If you’ve read this blog for any length of time, you know that I’ve re-invented the way we do child dedication. Three months ago we did our first one under the new format. It had a few kinks, but overall the whole process was so beautiful. Just search “child dedication” on this site and you can read about all the changes we’ve made.
Two weeks ago I wrote about the changes we were making for the dedication we held last weekend. We made those changes and they went great. I’d say the dedication was near perfect. Here are some pictures.
I can’t tell you how happy I am about how we do our dedications. However, I’m not finished. There are some components that North Point does in their pre-dedication process that I want to add to ours. You can read about them here. In addition, we’re going to add the dedication book that Ned Gable created at his church. Read about it here. Once we have these things in place, we may sit tight until we get the itch to make it even better. I’m always anxious to hear what others are doing as well. Don’t be shy.
Below are email reviews I got from two parents from our most recent dedication:
Parent One:
Tell me about your Prep for Child Dedication Class experience.
The class was much more than I thought it would be. Upon signing up, I thought it would be basic info regarding how the actual service would take place. We were really blown away by the questions and information that was given. It was a great refresher to open our eyes to becoming better parents for Cole. We really enjoyed everything we talked about and got a lot out of it. I honestly wish more churches would do this! I felt more “in tune” and prepared for the actual dedication. You all had great advice and great prompting questions for us. It was also great to meet the staff who would be interacting with our family. I wouldn’t change anything!Tell me about the dedication experience.
I liked that it was personal and was all about the child being dedicated. It was much more meaningful than the dedications they do at other churches that last 5 or less minutes. I really liked how you found the meaning to Cole’s names and then found such a great verse that went along with it all. Would you still have that verse? I’d love to write it in the front of his Bible. I thought that made it even more special. Thanks for doing that! 🙂Tell me about the pre-dedication experience.
I actually found it on Gateway’s front web page. I had no idea when the times were or that you even did them. I was happy to see that link! I got all of the info from the website. I never saw any info during service or in the bulletin. Sometimes we miss that part of the service. It would be cool to have it in the bulletin every week…I always read those and take them home. So, if I miss the 411, I can still get the info in the bulletin. The website is great tool as well. I thought it was very easy to register and sign up.
Parent Two:
Tell me about your Prep for Child Dedication Class experience.
The information was very thorough and asked the right questions to make sure the dedication was right for us.
Yes, the information was very helpful and eye opening for myself as well as the friends that attended. Many were confused what the difference of a child’s baptism and a dedication were and you explained the difference very well!
Absolutely, my friends that are parents were asking me questions that I felt very happy to answer after taking the class.Tell me about the dedication experience.
We were very fortunate to have Jonathan pray for us. He knows Sean, our oldest son, and our family very well and made it that more special! I would have liked to have more worship songs, but its understandable when you have little kids with you!
The slideshow is a keeper and I thought everything else went very smoothly, don’t change a thing!
Yes, the experience was great! Mainly because Jonathan knows my older son very well and it felt like he really knew us and cared when he prayed for us!
I have never been to anything like this so I have nothing to compare it to, but I thought it was a very inspiring and wonderful experience! Thank you!Tell me about the pre-dedication experience.
I found out thru an email
No it was very easy to register!
Thank you so much for all the information you gave us and giving my husband and I the extra support to dedicate our children to God. It is nice to know such amazing people to come to if we have any questions or need advice!
This is Jonah. He was critiquing this dedication for me. He let me know later that we did a good job.
Incredible!!! So now I’m totally going to change how we do all our dedications. We have another one in the fall & now I can’t wait!!! I’d love to see the slide shows. Can you give me access? Thanks Kenny!!
What changes would you suggest for those of us limited to the “under 5 minutes” rule?
jonathans last blog post..What Online Collaboration is NOT
I assuming you’re talking about only having five minutes in the service to do dedication then. I remember hearing someone else talk about this I think. Do the pre-dedication class. Do the 5 minute dedication… maybe even do the slideshow (it’s like 2 and a half minutes) and while it’s playing, your families can come up to the font or on stage. You can actually add the names of the kids on the video so that you don’t have to call out the names of all the parents. In the remaining 2.5 minutes, say a few words to the body about what dedication is and pray over the families. Speak vision that what they’re seeing is only a tip of the iceberg. These parents attended a class, committed to a lifestyle and have bathed this thing in prayer. Then have a corporate prayer. Then I’d suggest the families head out to the lobby or another large room that might be available where you could have elders, leaders or whoever have specific prayer time with the families while they’re surrounded with their family and friends. If you do the dedication after the first song or so (we always did at my previous churches) then you still have a good 15 minutes or so to have the prayer time without the families missing too much of the service or it feeling weird with all of them coming back in. Perhaps you’d even have a little reception in the room or lobby where they could hang out for a little while too. It’s an opportunity for families and friends to connect, maybe form some community. I’d just resist it feeling rushed… becasue that is what child dedication usually is. Rushed.
Hope that helps. Just some ideas. These may not work for you, but maybe gets the ideas flowing.