Baptism or dedication? For some Christian parents, this isn't a decision they need to make at all: they simply follow the practice of their church. Others follow family tradition, or face the sometimes touchy task of negotiating between differing traditions. Blessed with high-support, low-pressure families and a church that leaves decisions about baptism up to the parents, we're free to decide based on our own convictions and belief of what is best for our daughter. So what are we going to do?As Covenant pastors, Andrew and I have been tremendously blessed to serve the whole church by baptizing both babies and professing believers. (It's such an interesting place, the Covenant Church!) We have seen evidence of God’s grace working powerfully through both infant and believer’s baptism. But now, we’re parents—and we have to decide. We can’t really do both for Althea!
We spent some time, talking, debating and praying about what to do. And, as we said, we have definitely experienced God’s grace at work through both forms. There is a definite appeal to the idea of having
her baptized now as an infant. Our hearts tell us to "do everything" we can to bless our daughter and introduce her to living in Jesus as early as possible.But, after all of that, we have decided to dedicate her instead, letting her baptism wait until the time she can decide she is ready. Here was the “tipping point” for us. Through our reading about adopted children, we learned that many of them long for some participation in “who they are.” For many adopted kids, the thought of all their parents’ decisions—to become their family, to move them to another country, to completely rearrange so many pieces of their identity—can be difficult. Many adopted kids long to have a “say” in who they are, and there are various ways parents can help them do this. One way we have decided to help Althea in this area is to let her decide when she is ready to be baptized, as a believer.
There can be a lot of pressure on pastor’s kids to be more religious or more spiritual than other kids (and ours is a “PK” twice over!). We really want Althea to have the freedom to be herself and to respond to God’s love and grace at her own pace.
We so appreciate all your love and prayers for her and for us. Please pray for her as we plan to have her dedicated on December 17. Send up one for our associate, Pastor Mark too, as he will be performing the dedication. She can be a handful!
