Saturday, 14 November 2009
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Advice: Baby Dedication Gifts?
One of my best friends has invited me and my husband to be present during the ceremony where she and her husband will dedicate their daughter to God. I am extremely honored that they want us to share this with them. I was talking with another friend who brought up the idea of gifts. As an "Aunt", I feel like I should do something but I'm not sure what is appropriate.
Did friends and family give gifts when your children were dedicated or baptized? What would you suggest I give or suggest I avoid?
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Comments (11)
Sorry I can't help, we didn't receive anything when our 2 children were dedicated...the church did give rattles one year and personalized blankets another year.
I mostly got money in envelopes.
we didn't get any gifts when our son was dedicated, well except that one person randomly handed us a 20 dollar bill. so i didnht know you were supposed to give gifts.
your supposed to give gifts at these now? Where have I been?
But then most baby showers I have been to as of late have been after the dedication, so its all one big day.. I don't expect anything when we dedicate our little ones.. but thats just me. The church I was dedicated in gives the family a personalized child's Bible.. I think I still have mine somewhere.
I don't know judging by the comments it seems that Dedication ceremony traditions are pretty different from Catholic baptism customs. With each of our children we received beautiful crosses for their bedrooms, chunky child rosaries, plaques commemorating the event, religious picture frames, baby Bibles, that sort of thing, and of course money.
Protestant baby dedications are MUCH different that Catholic baptism.The ceremony consists of the parents formally promising to seek God's help in raising their child, to provide a Christian home and influence for the child so that when the child is of the age of accountability, and able to make their own decision, they will have the knowledge to make the decision to accept Christ as their Lord and Savior. The church body, friends, and relatives vow to support the parents in this as well. I have never attended a dedication where gifts were given. My own two boys were dedicated in this manner and we received no physical gifts but we did receive an outpouring of love and support that enabled us to raise our boys in a Christian atmosphere. I think your presence at the ceremony and your involvement in the child's life in a positive manner would be the best gift possible.=0) Blessings to this family that is making such a positive commitment!
Money! But not just in cash form. It will be too easy for the parents to spend instead of save for their child's use. My parents whittled away "my" savings account when I was a baby because they were in debt. So purchase a bond in the child's name, say, one of those that you can buy for $30 now that will mature to $75 by the time they are 18. I still have some of these from my baptism and they are worth triple or quadruple the amount now. If you are really close to the child (say, their godmother), purchase them a life insurance policy! You will have to pay on it every year, but the upside is you will lock in today's rates for the kid's entire life (they will likely only go up from here with time), and they can borrow against it for a down payment on a home when they're older, or just keep an inexpensive life insurance policy. My grandma bought me one when I was born and I'm so thankful now!
@Monalynn@xanga - Actually you'd be surprised how UN-different what you've described wrt the ceremony it is. Catholic family, friends and community also vow to support the parents in raising the child in the faith. The family vows to see to the child's religious upbringing, yada, yada, yada until such time the child makes the choice on their own at Confirmation. Contrary to the vast body of misunderstanding and outright lies out there infant baptism is not a Catholic "haha we gotcha now" moment. The main difference, theologically, lies in the understanding of the purpose of baptism. My initial comment however was more about the cultural than the theological customs and beliefs.
Sorry possibly I am mistaken, the infant baptisms I have attended I understood to be conferring salvation to the child and a child not baptized right away would end up in limbo. Maybe this is old doctrine of the church and changes have been instituted that I was not aware of, it has been some years since I have attended a Catholic christening. Culturally it probably is not so different, theologically I understood it as very different.
I gave my goddaughter a silver baby/toddler bracelet with an "A" engraved inside a heart. (her name is annabelle) I got the bracelet at TJ Maxx and had it engraved at a jeweler for about $8. U could go to things remembered to find a similar gift, probably for cheaper than I paid. I also purchased her dress and shoes for her, but that was my choice, not an expectation.
@Monalynn@xanga - "conferring salvation" hmmm....well the old teaching was that unbaptized babies were in limbo, now the Church teaches that we simply don't know what happens to unbaptized people under the age of reason who die with the stain of original sin still on their soul. We believe in the infinite mercy of God and rely on that while acknowledging that it is presumptuous to say we know for sure. Infant baptism is not meant to "confer salvation" however, it is meant to rain down an abundance of graces on the baptized person while removing the stain of original sin. Salvation is not the Church's to give or take, it is between each person and God. Unlike what I understand Protestants to believe, baptism is not a statement of faith nor an admittance of God as saviour (for the baptized person, although presumably the parents believe this
). This kind of declaration/promise/commitment is undertaken during Confirmation. In that sense baptism IS like a dedication whereby the parents are dedicating their child to God and asking for His grace in raising their child. That's the jist of it anyway without going through the whole solo scriptura/sacred tradition discussion of baptism. 