A Theology Of Child Dedication

Child dedication is a nonsacramental rite observed by churches which practice only believers' baptism. Theologically and in other ways, it parallels infant baptism as a ceremony marking the child's entrance into the Christian community and the beginning of his or her journey along the path of Christian nurture and training.

As a practice, child dedication is a corollary to believers' or adult baptism, since it is observed in most cases only in churches which do not baptize infants or children. Child dedication usually looks forward to the time when the child, having been trained and guided by the nurture of church and home, will make his or her own responsible decision to be baptized in confession of faith in Christ. Dedication and Baptism Theologically, however, the language and thrust of child dedication is similar to that found in the infant baptism services of many churches, especially those not in the liturgical-sacramental tradition. The language of infant or children's baptism in these churches is usually the language of Christian nurture. Since the child is unable to confess faith in Christ, the parents do so in his or her behalf, and pledge themselves, along with the congregation, to provide a Christian environment to influence the maturing child. This environment will eventually lead to an adult commitment to Christ and his or her church through an act such as confirmation or covenanting. Exactly the same purpose is served by the rite of child dedication, except that the commitment of Christian parents to the nurture of the child is to be ratified in the child's later life, not in confirmation or church membership, but in believer's baptism. Thus, child dedication and infant baptism are equal, although they are sacramental or nonsacramental, depending on one's point of view. The exception to this parallel occurs when infant or child baptism is understood, not as a pledge by the parents or sponsors, but as an act ex opere operato. That is, the very act of baptism, by a recognized ecclesiastical authority using water and the Trinitarian formula, is believed to accomplish a work in the spiritual realm—in particular the regeneration of the child's life in cleansing the child from the taint of original human sin. In this more highly sacramental understanding, the parents' commitment to raise the child in the faith of Christ is not the operative factor in baptism. Infant or child dedication is not a parallel to this type of regenerative baptism. However, even some churches which accept the theology of baptismal regeneration also incorporate the language of Christian nurture into the rite. Since there is no single theology of infant baptism within the Christian community, the dedication of children cannot be viewed simply as an antithesis to baptism. Churches which practice child dedication in place of baptism often include a disclaimer, stressing that the ceremony of dedication does not accomplish regeneration nor establish the child's spiritual position. Thus George Hill, a Baptist, wrote, "?The idea that the spiritual life of the child is secured, or directly aided, by such a service is scarcely less objectionable than the doctrine of baptism regeneration?" (quoted in Gideon G. Yoder, The Nurture and Evangelism of Children [1959], 136–37). However, such a disclaimer could be equally applicable to infant baptism as practiced within the Christian nurture framework. Theologies of Dedication Thus, there is a certain tension within the effort to provide a theological justification for child dedication or presentation. At one end of this tension is the understanding that a person becomes part of Christ and his church through repentance and a faith commitment; at the other pole is the recognition that the spiritual environment in which children mature is a major factor in their appropriation of the life of Christian discipleship. The issue for a theology of child dedication is the question of who children are before God, and what their status is within the body of Christ. The issue is reflected within Scripture itself. On one hand, "?folly is bound up in the heart of a child?" (Prov. 22:15) and "?childish ways?" must be left behind as we mature (1 Cor. 13:11); on the other hand, "?children [are] a reward?" from the Lord (Ps. 127:3), and believers must become like little children to enter the kingdom of heaven (Matt. 18:3). The New Testament touches only briefly upon the status of children within the church, in the suggestion that the decision of both Cornelius (Acts 10:47–48) and the Philippian jailer (Acts 16:33) to be baptized also incorporated their households into the family of the faithful. Furthermore, the New Testament also touches on this status when Paul remarks that Timothy's faith was a heritage from his mother and grandmother (2 Tim. 1:5) and that "?from infancy you have known the holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus?" (2 Tim. 3:15). Several writers representing churches which practice believers' baptism and child dedication have attempted to address the question of the status of children within the church. Keith Watkins, a Disciples of Christ scholar, considers children to be "?catechumens or learners, people who are in the process of developing that maturation of life and spirit which will enable them to make their own appropriate commitment to Christ?" ("?Children in Worship,?" Encounter [Summer 1983]: 272). He compares the church to a family, in which children are full members, but are not expected to have the same responsibility as parents. The child's role in the life of the church is appropriate to his or her stage of development, an anticipation of the time when a full participation in the church's life becomes possible. William E. Hull, a Baptist minister, approaches the issue from the perspective of personal salvation history, understood in terms of both covenant and conversion. In Hull's view, whereas the child born into an Israelite family was part of the covenant through solidarity with his family, tribe, and nation, the New Testament community "?shifted the focus from birth to new birth, from covenant to conversion, from group solidarity to individual decision.?" Child dedication is the affirmation that the child is holy in virtue of his or her solidarity with a Christian home (cf. 1 Cor. 7:14). As the child's salvation history unfolds, however, he or she may be expected to affirm a commitment to this spiritual heritage in baptism in middle or later childhood. But this salvation history should continue beyond baptism to mature to an adult stage of full ownership of the Christian faith ("?The Child in the Church,?" in Celebrating Christ's Presence Through the Spirit, ed. Cyril E. Brandt and Ruby J. Burke [1981]). Thus, both child dedication and believers' baptism are signposts along a pilgrimage which, ideally, continues throughout the life of the Christian. The British Baptist scholar G. R. Beasley-Murray sees the child as included in two solidarities: solidarity with Adam in human sin and solidarity with the Second Adam in justification. Both solidarities are chosen: Corporate sin engulfs humanity but expresses itself through individual acts of transgression; salvation in Christ is also corporate, but becomes a reality when the individual chooses to trust in Christ ("?The Theology of the Child,?" American Baptist Quarterly [December 1982]: 200). This view has less in common with the Christian nurture paradigm than others previously described because it places greater emphasis on the interruption of the child's experience in a moment or period of conversion. Nevertheless, Beasley-Murray accepts the concept of dedication of children, not on biblical grounds, but as a way of recognizing the place of children in the church family as those being instructed in the faith. In summary, the rite of dedication or presentation of children has a theological foundation similar to that of infant baptism as practiced within the orbit of a philosophy of Christian nurture. It is not, however, a counterpart to infant baptism understood as an act of cleansing from sin and regeneration. Although the focus of this discussion has been upon the question of the understanding of the role and place of the child in the life of the church, the act of child dedication has to be understood also as a statement about the place and role of parents or other adult sponsors in the body of Christ. The ceremony of dedication is, functionally, an opportunity for parents, younger couples in particular, to signify their solidarity with the whole church and their commitment to its mission and purpose—a commitment which they hope and intend to instill in their children. The theology of child dedication, therefore, belongs within the larger context of the theology of the laity, or the whole people of God.