Christening....which religion.....

lazer

As far I believe a RC christening is for 3 purposes
1) To absolve the child of the original sin
2) For the parents to promise to bring the child up in the faith
3) To welcome the child into the catholic community

I would have though all catholics would welcome any child to be baptised so as to absolve them from the original sin they were born with regardless of whether or not the parents continue to bring the child up in the religion?

I am a practising catholic, and do attend church regularly, and am actually delighted if I hear of an otherwise non religious couple deciding to get married in teh church, have their child baptised, going to mass for the nice Christmas service or whatever it may be.

We should welcome everyone into Religion, and not pick and choose what children are welcome and what children aren't.

As a quick aside, we had a parish priest who incomed the people who came late to mass that they should not bother to come at all, as if they can't be bothered to give an hour on a sunday to God, they should not be bothered with Religion. This did not go down well the local community and other priests, as the view of the majority is that it is brilliant to get people to the chapel at all, even if they do not arrive in time to hear the full service. No-one should ever be turned away from a church or chapel - it is there for all, and we should welcome everyone into the parish community.

If a couple I know decided to have their child christened, I would be happy, as this is taking the first step in bringing religion back into there own lives, Many people who let their own religion lapse, often find it surfaces again when they have a child!

Xaniwoop

I would just start going to the church you want to go to and take it from there

this sounds like the best idea to me, then you can explore the different aspects of faith at your own pace and if you decide to baptise at the end then you will do it with a whole church community welcoming your baby.

You could look at something like an Alpha course to explore the central beliefs of Christianity - they are very accessible and involve lots of discussion and usually a meal. If you google it you should find one near you. Although given you are due in a week I'd look at finding a church toddler group, they are usually run by members of the church who would be happy to chat informally about their faith and their church over a cuppa

Plans_all_plans

Evidently people got the wrong end of the stick from your OP!

We have recently had a new family come to our parish after a bereavement: the children were baptised and the parents confirmed. It was lovely to see them all. A bereavement it is the sort of event that can lead people back to the Church and the Priest will have had other families coming back after similar events.

I think that if you approached your Parish Priest saying all that you've said here and let them know that you are searching for God, then they will be able to help you decide where to go from here.

Best of luck in your journey!

emg

Someone else mentioned using a registrar to do a naming ceremony. My 'god-daughter' had a naming ceremony in a registry office which was really nice. The parents read a poem and made promises about how they would bring up the child and then the 'god-parents' made promises as 'responsible adults' to look out for her, give her guidance, etc (parents had a long list to choose the promises they liked from). It wasnt at all religious (as the family arent) but felt like an official welcome and also meant that me and the other 'godparents' could be identified as special people in the baby's life without making false promises in a church. It seemed to appease the older family members too as they were getting a formal ceremony.

sunnyone

I havnt read all the replies (the baby is interfereing with the lappy) but I was in a quandry as to what to do when my kids were small and the answer was to have them chrisened in an ecumenical service, my dad was catholic, my mum was CofE and I went to services with both sides of my family so having my kids baptised ecumenically worked really well for us and they can choose their own religion (or not) when they are old enough too.

The chosen next parents (god parents) agreed to be their for the kids no matter what, especially if anything happened to us.

garthdp

If you want to get all religioned up, go ahead, it is your choice.Let the kid grow up, give him/her the freedom and facts about religion and let him/her decide.The Vatican decided that limbo doesnt exist any more so there is no problem really.

dawn_rose

Hiya im a c of e. In our church we have a thanks giving service first to see if the parents want to go to the extent of a christening then there is the meeting afterwards where they ask you again. Many people get their child christened for non reasons (i.e the jolly afterwards) rather than wanting them to have a christian path to follow along with their parent. Usually they say they take the mothers religion.
It does matter which you choose as although all christian they dont all accept each others chritenings for marriage confirmation. e.g. a baptist child could not recieve a christian burial. A child born of a c of e marriage would be pointless baptised as rc because the parents marriae wouldnt be recogninsed. By christing in any religion you are declaring to guide alongside your child in that faith. Id use that to make your decision.

meritaten

lizzywig wrote: »

Wow what a lot of different opinions, I do really appreciate your time to give me your thoughts. I've probably actually come across as really stupid or shallow or doing it for all the wrong reasons. There is more to it than just that. I feel that our family history's are entwined in religion but that I have never taken the time to truely understand it. All of my uncles were choir boys being that they grew up in the church and all of my husbands family have been deeply involved in the church. We want to become a part of that and we want to understand more about our heritage. I am the first person to admit that I'm hugely ignorant when it comes to religion but surely that does not mean I'm not allowed to become involved. I thought all religions welcomed people in if you wanted to make a commitment?

Interestingly my own parents have never once forced religion on me and my husbands parents didn't force religion on him - it's their parents, along with our Aunts & Uncles who have been the deeply relgious ones. Although we would want to raise our child as a christian we would never force it upon them, we would listen to them and let them make their own decisions. If that is not suitable enough for any religion and they would want us to force our child to believe then we wouldn't agree with that.

Up until about 3 years ago I didn't believe in God at all, although I did always say I thought there was something out there. However three years ago this December my husbands mother died, she died very tragically after going missing for a week she was found dead in a field. This was a very traumatic time and after various 'coincidences' (some people might call them) happening we started to feel like she was watching over us. We've started to feel more like there is someone out there watching over us. So yes I want to honour my grandmother, but it's more than that, it's about understanding more about our heritage, it's about the fact that we're getting older and asking more questions about things in life and it's about starting to believe in something greater than us.

I would never in a million years ever force anyone to believe something that they didn't want to, neither would my husband. We just don't know where to start, this is very new to us and with families of differing opinions it's not so easy to talk to them about it, hence asking for people's opinions here but perhaps it's too much of a taboo topic.

Thanks for explaining all this, but it doesnt change what I think.

my view is that perhaps you SHOULD start exploring religion! most churches dont mind strangers coming in for their service and if the vicar/priest or whatever asks - you can always tell the truth and say you are searching for a religion with meaning to YOU!

I do actually enjoy going to different denomination churches for Weddings, funerals, christenings etc. I hope I havent given the impression that I NEVER set foot in a Christian church.- I may not believe their Truth, but it really is interesting and I have enjoyed many of them immensely.
why not take your time and go to some different services - you never know which one will resonate with you.

laurel7172

I hadn't completely lost my faith when I had my children baptised, but I was heading that way. However, I felt that to have a true choice my children had to experience religion at first hand. So we went to the tots' Sunday school (actually, it was on a Wednesday), and the family services and talked about Jesus as if I believed he actually existed. I now have two soundly moral teenagers who have decided for themselves that Christianity doesn't add up-I don't suppose it helps that most of the bullies and thieves they've ever met have come from religious families. But they had knowledge and experience of Christianity and I don't regret giving them that choice.

mumps

*max* wrote: »

Yes...Unless they are commited to a particular faith, having their kids baptised so they can then get into a "nice" school is awful, and shameful. It's showing disrespect to the people who actually believe in that religion, and are welcoming them in good faith. It's using perks they are not entitled to to their own selfish ends, basically (a nice school, a nice party, a sense of belonging?) - while making a mockery of the system providing those perks.

And I'm a complete atheist. It's about respect, really.

I don't think Kay Peel said it was a nice school, just that it was the local RC school. As a Catholic I don't think it is disrespectful to me. We welcome the babies who are baptised and I know our local Parish Priest would welcome the OP and her baby if she came to our church.