pinakidion.*
A writing tablet for my thoughts
For My Friends
Author: John28 Nov
It will take a while to get the video up on the internet. My thanks to mrtool for taping the audio and video.
In the meantime, here is the audio:
Child Dedication
It starts in the middle of our minister’s remarks, something the video will correct. The first word you hear him say is “…today”. The Matt 19:13-14
passage is his, the rest are ours. You’ll hear my wife, her father and my father. My apologizes for the ruined Hebrew.
Our son was not comfortable on stage - you will hear him throughout the entire service.
The response of the congregation was:
We will. With God’s help and love we will share our love and knowledge of God. We will listen to their hearts. We will surround them with a community of grace and truth. We will pray for them to be strengthened by God’s spirit and to enjoy fellowship with Christ.
The Omaha Church of Christ
It was a beautiful day. Next post should be about our adventures in Minnesota.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
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2 Responses for "For My Friends"
Congrats on this momentous occasion. A few theological questions to consider: How is this dedication not like infant baptism? Is your son now a member of the church? If so, why does he need to be baptized when he is older?
If not, then what did the dedication accomplish other than to charge the congregation and yourselves with loving and teaching the child the ways of Christ?
Don’t mean to make light of this event at all. I know it is very special to you and I appreciate and respect this. But this was an area that caused me to question some of my assumptions and also lead (among other things) to me embracing infant baptism.
No problem, Bobber. I figured that you would appreciate the call and response at the end.
Never thought a RM church would do that, did ya?
The children are not members of the church. I view this as charge to the congregation to help us teach them about God. It is also a charge for us to be dedicated to this community. More than that, it was a way for our congregation to celebrate children of members. More dedication services to follow.
This ceremony ties into their bar/bat mitzvahs when they turn 12. There will be a connection between the two as the community charges them to choose the paths of God.
As an aside, one traditional bit of mishnah holds that the parents are responsible for the sins of their children until aged 12 years and 1 day. Although the bar mitzvah is more of a modern expression, it is intended to also signify this event.
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