Baptism meeting with father

Lucy_Lastic

I have a friend who has been asked to be a Godmother and her husband a Godfather. When I said, do the childs parents realise you don't believe in God, she said "Oh yes, they are aware of that and as far as I know they don't either"!
I really don't see the point, but I suppose this happens a lot. Surely there are non religious services/ceremonies that they could opt for? It seems they only want to have a baby naming party.

I would be interested in how these people answer the vicar's/father's questions.

GobbledyGook

It's a bit odd to assume that someone isn't a regular church goer just because they don't know what will happen at those kind of meetings.

Presumably only people with older children or those with close family children would really know how they go as they are not part of regular church services?

tea_lover

GobbledyGook wrote: »

It's a bit odd to assume that someone isn't a regular church goer just because they don't know what will happen at those kind of meetings.

Presumably only people with older children or those with close family children would really know how they go as they are not part of regular church services?

I've got no children and have never been to one of these meetings but could have a pretty good guess at the kind of things that are likely to be discussed, based on knowing the baptism service. I would think it odd for a regular churchgoer to be completely stumped about what would be talked about.

Free_Spirit_31

I notice that it is a bit of a trend where parents go through these religious ceremonies so that the kids will be admitted into 'decent' schools

Savvy_Sue

seashore22 wrote: »

Is this a Catholic church? I only ask because I didn't think vicars in the Church of England call themselves father.

Whether it is Anglican or Catholic probably makes a difference to posters responses.

Some Anglican priests like to be called Father (and some Catholic ones aren't fussed).

The baptismal service is quite similar.

bluenoseam

fabforty wrote: »

Although this is strictly true, some churches seem to accept that some parents want their children to be christened but have no intention of following through on these promises.
As a regular church-goer, I have witnessed many christenings where neither the parents or the children were seen at church before (or perhaps just once) or ever seen at church again. I attend Anglican and Pentecostal churches and although this often happens at the Anglican church it never happens at the Pentecostal - so perhaps it depends on the church.

Some churches do, but given the terminology I'm going to guess that the church involved may be that of a Catholic persuasion whereby they're BIG into it being for real.

OP - just expect things like "are you a believer?" and "are you willing to show your child the path of faith?" sort of questions. My guess is he'll be used to people who do it because it's the done thing but will most likely try to impress upon you the meaning of a baptism. I'm from a Church background so it's perhaps my upbringing but a Christening/Baptism isn't something to be taken lightly & for the sake of it.

Alchemilla

In my limited knowledge it seems that questioning will depend on the church and the individual, ranging from making sure you know where to stand when to searching questions about faith.

Nothing to stress about though and how lovely the baby is to be baptised.

notanewuser

Alchemilla wrote: »

In my limited knowledge it seems that questioning will depend on the church and the individual, ranging from making sure you know where to stand when to searching questions about faith.

Nothing to stress about though and how lovely the baby is to be baptised.

What an odd thing to say!

onomatopoeia99

Free_Spirit_31 wrote: »

I notice that it is a bit of a trend where parents go through these religious ceremonies so that the kids will be admitted into 'decent' schools

I was baptised when I was 4 (over 40 years ago, just) so I could be sent to the RC infants school. Consequently I also took first communion and was confirmed, as both were part of the school syllabus, rather than out of any beliefs held by me or my parents.

I am an atheist. I already knew that when I was 12 and going through the confirmation classes at school, but there was no opt-out.

I have an enduring antipathy for the involvement of any kind of organised religion in the state education system as a consequence of my experiences.

TBagpuss

I agree that the issue of whether the church is Catholico r Protestant is a fairly big one. In the Catholic ceremeny the promises include "accepting the responsibility of bringing [child] up in the practices of the faith" which does imply things such as attending mass.

In the Cof E ceremony you promise (on the child's behalf) to reject the devil,(at least for now - they are changing that bit) and to sumbmit to Christ, but there is no formal promise about practices of the faith , although there are prayers about the 'christian community' so it would be perfectly possible to chose to have your children baptised in the CofE even if your faith does not include attending church on a regular basis.

I agree that if you have no intention of practising any kind of christian faith then it would be inappropriate to arrange for baptism.

If you are talking about a Catholic church then you may well get specific questions about *how* you are going to ensure that they are brought up in the faith - . In either case you may have questions about who the godparents are, how many of them there are, whether they are practising christians etc.