What is Child Dedication?
Child Dedication is a service where parents publicly commit to raising their child in a Christian home and guiding them toward a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. It is an act of dedication made before God, your church, and your family, indicating your cooperation with the Holy Spirit to lead and spiritually nurture your child. This ensures they have the opportunity—when they are ready—to follow Jesus themselves.

Requirements for Parents Considering Child Dedication:

• Active Faith: Parents should be actively following Jesus and growing in their relationship with God.
• Alignment of Beliefs: Parents should ensure their beliefs align with our statement of belief.
• Regular Attendance: Parents should be regular attenders of Bad Axe Nazarene Church’s services.
• Commitment to Marriage: Parents living together and not married should take steps to acknowledge and commit to God’s plan for marriage before participating in a child dedication service.

We are open to discussing any of these points with you. If you are interested, please contact the Church Office at 989-623-0063 or [email protected].

Common Questions Parents Have:

1. What is the purpose and history of a child dedication? The Biblical root of child dedication is found in 1 Samuel 1:27–28, where Hannah prayed for a child and dedicated her son Samuel to the Lord. In Luke 2, Mary and Joseph dedicated Jesus at the temple. These acts of dedication show parents entrusting their child to God. Deuteronomy 6:5–9 outlines God’s plan for raising children in faith. Publicly dedicating your child is a key step in nurturing them in the ways of Jesus Christ.

2. Does Child Dedication make my child right with God? No, there is no act we do that makes any of us right with God. We are right with God because of Jesus’ payment for our sins on the Cross. Salvation is a free gift and is never earned by any religious act we do. Ephesians 2:8-9 says, “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast.” Dedication is an act of the parent thanking God for the gift of their child, asking for God’s help in raising them, and committing to raising their child to know and love God.

3. Does Dedication guarantee my child will be a Christian? No, dedication is your act as a parent saying you are going to do your best to help your child know and love God. As a Christian parent, it’s your job to raise your child in the knowledge and understanding of the Lord. When your child is old enough, we pray they make the decision to follow Jesus for themselves. Baptism will be the act of your child signifying that they themselves want to follow Jesus.

4. Is there an age limit for my child? Since this is an act the parents make on behalf of the child before the child is able to make their own response to God, most parents dedicate their children when they are infants. If you have just begun following Jesus, or have never dedicated your child and would still like them to be dedicated, consider that the age of 5-6 is usually the time they can begin understanding and having their own relationship with God.

5. I’m not a Christian, but someone in my family wants me/us to dedicate the child. Can we do that? Since dedication is an act of Christian parents, we don’t want to put you in the position of doing something that would be disingenuous to who you are by asking you to partake in an explicitly Christian ceremony. If you need help in talking to that family member and explaining why you won’t be doing that, we’d love to help.

6. We are living together; can we dedicate our child at Bad Axe Nazarene? Not yet. The act of dedicating a child is meant to come out of the commitment a Christian couple makes to live before God as husband and wife. Their willingness to make the commitment to raising their child to become a follower of Jesus is meant to come after their commitment to live as followers of Jesus. Accepting what the New Testament teaches about marriage and sexuality (see, for example, Matthew 19:4-6, 1 Corinthians 7, Hebrews 13:4-7) is often a challenge in our culture. We trust and affirm what the Bible teaches because we trust that God’s way of doing life is best and ultimately brings healing and hope to couples, children, and families. We want to help you succeed as followers of Jesus and want your child to know God personally. Our dream is that you’d realize God’s dream, resulting in a healthy marriage. So we’d be honored to help you take the step of marriage when you are ready and then dedicate your child as an expression of your commitment to each other before God. We recognize the sensitive nature of this and would love to talk with you about it further.

7. Can I dedicate my child if I’m a single parent raising my child by myself? Yes. If you are a follower of Jesus and want to raise your child as a Christian parent, we’d love to dedicate your child. Regardless of what happened in your past, we want to help you move forward in the future. If there is an ex-spouse in the picture, we encourage you to be on the same page about dedicating your child, but we realize this is sometimes not possible. Bad Axe Nazarene Church is committed to helping single parents provide a solid spiritual foundation for their children.

8. Do I have to say anything publicly when my child is dedicated? No. The pastor dedicating your child will ask you a couple of simple questions with two-word answers about your intent to raise your child knowing about God, will then pray a prayer of dedication out loud, give you a Bible, and then introduce your child to the congregation. At no point are you on a microphone.