Child Dedication

At its core, Child Dedication is a sincere prayer asking for God’s wisdom and favor in raising your child to find and follow the Lord. It is based on Hannah’s prayers for her son Samuel who grew to be a great leader for God.

It says in 1 Samuel 1:27-28: “I prayed for this child, and God gave me what I asked for. And now I have dedicated him back to God. He’s dedicated to God for life. Then and there, they worshipped God.”

Absolutely! Dedicating a child to God is not a new practice. In 1 Samuel, we read about Hannah not only dedicating her son, Samuel, but leaving him with the priest to be raised to serve in the temple! Now that’s dedication.

In Luke 2:21-28 we read how Mary and Joseph took Jesus to the Temple to be dedicated when He was a baby. These are two great examples set before us in God’s Word that we can follow as parents.

No. Baptism according to Scripture is a symbol of salvation for those who have already put their faith in Jesus. See 1 Peter 3:21. The water symbolizes the washing away of our sins, but does not save us. We are saved by putting our faith in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ on our behalf. See John 1:10-12.

No. Child Dedication is recommended because it shows that you are putting your trust in God and relying on Him to raise your child to love and follow Jesus. Child Dedication is a great start as parents in leading your child to the truth of Jesus who alone saves us from our sin. See John 14:6.

Different denominations have different traditions when it comes to children. Some require Infant Baptism and some, like The Compass Church, practice Child Dedications. The reasoning is simple. Child Dedication reflects what we see practiced in Scripture. Infant Baptisms developed later in church history and are not found in Scripture.

We will gather together with friends and family and enjoy music, a short devotional, and then a time to pray over each child. We will end by celebrating with refreshments together.

You are free to invite whoever you’d like. We do ask that if you are inviting a large number of people that you let us know so we can provide enough seating and refreshments for them.

This is not required. We will be focusing on parents during our Child Dedication Celebration, but you are free to invite family and friends to attend – including those you have designated as godparents.

There is no specific age requirement for a Child Dedication. If your child is older elementary age, you may consider waiting until they can make the choice to get baptized in Junior High.

Yes, invitations are included with your registration confirmation.

We have moved to this new style of Child Dedications to allow for more flexibility in number of dedications and dates we can offer them. The celebration will be its own service and will be beautiful and memorable – with music, prayer, gifts and refreshments!

Even though you won’t be on stage during the main worship service, you can invite your friends and family to attend worship with you before or after the dedication.