“Anyone who welcomes a little child like this on My behalf welcomes Me, and anyone who welcomes Me welcomes not only Me but also My Father who sent Me.”
Mark 9:37
Interested in Baby Dedication?
If you are thinking about having your child dedicated, please let us know so that we can contact you and start to plan for your celebration!
To request a baby dedication, or to be contacted, please fill out the form below.
What is baby dedication?
Dedicating a child acknowledges God’s sovereignty not only over the child, but also Mom and Dad. Parents present their child before God and His people, asking for grace and wisdom in carrying out their responsibilities. Parents also come praying that their child might one day personally trust Jesus Christ as Savior for the forgiveness of sin. Because dedicating a child is committing them to the Lord and the care of the church, the parents need to have made a commitment to Christ before dedicating the child.
At Grace, we believe it is God’s desire that believing parents create homes where God is honored and glorified and where they model love and faith in Jesus Christ. The family is the key place where a child learns and develops their understanding of God and His love. They learn this through the modeling and teaching of their mom and dad.
It is our desire that church would be a second family to help develop our children's faith. Church is a place where adults and kids gather to live out common faith and values with a common dedication to the salvation of our children. It is the church’s responsibility to come alongside the parents and support them in the spiritual nurture of their children.
Dedicating your child to God is a public sign that you are seeking to bring your children up in the ways of Christ, and as a community we stand with you in that passion.
What to expect
On the Sunday of your child’s dedication, bring your child into the service with you rather than taking them to children’s ministry.
As a part of the worship service, the pastor will invite all of the family members participating to come to the front of the sanctuary. The pastor will introduce the dedication time and share with the parents, family members and congregation a word about the commitment involved.
The father or mother will have a brief opportunity to share what Grace Community Church and this opportunity means to them personally, before the pastor prays a blessing over the child.
Each child will receive a Certificate of Dedication as a reminder of this special day.
If you wish to have a family member photograph or video record the dedication, you are free to do so as long as it is not disruptive.
What dedication is not
Baby dedication is not baptism. It is not a sacrament. It does not impart salvation to the child.
The baby dedication service is a confirmation between the parents and the church to raise the child in a godly way so that when the child is old enough, he or she will be prepared to make the decision about salvation.
What about infant baptism?
One distinctive mark of the Evangelical Covenant Church is that it has refused to be divided over differences in baptismal theology. It honors and serves both those with a theological preference for infant baptism and those with a theological preference for “believer” baptism.
Although Grace favors infant dedication and saving the waters of baptism for when the child professes his/her own faith in Jesus, we do not restrict either practice. Rather our calling is to encourage you to earnestly search the Scriptures for guidance and to seek the Spirit for direction on how to personally believe and act.
