"Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb a reward." - Psalm 127:3
Child Dedications are a wonderful, voluntary celebration involving the child, their parent(s) and the church family.
Firstly, we celebrate the gift of the child and all their unique characteristics. Secondly, we celebrate the parents desire for their child’s future and their willingness to encourage the child towards their own personal faith in Jesus. Thirdly, the church family offers their support and prayer to encourage the parent(s) in their responsibilities and to share the role of encouraging and shaping the child’s faith.
Importantly, we believe Child Dedications are a voluntary act of faith by the parents on the child’s behalf, not a ritual that creates faith in the child. This is a critical distinction as Christian faith is always expressed both voluntarily and personally, not on behalf of others. So while parents cannot choose their child’s faith for them, they can guide them towards their own faith.
The Bible teaches that parent have a role to play in not just their child’s development physically, but also spiritually. This critical spiritual role is captured in Jesus’ prayer in the gospel of John chapter 17 verse 26, “I made known to them your name, and I will continue to make it known, that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them.” Parents can likewise seek to “make Jesus known” to their child in the hope that they too can experience God’s love in-dwelling them through their own future faith. This involves not simply teaching their children the truth of God and his ways, but personally modelling his love and character to them in each season of life.
These are mammoth tasks that parents shouldn’t have to aim for on their own - hence why we encourage sharing this moment of dedication together with the whole church family!
Child Dedications in the Bible
Given the history of Child Dedications mentioned in the Bible, many Christians are keen to do the same. However, the dedications in the Bible tend to be ritualistic and tightly rooted in the Jewish, pre-Jesus faith and culture.
Two great examples of this ritual for Jewish parents are Samuel and Jesus. Hannah dedicated her son Samuel to God and then gave him as a child to work in the temple (see 1st Samuel). Jesus’ parents, Mary & Joseph, presented him at the temple at 40 days of age for redemption back into the family (Gospel of Luke).
While much of the intent may be the same, as non-Jewish followers of Jesus, Child Dedications are not a cultural ritual but a celebration of the life God has given and a commitment to nurture and encourage the child towards their own personal faith in Jesus. As in all aspects of Christian faith, there is freedom to shape a celebration that reflects parents understanding of the Bible, life, family and faith.
Dedication Scriptures
1 Samuel 1:11, 27-28 Hannah and Samuel
'1 I will give him to the Lord all the days of his life...27 For this child I prayed, and the Lord has granted me my petition that I made to him. 28 Therefore I have lent him to the Lord. As long as he lives, he is lent to the Lord.' And he worshiped the Lord there.
Luke 2:22-24
22 And when the time came for their purification according to the Law of Moses, they brought him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord 23 (as it is written in the Law of the Lord, "Every male who first opens the womb shall be called holy to the Lord") 24 and to offer a sacrifice according to what is said in the Law of the Lord, "a pair of turtledoves, or two young pigeons."
Numbers 18:15-16
“Everything that opens the womb of all flesh, whether man or beast, which they offer to the Lord, shall be yours. Nevertheless, the firstborn of man you shall redeem, and the firstborn of unclean animals you shall redeem. And their redemption price (at a month old you shall redeem them) you shall fix at five shekels in silver, according to the shekel of the sanctuary, which is twenty gerahs.”
Leviticus 12:2-8
“"Speak to the people of Israel, saying, If a woman conceives and bears a male child, then she shall be unclean seven days. As at the time of her menstruation, she shall be unclean. And on the eighth day the flesh of his foreskin shall be circumcised. Then she shall continue for thirty-three days in the blood of her purifying. She shall not touch anything holy, nor come into the sanctuary, until the days of her purifying are completed. But if she bears a female child, then she shall be unclean two weeks, as in her menstruation. And she shall continue in the blood of her purifying for sixty-six days. "And when the days of her purifying are completed, whether for a son or for a daughter, she shall bring to the priest at the entrance of the tent of meeting a lamb a year old for a burnt offering, and a pigeon or a turtledove for a sin offering, and he shall offer it before the Lord and make atonement for her. Then she shall be clean from the flow of her blood. This is the law for her who bears a child, either male or female. And if she cannot afford a lamb, then she shall take two turtledoves or two pigeons, one for a burnt offering and the other for a sin offering. And the priest shall make atonement for her, and she shall be clean."”
A Prayer of Faith
Numbers 6:24-27
“The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace. "
Parental Responsibility Scriptures
Deuteronomy 6:4-9
4 "Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. 5 You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. 6 And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. 7You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. 8 You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. 9You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.
Proverbs 1:7-9
7 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction. 8 Hear, my son, your father's instruction, and forsake not your mother's teaching, 9 for they are a graceful garland for your head and pendants for your neck.
Proverbs 6:20
20 My son, keep your father's commandment, and forsake not your mother's teaching.
Proverbs 17:6
6 Grandchildren are the crown of the aged, and the glory of children is their fathers.
Proverbs 22:6
6 Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it.
Ephesians 6:1-4
1 Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. 2 "Honor your father and mother" (this is the first commandment with a promise), 3 "that it may go well with you and that you may live long in the land." 4 Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.
God’s love for children
Matthew 18:1-6, 10-14
18 At that time the disciples came to Jesus, saying, “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” 2 And calling to him a child, he put him in the midst of them 3 and said, “Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. 4 Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. 5 “Whoever receives one such child in my name receives me, 6 but whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a great millstone fastened around his neck and to be drowned in the depth of the sea.
10 “See that you do not despise one of these little ones. For I tell you that in heaven their angels always see the face of my Father who is in heaven. 12 What do you think? If a man has a hundred sheep, and one of them has gone astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountains and go in search of the one that went astray? 13 And if he finds it, truly, I say to you, he rejoices over it more than over the ninety-nine that never went astray. 14 So it is not the will of my Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish.
John 17:9, 20, 26, “High Priestly Prayer”
In this chapter of the Gospel of John, Jesus is praying for those who “will believe in me through their [disciples] word”. He prays, “...that the love with which ou have loved me [Jesus] may be in them, and I [Jesus] in them.” We thus encourage each other to pray for our children who will come to know God through the faith we model and champion.
9 I am praying for them. I am not praying for the world but for those whom you have given me, for they are yours….20 “I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, 21 that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me…26 I made known to them your name, and I will continue to make it known, that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them.”
Dedication Details
If you've organised a Child Dedication, this form helps us know how to make it wonderful :)