Better off baptising?Once upon a time most babies were baptised and many more families went to church but nowadays are non-religious families doing it just to have a special day for their little ones? Sam Pope looks at the arguments for and against baptism for non-religious families ....
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Baptisms are bottomOnce upon a time, most babies were baptised. There was no debate about the pros and cons of the practice, as a recent babyworld poll sparked. Michael Saward, formerly Canon of St Paul's Cathedral, summed up the situation in an article for the website www.baptism.org.uk : "When I was first ordained, the Church of England baptised more or less anything that moved - about 70 per cent of the live births. Indiscriminate practice was simply the Anglican way in England and they grudgingly accepted it. Today it is radically different. In the London diocese the infant baptism figure is 8 per cent of live births. Most urban areas are under 25 per cent." Saward cites three reasons behind the rapid decline of baptisms in the UK: the growth in non-Christian immigrants; young people's indifferent attitudes to the Christian church who "… see no reason to inflict ritual mumbo-jumbo on their offspring"; and finally the reluctance of the clergy and congregation in seeing baptisms (in the main Sunday services) by people who have never attended church before and probably won't keep the promises they make during the baptising ceremony. Babyworld member, Clare, shares this opinion: "I go to church every week and feel very uncomfortable when there is a christening within the service, for a family you never see at church under normal circumstances … the parents and Godparents self-consciously 'renouncing evil' as they shift embarrassedly from foot to foot! Why do it if you have no faith in the religion? I believe it IS often for the sake of a family get together and a p*ss up!" Clare may have a point, as 22 per cent of babyworld voters said they would or have baptized their children for the sake of a nice party and Godparents!. Hypocritical happy families?The vast majority of voters (68 per cent) said baptising a child if you're not religious was hypocritical. This is understandable - if you're a regular churchgoer and you see endless new families in church promising they will bring their children up as Christians but never see them again afterwards, it can jar that people aren't taking your beliefs as seriously as you are, as babyworld member Allyson says: "I am christened, completely happy about this and will probably have our children christened too. I do agree, however, that parents who are not religious at all make a mockery of the church by having their children christened." This view is shared by the founders and members of Baptismal Integrity (BI), a group within the Church of England that seeks to bring to an end the indiscriminate administration of infant baptism! BI supports the baptism of infants of practising Christians and has also suggested an alternative ceremony - Child Thanksgiving - to those who would rather their children made the conscious decision to join the faith. Child Thanksgivings are religious in nature though - families still give thanks to God for the gift of a child (and Godparents can be commissioned too) but the ceremonies leave the option of baptism till later. This ceremony is apparently becoming increasingly popular amongst religious families. Christenings show caring - the argument for baptising…Not everyone in the church is against 'indiscriminate' baptisms though. Some see the practice of banning families who are not regular churchgoers as against the accepting nature of Christianity and say it only serves to alienate potential believers even more. The following extract, written by Revd Jeremy Trigg (Rector of the Holy Trinity CoE Church in Milton Keynes) is from the St George's Church, Wolverton's, website: "One of the intriguing things about the Christian Church is that it can appear to be terribly exclusive. Take, for instance, our attitude to baptism: in many places we respond to parents who bring their children to baptism by putting them through a series of obstacles and hoops, which we call 'preparation'. We do this in an attempt to allay our fears that we may be baptising children of parents who are not Christian. "At Baptism services it is quite common for church members to stay away, and for those who do come to resent the unwelcome intrusion into a treasured routine where baptism families are not 'our own'. " Yet we all know how precious a child is to its parents and how important a step it is to them to bring their child to baptism. The statistics tell us that the number of baptisms is down, but that does nothing to detract from and may enhance the significance of the step for those who still seek it … For parents it often arises out of a profound sense of gratitude to the God who has blessed their sharing in his creative work … Ours is not to hinder their approaching God … That must mean the total and complete acceptance of people as they are, where they are, without condition." Praying it safeMany people who aren't religious but want to celebrate the birth of their baby in a special ceremony turn to humanist naming ceremonies, or more liberal church services, to fulfil their wishes, as Jane and Jenny explain: "We have a dedication service, in which we promise to bring our children up to the best of our ability and with God's help. We believe in baptism for believers, and as a 4-6 month old can't express their opinion yet lol, we find this way fills in us the need to do something that welcomes our children and yet isn't making promises that no one could possibly keep." Jane- babyworld moderator "I have an issue with the assumption that religious means Christian. I follow a different religion and hence I am religious. We had a naming day for both of ours, and will for the next one when it arrives. We have named friends to be 'Sook-Chiim'. This is a word taken from Klingon. It means something like surrogate parent for the child and surrogate brother/sister to the parents. It is sort of like godparents without the God bit." Jenny O - babyworld member A naming ceremony might not get your child into the local church school (only 2 pe cent of voters said that they'd do this anyway) but it will guarantee a memorable and enjoyable day for everyone involved! Page 1 of 2 Next Where to next?
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