Are your children baptized?

My3LilMonkeys wrote: My SIL's friend just had a new baby and named SIL and her boyfriend godparents. This is SIL's 3rd godchild (one of our nephews & another friend's baby are the other 2) and AGAIN brings up the subject in DH's family of my children not being baptized.

It is my position that since DH and I are not religious and do not go to church (and never have) there is no reason for them to be baptized. I know that a lot of people don't agree with this (none of SIL's godchildren have ever attended church other than for the baptism). No debates please; I'm just looking to find about the different views.

Are your children baptized? If so, do you attend church? If you don't attend church, why did you decide to have your children baptized?

Maddie&EthansMom replied: Maddie was 'dedicated' to the Lord when she was a couple of months old. Ethan hasn't been dedicated yet. They are not baptized under water nor do they have water sprinkled on them. They will be baptized by submersion when they are at the age of accountability. Yes, we do attend church.

aspenblue1 replied: Isabella is baptized and Kyrsten is getting baptized Feb 26. We do attend church but not as much as we should.

TeagansMom609 replied: We are not religious at all, although I have always planned on getting Teagan baptized. Not sure why, I guess because although my parents were not religious either, my sister and I both got baptized. The only reason Teagan has not been baptized yet is because DH and I both really dont feel like taking classes every Sunday for 7 weeks in ordor to join a church.

luvmykids replied: My kids were also dedicated, which is less "formal" but very meaningful to us. The pastor prays for the child and the parents. Basically the meaning is that as proxy for our children we are dedicating their lives to the Lord, that they would come to know Him early and serve Him, and that we as parents acknowledge our responsibility to Him to raise them in His ways. When they are old enough to decide on their own how they feel about it, they will be baptized in water. (Which for those of you who may not know symbolizes the washing away of the old "self".)
And we do attend church.

I hope I don't offend anyone, but I don't think I would do any manner of baptizing if there weren't some meaning to it for me. Doing it just to do it, KWIM?

Our Lil' Family replied:
for us. Thomas was dedicated at 6 months old and will make that choice on his own when he is capable.

coasterqueen replied: I didn't grow up in a religious home setting but my athome daycare provider was very religious so I spent a lot of time with her learning religion in general. Ryan was baptized as a baby and went to church every sunday and went through confirmation school, etc.

We did not go to church until we had children. Not sure why, but we both agree that we want our children to have the morals/values that are taught in the church. Kylie and I were both baptized together when she was a little over 3 months. Megan was baptized this past August at 5 months of age.

I tried to take Kylie several times before she was 3 but she wouldn't sit still in church and since I was nursing I really didn't want her in the nursery. When she turned 3 she started Sunday school so Megan and I would play in the nursery while she was in SS and then Kylie would stay in the nursery while Megan and I attended church. So we really just started going this past September, although we have only been a couple of times since Thanksgiving due to one of us has always been sick since then. I found it VERY difficult to get both girls ready and myself and get to church when Ryan was gone. Hopefully everyone will be healthy enough to go this Sunday because I think our Pastor might be sending out a search party for us if we don't.

mom21kid2dogs replied: Yes, we are religious (Catholic) and our daughter is baptized.
I fail to see the purpose of Baptism if one has no intention of raising their child in a particular faith. What would be the point?

~Roo'sMama~ replied: We are planning on having Andrew dedicated, but he won't be baptized. We go to a non-denominational church.

Jamison'smama replied: Both kids were dedicated and they can choose to be baptized when they feel it is right for them. We attend church regularly.

ediep replied: We are catholic, Jason was baptised and we go to church every week. Jason even goes to preschool at our church

kimberley replied: my three are baptized and Kaleigh will be probably in march. i do attend church but not regularly. it seems someone is always sick or something comes up and sadly i don't go as often as i like. the boys are in catholic school and attend school mass once a month there also. we do it to introduce baby into our catholic community and to wash away original sin.

i also dont see the point of someone baptizing a child if they have no intention of following that faith. Godparents are named to ensure the child follows their faith, not for any other reason.

My3LilMonkeys replied:
Thank you, Kimberley! I had no idea what godparents were really for.

SIL uses the fact that she is a godmother as an excuse to buy more presents for those children and told us when Brooke was born that we should make her the godmother so she could get extras too. I just didn't feel extra presents was a good reason to have a child baptized (not to mention how unfair I feel it is because all of her godchildren have siblings who are going to feel slighted that they don't get the extra presents for reasons completely out of their control).

luvmykids replied:
I know a lot of people who do it b/c they see it as a way of making good friends a more formalized part of the family. Doesn't make sense to me but just thought I'd throw that in.

MyBrownEyedBoy replied:
Me three. Logan was dedicated at 4 months old.

5littleladies replied:
for us too. Our children have been dedicated (but not Lissie yet) which is basically a public statement that we will raise our children to know the Lord.

CAMSMOM1 replied: We are Christian. I was baptized when I was 10 years old, and it was my choice.

We dedicated Cameron at 3 months old. Like others have said, it was DH and I vowing to raise our child to know the Lord. And when he decideds to make Jesus his Lord and Savior, then he can make the choice to be baptized with water. In our church we don't appoint a Godparent, because we ask the entire church to pray and help lead our child in their faith.

We do attend church regularly. We really enjoy going to church, not because we feel we have to, but because we desire to know him more.

Baptising and dedications...are public statements that the parents will raise this child to know the Lord. Why people do it, when they have no intention to persue their faith or teach their children, I don't understand. Maybe they feel it's a right of passage, and don't understand what the true meaning behind it.

C&K*s Mommie replied: Are girls have not been either baptized nor dedicated. Since I have changed from Church of Christ-Christian over to Baptist~Christian I just learned of the 'dedication' to the LORD. Not sure why neither has not been dedicated. Need to talk to Chris about that.

Anyhow, we do attend church (not faithfully, though ). Like most other parents that responded our girls will be able to learn & decide on their own when they want to get baptized. Many children come forward in our church to make that public profession of faith. It is always a tearjerker!

MomToMany replied: None of the kids are baptized. We don't go to church either. I was raised in the Catholic church, and I was baptized there. I just don't believe or agree with most of it.

coasterqueen replied: For those who have had their kids dedicated I'm curious because that seems like what we've done but we are Lutheran so you are baptized as a baby and then have to go through confirmation classes to be truly "confirmed".

What's the difference?

luvbug00 replied:

Pretty much the same here. ALthough Mya has attended mass, synagoge and bahi (sp?) gatherings with friends I see no need to dedicate her to one religon. Not to mention that Brad is against orginized religons.

MamaJAM replied: None of my kids are baptized....it's not a Jewish custom.

But -- the girls all had a naming ceremony. And the boys each had a Brit Milah (circumcision ceremony and naming) when they were 8 days old. Both ceremonies welcome a new Jew into 'the fold' (so to speak). We attend synagogue services almost every week.
Also - DD#1 had her Bat Mitvah this past November - shortly after turning 13. At that ceremony she became an 'adult' in the eyes of Judaism and she is now responsible for her own Jewish identity.



boogabearzmom -
Dedication is when you stand up and say that you plan to raise your child in that faith/church. It's not a 'saving' ceremony like baptism in the catholic church cleanses the child of 'original sin'. In a church where children are dedicated -it is the child's responsiblity to pray a prayer of savation when they are old/mature wnough to do so. Usually a baptism is done sometime after that point (when they are older....older child, teen, adult). But - in, for example, a catholic church where babies are baptised -- the child/adult usually goes through some type of confirmation classes/ceremony where they take certain religious responsiblities on themselves (since they had no choice to be baptised as infants).
HTH

TANNER'S MOM replied: Brittany and Justin were dedicated as babies. I bought Brittany a christening gown..just cause I thought it was beautiful and why not ...

Tanner has not been dedicated b/c we have not attended a church.

For us GodParents..are we have asked to raise our children in case something was to happen and we both died. Not about presents or anything. That is for us.

coasterqueen replied:
Ah I see. Well we are Lutheran and they follow much of the Catholic traditions especially the baptismal. Thanks for the clarification.

DansMom replied: No. We are spiritually inclined heathens.

jcc64 replied:

I LOVE that, Tracy! I never knew how to refer to myself- I'm going to adopt that one!

I found myself in the very same situation with my first born. Alec was the very 1st grandchild in my extended family, and my mother just assumed we would have him baptised in the Catholic church. Mind you, my dh practiced no religion whatsoever, and although I was raised as a non-church-going Catholic, my mother was fully aware of my views about organized religion. For her, I believe she was afraid the relatives would "talk", and that my decision would reflect negatively on our family. I found her views to be full of hypocrisy and incredibly disrespectful to the very religion she was claiming to be promoting. She knew I had no intention whatsoever of raising my child as a designated Catholic, and still she insisted I announce this before the entire church community.
I stood my ground, it caused ALOT of tension for awhile, but eventually she learned to respect my autonomy as a parent. No one, and I mean no one, has any business interfering with this very personal decision.

MyLuvBugs replied: Are your children baptized? YES. Lorelei was Baptized this summer at about 7 months old. Methodist church b/c we didn't want to have to pick God Parents. Although, Dh's sister and her fiance' seem to think that they'll get her if we die. Boy are they wrong. lol Anywho.....

If so, do you attend church? Nope. Probably should. But we attend at Christmas, sometimes at Easter and whenever we visit our parents on a weekend.

If you don't attend church, why did you decide to have your children baptized? We had Lorelei baptized to get our mothers to stop bugging us. DH's mom was asking about it EVERY time we talked to her. It was just getting really annoying, so we kinda did it to shut everyone up. We do believe that it's a good thing to be baptized, but it should be that persons choice. However, if Lorelei doesn't want to be a Methodist when she's older, then that's fine. She can be whatever she wants. With in reason... lol

MyLuvBugs replied:
Nice!

MamaJAM replied:
Anytime.

Though rereading my post...ugh - all the typos! Sorry.

fashionmumofboys replied: All three of my boys are baptized and so is DH and myself. We are both Catholic, but don't attend Church regularly like we should, because sometimes life just gets to hectic, but we really should be attending every Sunday.

mom21kid2dogs replied:
Just be aware that legally they must be named in your will to ensure your children will be raised by them. Parental death is a bad time for suprises!

Hillbilly Housewife replied: My oldest 2 are baptized - Zach at about 5 months old, and Emilie at just before 1 year. Naomie's not baptized.

We would have liked to wait until they could mke their own choice... but they don't do "dedications" where we were, and besides - you have to be baptized to go to a catholic school around here. No WAY my kids are going to a public school if there is a catholic one around....

If they want to follow that - fine - if not - that's fine too. DH's parents are REALLY into church stuff (Daughters of Isabella and Knights of Columbus) and my grandmother goes to church every few days.... so it won't be a prblem if WE can't take the kids to church...they're always happy to.

I enjoyed learning about other religions - and I've picked bits and pieces out of different ones to follow... i'm catholic - but i use birth control. jk!

mom21kid2dogs replied:
Interesting. Is that a requirement in all Catholic Schools in Canada? In the US (at least in our area) anyone can attend Catholic schools as long as they don't mind paying the extra tuition. Obviously, if class size was an issue than prefernence is given to Catholics over non Catholics. If you "claim" you're Catholic though, your children must be baptised and you must attend Mass regularly.

kimberley replied: i can tell you it is not a requirement in Toronto. local parents had that changed years ago. as long as they check the right box on their income tax (support separate school board) then you are admitted. i think it has more to do with geography than religion here anyway. if i was non-catholic, i have a better chance of getting into a catholic school across the road than i would getting into a public one 3 blocks away. perference here is given whether you live in the catchment area or not. and they do have to attend mass and take religion class but do not have to go for confession, communion etc.

ammommy replied: Our kids are Baptised, but we are (mostly) practicing Catholics. I know quite a few people who have baptised their children even though they don't follow any religion. I have asked why and have been told one of 2 things: It's easier than arguing with ______ (fill in the relatives here) or they are covering their bases just in case . Really, I've had people tell me the second one and my mouth hung open the first time I heard it. Then I started laughing.

ITA with whoever said that Godparents aren't automatically legal guardians. Make sure your guardians are listed in your will.

Hillbilly Housewife replied:
It is for us... we don't pay tuition - we pay school taxes.

But the school i want to send our kids to is private, so we'll pay for tuition - I don't know if we'll still have to pay the tax.

ETA - I just askedd h to confirm - we don't pay education tax since we "rent" and so the cost is covered by the building's owner. He says that those who pay education tax get it refunded at the end of the year if they homeschool or privately paid school.

CosmetologyMommy replied: My son is not baptised, but I was raised as a Baptist-Christian and plan to raise him like that. I am also not baptised though I want to be but in my church we believe you really should not be baptised until you accept christ as your savior.(Sorry if that offends anyone, that is just my belief) We also do not attend church because I work all day from 9-5 on sunday....though I should.....

jem0622 replied: All of our children were baptized Catholic. I don't attend regularly.

amymom replied: Both my children are baptised in Catholic ceremonies. I and they are practicing Catholics, I teach Religious Education to our 2nd grade students also first Reconciliation and First Communion students (usually one and the same students). I am also a lector and Eucharistic Minister (EOMHC really), and a newly elected member of our parish council. So I would say I am pretty active.

Old school Catholics believed that a baby would not go to heaven if she/he died before being baptized. That is not and never was a teaching of the Church, but often misunderstood, and sometimes taught and repeated by mistaken priests and teachers and parents. My mother believed that and she 'secretly' baptized my son as an emergency measure in case anything happened to him before he was baptized at 6 mos old. (All of us (her children) were baptized before they were 4 weeks old!!!)

Judy (mamajam) I am impressed with your knowledge of faiths other than your own. I have read other posts by you and you seem well educated in Religions! Very nice.

Hillbilly Housewife replied:
I would have been livid had my mother done that....

PrairieMom replied: The Boy is not baptized or dedicated. We switched churches before he was born, and haven't become members at the new church yet. (Not for lack of trying) When the new one comes we will probably do them both at the same time.
We try to attend regularly, but I work everyother weekend, so it is difficult. I'll be the first one to admit that it isn't as big of a priortiy for us as it should be.

Freckled Momma replied: We have always been Christians our entire marriage...I actually met DH on a church youth trip. And we both have been baptized and believe in God. My DH was raised in church, I was not.

As for the baptism thing...I believe it's a personal choice a person makes themselves when they are old enough and understand enough to make that decision. It's all about their own relationship with their Savior and if they are led to do that. I don't believe you have to be baptized to get to Heaven, but I do believe in being baptized for your own personal relationship with God and as a profession of that relationship to others.

After saying that...My two oldest children were "dedicated" as others have explained in previous posts...my youngest two have not been. (We left our original church shortly after having Rachel and she was never dedicated and we hadn't found a new home church when I had Nicholas...so we just never got around to doing that) We are members of a church now and are very involved.

I myself believe your choice of religion is a very personal thing and no one should choose it for you. We plan to raise our kids teaching them our beliefs, but also never forcing them to adhere to them and making sure they understand they have a free will to choose as much as anyone else does and once they hit a certain age of accountability, it's all up to them. Normally, our kids want to go to church and ask us if we are going and to please go...

ibchupacabra replied: Dylan isn;t baptized yet - probably in the next year or two

gr33n3y3z replied:
same here also
I attend church once in a while since I'm not Catholic
But Ed and the kids go every weekend Katie Alter serves and Rick and Ed teach at CCD

CAMSMOM1 replied: Freckled Momma Posted on Jan 21 2006, 10:45 AM



I couldn't agree more!

CantWait replied: I'm not a deeply religious person, nor do I attend church. Robbie is baptised, Anthony has yet to be, although I'm hoping to by this summer.

WelcomesBabies replied: I was raised Catholic, my 4 children were baptized Lutheran (Their dad's church)

But for someone who wants to baptize their children but not in formal or organized religion. Anyone can perform a baptism. You yourself can baptize your children if you want in a private, intimate home ceremony. You can say what you would like to say and baptize them your way with your own beliefs and words. I know several familes who have chosen to baptize their own children their own way.

I think this was a great post that shows the diversity of all of us!

MamaJAM replied:
Let's just say it's been an interesting path for the JAMs.