Child Dedication is a time of public and personal commitment where parents promise to raise their children with godly principles, so that one day when they are ready and understand, they will choose to accept Christ.  Through this ceremony, parents show God, their friends, and their family that they are willing to take on the solemn responsibility of guiding their child into a relationship with God.

By participating in Child Dedication, the parents thankfully receive their child as a gift from God as stated in Psalm 127:3, not only are they dedicating the life of their child for God's purposes, but they are making a promise before God to dedicate their own lives toward that end.

Parent & Child Dedications are held bi-annually each year on Mother's Day and the second Sunday in November.  Supplementary dedication services may be scheduled as needed.

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Questions About Parent & Child Dedication

How is dedication different from baptism?

Child Dedication is not a sacrament, nor is it a declaration of a child's faith.  Rather, it is a commitment that parents are making.  Some churches offer baptism for infants.  At St. John, we don't baptize infants because every baptism recorded in the Bible occurred when someone was old enough to make a faith decision.

Does dedicating my child mean he or she will be "saved"?

Similar to the belief here at St. John about baptism, dedication is simply a public declaration of an internal decision - in this case, the decision is to raise a child in a way that will guide him or her into a relationship with God.  Dedication does not impart grace or salvation.  The Bible is clear that we are saved by God's grace, not by dedication, baptism, or our own works.  Dedication and baptism are not salvation;  Christ's blood on the cross is really what washes away sins and pays our debt.

If it doesn't lead to salvation, why is infant baptism so widely practiced?

Infant baptism became popular about 400 years after the birth of the Christian church, when Augustine developed the theology of "original sin."  In a nutshell, this idea means that when children are born, they are not only sinners, but God holds them accountable for their sins.  If an infant died, Augustine believed that God would hold that child separate from the Lord for all of eternity unless the child was saved (through the sacrament of Holy Baptism).  Given that the infant mortality rate was high in those days, the practice of infant baptism caught on fast.  St. John holds to the implied Bible teaching that there's an age of understanding when people are mature enought to grasp a faith decision for themselves.  Only God truly knows that age and it may differ for each child.  If kids happen to pass before that time, we believe they're going to heaven.

We believe that children belong first and foremost to God.  We not only have an awesome responsibility to care for this gift, but also enjoy this gift.  As the Bible says in Psalm 127:3, "Children are a gift from the Lord;  they are a reward from him."  This gift is a given to parents by grace, so it is only proper that they be dedicated back to Him.

Hudson Oliver Phillips, March 9th, 2008

Request to Dedicate a Child

Child's Last Name

Child's First Name

Child's Middle Name

Child's Birth Date

Parent's Name 

Home Telephone

E-mail

Service TimeChoose8:30 AM11:00 AM

Questions: