On Sunday, February 21, we will dedicate Lane Lester and her family to the community of Broadway Baptist, and on Sunday, March 13, we will dedicate Otto Williams and his family as well. These will be the sixth and seventh parent/child dedications I have participated in during my 18 months at Broadway, and will be two of many to take place in the coming months.

Dedication days are always so special to me, because they are a reminder of the potential blooming within our congregation. God continues to bless us with new life, and we shine brighter as a community because of these precious little ones among us.

Often, when we have baptisms, or when you go to a wedding, the presiding minister will ask the congregation to remember their own baptism or wedding. What commitments did you make at the time? How can remembering that day reinvigorate the commitment you continue to make today?

It’s difficult to ask people to remember their dedication day, considering that most people are less than a year old when they are dedicated! So it follows that the dedication is really less about the child’s commitment and more about the church and family’s commitment.

When we dedicate children, we commit to raising them in Godly homes, providing a nurturing Christian environment for the children both at home and at church. We also affirm that they are loved and included as a part of the congregation, and that we, as a church, will teach them the stories of their faith, so that they will come to know God through us.

The parent/child dedications are some of the most beautiful moments in worship, but they also require so much of us. We are blessed to worship and serve in a church that takes the words of the dedication litany seriously. My prayer is that we will continue to do so in the days, weeks, and years to come.
~Emily Holladay