The Bible says we are to “train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it” (Proverbs 22:6). Baby dedication is a ceremony where parents make a commitment to raise their children to hear, believe, and obey God. Our church family is witness to this and commits to help and encourage these parents to raise their children in the Lord.

In Scripture, the practice of dedicating a child to the Lord can be found when Hannah, a barren woman, promised to dedicate her child to God if He would give her a son (1 Samuel 1:11, 26–28). It can also be found when Mary and Joseph took Jesus to the temple to be dedicated to God (Luke 2:22). As parents, we acknowledge our children are a gift from God and belong to Him, so we dedicate them back to Him. As the Word says, “Children are a gift from the Lord; they are a reward from him” (Psalm 127:3).

Our desire as parents is to raise our children to love God and to live for Him. According to Scripture, the child's dedication does not bring about salvation. We can’t make this decision for our child, but we can model and teach them to love God and love people. Our prayer is that one day this child will make the personal decision to put their faith in Jesus Christ for themselves.