what should i do?

[happymummy1]

Hi my friend has asked me to be godparent which i am thrilled about but in order to do this i need to be christened myself which i'm not.I really do'nt know how i feel about it as my children are not christened.
I just feel that if i went ahead and got myself christened in order to be a god parent should i then feel my own children should be?
Please help and let me know your'e feelings

[thegirlwithnoname]

Could you explain your feelings to your friend, if a Godparent (to be) of one of my DD's had said this to me, then I would of had one less Godparent at the font and asked my friend to be some sort of protector/advisor/friend to my child instead because lets face it, that is what a godparent really is.

[harrisey]

I would say don't do anything like this if you don't really believe in it. Adult baptism (by whatever means) is a serious decision, and it a public declaration of faith. I would say its not something to be entered into (just) in order to be a Godparent.

It's really nice that your friend has asked you, and I too would be thrilled. I don't knw what denomination the service is for (CofE? Catholic? etc ....), but in the eyes of the church the role of the Godparents is to provide spiritual guidance and support for the child, though of course when people have christenings but don't really beleive in the message of Christianity, then this role gets diluted a bit, into general support and friendship.

My children have not been baptised, because I want them to be able to make that decision for themselves when they are older, I see it as a big decision which should be a declaration of real commitment to God. I myself was baptised by full immersion as an adult. Our children had a dedication ceremony. They don't have "Godparents" as such as they don't really exist in our church (Baptist) but they had my dh's brother and his wife as 'sponsors' at their dedication and as they are, like us, practicing Christians, they do fulfill the spiritual role. I would not have asked someone who wasn't already a serious Christian as I think the spiritual role is important.

I would say baptism is an important step and if it is something you are considering then go and talk to the minister about it, when he/she should be able to explain the implications of doing it. As an adult, you would almost certainly be expected to go through preparation classes of some kind before the ceremony was performed.

Good luck, whatever you decide to do.

[alucard]

In the Catholic church you would usually go to a weekly class between Sept and Easter (its called RCIA) . It is a huge commitment. You should go to Mass every sunday and every Holy Day of Obligation. If you don't have a genuine faith then it is a big thing to do just to be a godparent. My dcs have 1 Catholic godparent, 1 non Catholic christian godparent and 1 non christian godparent/advisor. We decided to have people we wanted rather than have people just because they were catholic. Your friend must really want you to fullfill this special role for her child and she must be aware that you are not a churchgoer. If I were you then I would ask if you could be a non christian godparent, unless you want to be christened for your own sake.

[startouchedtrinity]

I'm a former Christian and I agree with the advice given here. Being baptised (not christened) as an adult is a huge undertaking - you will be required to attend classes and go to church at certain times. Tbh I think the whole having to be baptised to be a godparent thing is yet another barrier that the church puts up to people getting closer. My dds were baptised before I lost my faith and our lovely priest turned a blind eye to whether our godparents had been baptised or not - he trusted our judgement. If your friend's church is strict on this then you ahve to consider long and hard what you believe. The priest taking the service may be willing to include a blessing for non-baptised godparents - CofE and Catholic churches now offer the same dedication ceremonies like harrisey mentions so maybe you could be included in another way?