¶712.2 Infant Baptism/Dedication Service
God, through Moses, made covenant with his people, saying to them,
“These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts.
Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home
and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you
get up.
In the days of the new covenant, Christ Jesus said, “Let the little
children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God
belongs to such as these;” and on the day of Pentecost, the Apostle Peter
declared, regarding the salvation given through Christ, “The promise is
for you and your children.”
It is therefore our privilege to present our children to the Lord and our
duty to raise them in his ways. These parents now bring [this child /
these children] to offer [him/her/them] in dedication and to pledge in
the presence of this congregation, to bring [him/her/them] up in the
Lord’s discipline and instruction.
Let us pray:
Father, we praise you today for the gift of [this child / these children]
into our world, among your people, and into these parents’ home[s].
Thank you for all the joy [this child / these children] [has/have] already
brought to them. We praise you too for all the potential that you have
packed into [this life/these lives]. May [he/she/they], as the years
progress, increase in wisdom, in stature, and in favour with you and
with other people.
Bless [name parents] as they parent their children. So work in their
home[s] that at an early age in life [this child / these children] may
affirm personally all that has been pledged on [his/her/their] behalf here
today.
And Father, bless this whole church family in such a way that in both
what we are and in what we do, we may model and minister in the
power of the Spirit in ways that will lead to the fulfillment of what we
ask today.
Lord, we thank you that though [this child / these children] [has/have]
not consciously thought about you yet, you have already been thinking
about [him/her/them], about [his/her/their] place in your plan, and about how you want to shower your love upon [him/her/them]. Thank you for grace that seeks us even before we have even thought of you.
Come and bless us now as we consecrate [this child/these children] and ourselves to you. We pray this in the strong name of Jesus. Amen.
Now these questions I address to the parents.
1. Do you, in the presence of God and this church, solemnly dedicate [this child/these
children] to the Lord?
2. Do you renounce the devil and all his works and all his ways so that you will endeavour
neither to follow them nor be led by them?
3. Will you faithfully strive by word and example to lead [this child/these children] to personal faith in Christ?
4. Do you accept the authority of the Old and New Testaments as the Word of God?
5. Out of them, will you diligently teach [this child/these children] the commandments and promises of the Most High God, raising [him/her/them] in the discipline and instruction of the Lord?
6. And will you continue to raise your child/children in the fellowship of the church so
that he/she/they might see and experience what it means to be part of the people of God.
(Then the pastor shall say to the congregation:)
Let us acknowledge our duty to support this family with our prayers and encouragement, thereby aiding both parents and child[ren] to fulfill all that has here been promised. The congregation will affirm this by standing.
(The Pastor shall take the child in his/her arms, and say:)
[Name this child]
I dedicate you to God…or I baptize you… in the name of the Father, of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
(Then the pastor may pray for the child[ren], parents and church family.)
