CHILD DEDICATION SERVICE
USED BY THE REVERENDS CARL AND MAUREEN THITCHENER
OPENING WORDS
Choice 1
Naked into the world we came, Naked of mind and spirit and body, Waving our tiny arms in the bright confusion Of this strange world and this strange life.
Helpless we come, without food or clothing, Without maps or knowledge, Without language to ask our way to whatever Unknown destination may lie before us.
With no armor, with no guilt, In innocence, unknowing, we trustfully set forth.
Who will take our hands and lead us? Who will make sandals for our tender feet? Who will draw forth our smiles with a smile?
Who will teach us to love with their love? Who will teach us to speak with the words of their mouth? Who will teach us right by their rightness? Who will show us the truth through their truthfulness? Who will lead us to do justly through their justice?
To you parents is given the awesome privilege to be the givers and shapers of a growing person. And to (this congregation-or godparents) is given the privilege and responsibility to share the concern for his/her growth and religious nurture. Before us is the challenge of a questioning mind, the unfolding wonder of selfhood and the response to the world and other persons. Can we respond to that challenge with the best that is in us, seeking not to make (our children) like us, but rather to help them find themselves and their own ways?
Choice 2
From the beginning of time, men and women have brought their children to the Houses of worship for dedication. In the presence of the congregation, the child is given a name, and the parents, declare their responsibility for their child.
We come to a house of worship out of reverence for the mystery of life that we have seen in the miracle of reproduction and birth. We acknowledge the mystery of the power that is in us and works through us, and we are humble before that mystery.
We give the child a name in this ceremony. In this act we declare that the child is an individual, a unique and separate person with a dignity and life of his or her own. Our children come from us, but they are not ours. They are themselves, individuals. In giving this child a name we declare that we will respect her as herself, (him as himself) and give her/him the freedom to grow. We perform this ceremony publicly to declare that we as, parents, or as a specially appointed caretaker ( caretakers) by the parents, and all of us as representatives of society, are responsible for the care and development of all children. It is our task to give them a world of peace and justice in which to grow. It is our task to share with them our ideals and our hopes. By presenting your child here, today, you the parents, acknowledge that the child is more than a private possession, but is a new being in which we all have a responsibility, and whom we all welcome to the community.
Choice 3
Behold the child, the visitor. He/she has come from nowhere, for he/she was not before this, and it is nowhere that he/she goes, wherefore he/she is called a visitor, for the visitor is one who comes from the unknown to stay but awhile and then to the unknown passes on again.
The child has come forth out of the great womb of the earth. The child has come forth to stand with star dust in his/her hair, with the rush of planets in his/her blood, his/her heart beating out the seasons of eternity, with a shining in his/her eyes like the sunlight, with hands to shape with that same force that shaped him/her out of the raw dust of the universe. When one baby is born it is the symbol of all birth and life, and therefore all people must rejoice and smile, and all must lose their hearts to a child.
Choice 4
And so the children come. And so they have been coming. Always in the same way they come - Born of the seed of man and woman. No angels herald their beginnings. No prophets predict their future courses, No wise men see a star to point their way To find the babe that may save humankind.
Yet each night a child is born is a holy night. Fathers and mothers - Sitting beside their children's cribs - Feel glory in the wondrous sight of a life beginning. They ask: "When or how will this new life end? Or will it ever end?" Each night a child is born is a holy night.
READING
Choice 1
We are your children. Out of the infinite we have come to you, and through you. We are the old, yet ever new, miracle of incarnation.
Give us a chance to grow, within the warmth of your unfailing love, into souls sensitive to beauty, hearts open to love and hungry for the imperishable values of life. Do not shrink and wither us with fear, but quicken with faith the springs of courage within us.
Enter with us, through the gates of wonders, into the wider perspective of the morrow. Accept us, as we grow, into a community of mutual respect and shared responsibilities, that we, in our turn may be worthy fathers and mothers of the coming generation.
Choice 2
When I came to birth I found the universe awaiting me. Here it was with all its splendid and its awe-inspiring aspects, its beauty and its bounty, ready to give the new-born baby whatever he or she might be able to acquire with such measure of courage, strength, and wisdom a person can attain.
I had done nothing to prepare it for my advent and, when I emerged into conscious life from the depths of the mysterious, I was under the necessity of taking it as I found it, and of adjusting myself as rapidly as I was able to the terms which it imposed for my well-being.
The persons who took any notice of the arrival of another baby were few, but in my parents' house there was rejoicing and, for their sakes, kinsfolk and friends showed an affectionate interest in the little child. From the moment of my earliest cry I was surrounded with love which ministered to my needs, and with high ideals of life and faith to guide my growth in mind and spirit. These were my guardian angels.
Choice 3
For the gift of childhood, whose innocence and laughter keep the world young, we all rejoice and give thanks. May this precious life, which we have accepted into our community of ideals and friendship, receive abundantly the blessings of health, love, knowledge, and wisdom, and in its turn give back richly to the common heritage that endures from generation to generation.
Choice 4
In coming here today asking to have this child dedicated, you offer the dedication of yourselves for his/her fullest development in every possible way. And in seeking for this child the blessing of our free faith and of the universal church, you pledge to guide him/her, to the best of your ability, toward a love of truth and the dream of peace and justice.
By your teaching and example you would help this new person be reverent and strong, and equal to the tasks and temptations that confront the complete person.
This child is the wonderful re-creation of life, and your presence here with him/her, indicates your desire to make life as fulfilling as it can be. Let this ceremony, then, be for you a symbol of your gratitude for this new life entrusted to your care, and of your resolution.
Choice 5
The coming of a child into the family circle widens its dimension far beyond the simple addition of another member.
It brings the miracle of a new personality struggling for its own fulfillment. Therefore, it is quite natural for us to be thrilled at the sight of new births.
However, as the years pass it is too easy for us to take our children for granted. Whatever their ages they deserve the tender love and firm guidance, which only we as parents, teachers, and friends can give.
Moreover, these children have a right to a faith in themselves, in the story of humankind, in their particular heritage, and in the vast universe-home which is theirs.
It is to symbolize these possibilities and responsibilities that we bring this child to this ceremony. It is to symbolize the hope in each new child that we are here taking part in this ceremony. May this child and this community be enriched by and through each other.
Choice 6
A child is a person, but also the person who shall be. The child becomes the person as he/she is bounded by sensations, the warmth of food, and most importantly the warmth of love.
A child is the potential of the person who shall be, the flower whose unfolding takes place under the careful tutelage and shelter of love.
And upon each of us, parents, sponsors, teachers, community rests the obligation for this love. Love freely, love wisely, that the child may grow strong and straight into creative maturity. Love freely, love wisely, that the child may grow happily into manhood or womanhood. Love freely, love wisely, that the child may become. That the child may have strength and faith in its own resources to have a fulfilling life. That the child may be all that lies within it, and in the life that lies ahead be at peace with oneself.
Love with understanding, knowing that within each child is you and me and all humankind.
Choice 7
Let our children learn to be honest, both with themselves and with all others. This is the basic human value. In its simplest terms, it is the capacity to distinguish clearly between what is and what is not, and thus to deal effectually with reality.
Let our children learn to love truth. No matter whence it comes, so it be truth let them freely accept it, even when it goes against them. wherever truth can enter, prejudice cannot long remain. Moreover, by fidelity to truth the mind is nourished and becomes well grown.
Let our children find courage and discover that they are stronger than the things of which they are afraid. Courage in our dealings with our own lives, courage in speaking out for the right, in condemning injustice, in standing for good against evil, courage to remain loyal to a deep conviction at whatever cost.
Let our children cultivate breadth of humanity; a cordial welcome not merely for the factional, the provincial, the sectarian when they are good, but for whatever is beneficial to the human race no matter whence it comes.
Let our children cultivate kindness, for it does not often come without cultivation, and it is needed; the world is too harsh.
Let our children cultivate humility. Let our children learn that they are like other people, even the people they tend to despise; and that there is good and bad in all of us, and that each of us must make a hard struggle to bring the good out on top. Then, because of their own lost battles, they will acquire a gentle wisdom and walk softly where other people might get hurt.
NAMING CEREMONY
Choice 1
(TO PARENTS:) Name this child.
(PARENTS:) State child's full name
"NAME", we consecrate you to the church universal and to the guarding love and care of this congregation. Nameless you came into the world, but now you are known as.... "NAME"
May you live your life so that people may look upon this name and find it good.
"NAME", This flower is a symbol of unfolding life. May your growth be such that your being will freely unfold to the fellowship of all people all the potentialities within you.
Choice 2
(TO PARENTS:) Name this Child
(PARENTS) State child's full name
"NAME" We dedicate you the church universal.
We use a flower and water-----time-honored symbols in this ceremony. We affirm that water is the origin of all things, the basic stuff of the universe. The flower affirms the uniqueness of this life, and the promises inherent in it. Together they remind us of the beauty and wonder and freshness of life. We dedicate ourselves to the task of nourishing the beauty and wonder and freshness of this child, and all children
Choice 3
(TO PARENTS) "Name this child"
(PARENTS) State child's full name
"NAME" We have come here to welcome you in love, a new member of the human community. By this name you will be known. This name will always be unique to you no matter how many other persons have worn it. For whatever good or evil this name comes to stand, that you will have given unto it by the life you have lived. It is our hope that you will wear this name in honor and in peace, and in courage. It is our hope that humankind shall look upon this name and call it blessed.
Choice 4
(TO PARENTS) Name this child
(PARENTS) State full name
In our service of dedication we give the child a flower. The flower symbolizes the beauty of life. It also symbolizes the meaning of your dedication. Whether a flower is beautiful or not; whether it comes into full bloom or not; whether it fulfills itself as a flower or not - depends upon the nurture it receives. No flower grows alone, apart from the sunshine and the rain, apart from the soil in which it lives. So, too, no child grows alone.
May the flower then be a reminder of the beauty of fulfillment, and the reward which comes from love and understanding, from teaching and example.
NAME, We welcome you into the fellowship of life, and dedicate you to the service of freedom and righteousness and of love. May your life be rich in vision, full in accomplishment, and afire with the highest of ideals.
CLOSING WORDS
Choice 1
Your children are not your children. They are the sons and daughters of Life's longing for itself. They come through you but not from you, And though they are with you yet they belong not to you. You may give them your love but not your thoughts, For they have their own thoughts, You may house their bodies but not their souls, For their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow, which you cannot visit, not even in your dreams. You may strive to be like them, but seek not to make them like you. For life goes not backward nor tarries with yesterday. You are the bows from which your children as living arrows are sent forth. The archer sees the mark upon the path of the infinite, and he bends you with his might that his arrows may go swift and far. Let your bending in the archer's hand be for gladness; For even as he loves the arrow that flies, so he loves also the bow that is stable.
Choice 2
We are your children. Out of the infinite we have come to you, and through you. We are the old, yet ever new, miracle of incarnation. Give us a chance to grow, within the warmth of your unfailing love, into souls sensitive to beauty, hearts open to love and hungry for the imperishable values of life. Do not shrink and wither us with fear, but quicken with faith the springs of courage within us.
Enter with us, through the gates of wonder, into the wider perspective of the morrow. Accept us, as we grow, into a fellowship of mutual respect and shared responsibilities, that we, in our turn may be worthy fathers and mothers of the coming generation.
Choice 3
By this service of dedication we have named this child and welcomed him/her into the family of humankind. Over and above the meanings that our act may have given is the universal recognition of the awe and wonder of the new parents at the life they have jointly created out of their love for each other; there is a feeling of obligation to be worthy of the gift of this new life; and in the act of presenting the child before the parents' religious fellowship, there is a symbolic acceptance of the child into the larger society.
Water, candle, oil, or rose -- what we have done is to affirm that it is good to live, and that the gift of life is a good gift.
We are saying our pleasure in the sun that warms our body, the wind that invigorates us, the rain that refreshes us. We are saying our rapture in the ennoblements of love, the catharsis of creating, the joys in the simple gestures of our everyday living. And as we do, we take into our arms that which is loved, and "by the articulate breath," imprint a name upon the waiting future.
Choice 4
For the gift of childhood, whose innocence and laughter keep the world young, we all rejoice and give thanks. May this life which we have accepted into our community of ideals and friendship, receive abundantly the blessings of health, love, knowledge, and wisdom, and in turn give back richly to the common heritage that endures from generation to generation.
Choice 5
We who now live are parts of a humanity that extends into the remote past, a humanity that has interacted with nature. The things in civilization we most prize are not of ourselves.They exist by grace of the doings and sufferings of the continuous human community in which we are a link. Ours is the responsibility of conserving, transmitting, rectifying, and expanding the heritage of values we have received that those who come after us may receive it more solid and secure, more widely accessible, and more generously shared than we have received it.