Child Dedication

This past year we switched our child dedications over to Sunday evenings primarily so we could spend more time during the dedication. At times, it seemed almost that things happened so fast for the families that sometimes it felt like it was over almost as soon as it began. This led us to question and to look hard at why we were doing what we were doing and how we were doing it (sorry for the poor sentence structure there).

As we looked at it, our Children’s ministry department felt we could really benefit from adding some components that we felt were missing. We were able to add some of these components with positive results as we switched the format to Sunday evenings. The feedback we have received from the families that have recently participated in our evening dedications have all told us how much they appreciate it and how much more of a meaningful time it was for them and their family.

With the change to the evening dedication, we also started a child dedication class, in which we discuss the role of the parents as the spiritual leaders for their child and how we, as a church, want to partner with the parents in this role.

We also review what will happen the night of the dedication. We review the vows of dedication. We ask each parent to write a letter to their child describing what they want for the child and what they, as parents, plan to do to support their child. This letter is read during the dedication ceremony. We also ask the parents to pick out a life verse for their child, which is usually read by the child’s sponsor (someone the family has chosen to pray for the child and family the night of the Dedication Service).

The night of the Dedication we incorporate these things into the ceremony and end with the prayer of dedication for the child and family. In addition to the above, we hire a photographer to be there to take pictures during the ceremony and they also take family portraits for the families. All of these pictures are made available to the families free of charge and a system is in place that the families can also purchase these pictures at cost.

Our Children’s ministry department then also takes these pictures, and the pictures sent in by the family and makes up a photobook for each family to commemorate the day.

By doing all of these things, we really have made this a special time for the families.

It is true that we do not have the same number of people coming out on a Sunday evening as we do on a Sunday morning. We do encourage all families to invite their small groups, family and friends to the dedication. We also believe that the Child Dedication service is pretty special to the parents and families.

We will be having a Child Dedication service on Sunday, March 6 at 5pm.

We ask that all people who are interested in having their child dedicated come to a Child Dedication class. The Chid-D class will be held on Thursday, February 10 at 6pm.