Can I be a godparent if I'm not christened?

[geraldgee]

Just that really...have been asked to be godparent to DSILs baby however although DP is baptised I am not. I am finding conflicting info online, does anybody have experience of this? It will be CoE

I've wriggled out of several requests to be a godmother thanks to being Jewish!

I'm Catholic and I had my children baptized in the Catholic Church.

My oldest was baptized in the US and his Godparents had to have been baptized Catholic. They both had certificates from their parishes.

My other two children were baptized in England and they were far more lenient. Their Godfather isn't even Catholic but he made a vow, right before the ceremony, that he would support the children's Catholic/Christian faith/upbringing.

You need to be baptised and received your first communion in the Catholic Church to be a Godparent.

I'm not christened but am godparent to 2 - Catholic service. I can't remember exact details but sure I had to sign some sort of declaration/make a vow that I would support their Catholic upbringing or something similar.

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I had to be a sponsor (not sure that’s the right word ( rather than godparent as not christened .

It depends on the church and vicar 100%.
One of my DC’s godmother is muslim 😲 we had a long chat with the vicar where I explained that she and I shared lots of strong religious values, which we have talk about frequently since we were teens, way more than with other christian friends/family, and that she was making the commitment to raise DC as a christian if the worse should happen to us. He said it was unconventional but didn’t veto it. It is a very modern parish though, not sure it would have been ok elsewhere.

All 3 of my DCs are baptised Catholic. They were baptised in 2 different churches, both churches were happy for at least 1 godparent to be baptised Catholic. All my DCs have godparents who arnt Catholic too. In days gone by all godparents had to be baptised Catholic. They are more relaxed now and quite often it’s up to the parish priest.

Not sure on CofE rules but I remember my mum being a godparent to a neighbours child in the 80s in a CofE church, she was Catholic and it was allowed.

@LovelyLovelyWarmCoffee

It depends on the church and vicar 100%. One of my DC’s godmother is muslim 😲 we had a long chat with the vicar where I explained that she and I shared lots of strong religious values, which we have talk about frequently since we were teens, way more than with other christian friends/family, and that she was making the commitment to raise DC as a christian if the worse should happen to us. He said it was unconventional but didn’t veto it. It is a very modern parish though, not sure it would have been ok elsewhere.

I had a similar conversation when I was getting my oldest baptised. I told the priest that although my cousin who was Catholic was taking the part as Godfather I don’t think he’s ever stepped foot in a church except for weddings, christenings and funerals. My best friend who isn’t religious but brought up in some Christian religion in America (I can’t remember which) shared my beliefs more than any member of my family, she is an avid studier of religions and was committed to ensuring my DC had a full Catholic upbringing if anything happened to me. At the time she was also doing some extra curricular university papers on various religions to use as part of the job she was training for.

My son was baptised in a Catholic church and one of his godparents is Jewish. Priest was fine so long as one of the godparents was baptised Catholic, which they were.

I didn't care and none of the godparents were/are church goers of any denomination.

I only had him baptised because my Mother would have gone bananas otherwise and I told the priest so too.

This was 45 years ago though