A Day to Celebrate

Yesterday was Eli's Parent Child Dedication Ceremony at our church. For those of you who are unfamiliar with the concept of a "baby dedication" (you're not the only one, trust me!), let me explain... Unlike a christening or a baptism, there is no water involved in a dedication ceremony. In our church, we practice Believers' Baptism as a symbolic and public display of one's personal decision to accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. Obviously, babies cannot make a personal decision about their faith, so we don't baptize them. We also baptize by full immersion (and we can't just go around dunking babies under water!), to symbolize a kind of death to self and "re-birth" in Christ. It is purely symbolic - baptism doesn't "get you into Heaven" or anything like that - so our baptisms aren't motivated by any belief that we are protecting our children from a less-than-Heavenly fate in the afterlife. We make this public display to declare our new faith out loud, and so that our Church family can stand with us in celebration of this decision and be there to guide us as we begin a new walk with Christ. Purely symbolic, but a very important moment in the life of any Christian. And as a disclaimer, please understand that I don't mean to diminish the beliefs or practices of the other sects of Christianity - only to explain the underpinnings of the practice of baby dedication in our Church.

The term "dedication" refers to our promise to dedicate ourselves to raising our child in a Biblical fashion, in the Church. We make a promise to live out our faith for our children to see, setting a Biblical example for them to follow as we prayerfully lead them toward personal faith in Christ. It is (hopefully) a prelude to a future baptism, when our children are old enough to make the decision for themselves. Friends and family join us in solidarity and support of this endeavor, also promising to set a Godly example. The entire Church also takes a similar vow. It is a community effort, raising a child to love the Lord, and the Parent Child Dedication Ceremony recognizes that. It is usually referred to as a "Parent Child Dedication" (versus "baby dedication") because it represents a promise that parents are making to their children, and the dedication of that parent-child relationship to the Lord with the support of the Church family. The term also serves to make it inclusive of children of all ages - it's never too late to "dedicate" your children, and many families dedicate several children at once.

It was an early day - we had to be there at about 9:15 to have a professional family portrait taken (professional photography services were donated by a church member) and get settled in. In my humble opinion, 9:15am is far too early to be anywhere with a small child (or many small children), particularly when you're supposed to be looking your best! But we made it, nonetheless. We had lots of family and friends in attendance to share the occasion with us, and after the ceremony we enjoyed a reception at the Church and then had everyone back to our house to socialize and celebrate a little more! Eli was (of course) dashing in his plaid button-down and sweater vest, and behaved like the true angel that he is (most of the time). He was practically falling asleep when we were up on stage, and promptly passed out once our part was finished :)

Without further ado, I give you the photos...

Our family loves nothing more than a reason to get together and celebrate!