generally define a Sacrament as “An outward and visible sign of an inward and invisible grace.” But, Catholics and Protestants differ on our beliefs regarding grace. For us as Catholics, Sacraments convey grace by their operation (ex opere operato) whereas the general Protestant view is that sacraments are a means of grace only if received with faith.

It’s interesting to note that at the beginning of his book, The Babylonian Captivity of the Church, Martin Luther, then a Catholic priest, argued that there were three sacraments: baptism, confession, and the Eucharist, because Jesus commanded all Christians to do these three. However, he did not feel that one necessarily had to confess to the clergy, so it could be valid without being a church rite. So by the time he finished writing the book, Luther settled on two sacraments, baptism and communion. And even then, because Luther denied a ministerial priesthood as successors to Christ and the Disciples, your “sacraments” too had to change.

Yes, it makes sense that so much of what you use in your services and ceremonies is identical to Catholic rites because your belief system came out from under Catholicism. Martin Luther seems to have simply picked what he liked and denied that which confused, scandalized or irritated him.

Yes, Lutheran baptisms are valid Christian baptisms if performed with water and using the tridentine formula. But, they are not exactly the same as Catholic Baptisms for the very nature of Protestantism is that you are protesting facets of the Catholic Church – the one Church founded by Jesus Christ.

Just for clarification, this is the Confutation’s response to the Augsburg Confession regarding Baptism:

To Article IX.
The ninth article, concerning Baptism - viz. that it is necessary to salvation, and that children ought to be baptized - is approved and accepted, and they are right in condemning the Anabaptists,

It is also necessary to say that the reason Lutheran Baptism is accepted by the CC is because it does not require a priest in Apostolic Succession, so the issue of the clergy is irrelevent. That said, Lutherans do have a ministerial priesthood, called and ordained, even if not recognized by Rome.

Jon

 

[FabiusMaximus]

Catholic parents (and Godparents) make the same promise at a child’s baptism “to bring up the child in the faith”. I think the practice we are talking about here is the result of not believing in infant baptism, yet acknowledging the same obligation that accompanies infant baptism.

I’d say you are 100% correct on this.