Is it true that to be a Godparent you have to of been Christened yourself??

[TheBreastmilksOnMe]

I did not know this and have asked my sister and her DP to be Godparents. However Reverend said that they need to have been Christened first.

Is this just a requirement for this Church or is it a general one? My friend's become a Godparent and she has never been Christened so I'm confused.

Also the Reverend said that my sisters DP cannot become a Godparent as he is Sikh. I do understand that though I think.

think it depends on the church, but in our case for DS, yes, they did

I was told last week by the minister that godparents have no standing in the church of Scotland and haven't had for about 20yrs, even though my DD1 and DD2 have godparents

is there maybe some kind of discretion on the part of the minister/Rev involved?

the rules are mdae up from church to church and priest or vicar to priest or vicar

but if you think about it ...if this is something serious you want to do - and not just a 'loook at my baby and its pretty christening robe' event - then if you are serious about if you should suddenly die - you want a guardian for your childrens FAITH - then someone who has a FAITH to begin with is kinda a pre-requisite

Yes, if they're going to be christened in church then the god parents need to be christened too.

Lots of people have more informal godparents, with no christening, and then obviously it doesn't matter.

Yes, it is a requirement. Godparents are promising to ensure the child is brought up in the Christian faith. They have to have been baptised.

I do think you have to be christened or baptised yourself to be come Godparent, I know our church certainly stipulates it, after all, they will be the childs 'spritual advisors' and the church would expect the GP to teach the children about Christianity, even if they don't!

For a formal church christening then most vicars and priests do say that all godparents should be christened themselves. In our case, we had DD baptised in a Catholic church, we also had to ensure that at least one of DD's godparents were Catholic.

There are definately vicars out there who will make an exception, but the Godaparent in that case should be some sort of practicing Christian. I donl't think you have to actually produce the Godparents baptism certificates, but it would be a bit obvious if someone was a Sikh.

I think theoretically you do but in practise some vicars will not mind - my SIL is a godparent (an anglican baptism) but is jewish......

The rules aren't made up from church to church and priest to priest! Though it is probably true that they are differently applied. To be a godparent at a church baptism you are taking responsibility for the child being brought up as a Christian (in theory at least), so it makes sense that you should be a baptised Christian (the only kind in theory, again!) yourself. Parents don't have to be baptised themselves, but godparents do.
You have to have at least one baptised godparent therefore, though it could just be someone from the congregation, or a parent themselves.
What you can do if you want other 'godparents' is simply call them 'sponsors' and have them take part in the service in exactly the same way, if that helps? (I'm a vicar by the way so this is definitively the right answer!)

hermione sorry to ask but do you know why the church of Scotland doesn't acknowledge them? am a bit confused as my DD2 was christened in our church, albeit a visiting minister, and he involved the godparents but our minister, for DD3's pending christening, was a bit miffed when I went to give him the name of the godparents

I am Jewish and godparent to my Catholic godson. The prerequisite at the church where he was baptised was that one of the godparents had to be Catholic (the mother's sister). I had to recite the promise to help bring him up in his faith and make the sign of the cross on his forehead. It was mildly disconcerting but as I believe it's all the same God (just a different route) and as I feel confident that I could point him in the right direction should he come to me with questions about faith, I did feel able in all conscience to take on the role. I must say, I was surprised at the time, however, that it was 'allowed'.

Oops, hermione, I think I may have snuck through on 'don't ask, don't tell', then .

The thing is, although not christened myself I do respect my goddaughters parents' wish in terms of her upbringing, and think that the 'moral guardian' aspect of Godparenting is wider in any case than making sure she goes to church.

What I am trying in a muddle-headed way to say is that I don't have a moral problem with it - but I was certainly never asked whether I had been christened or not.

hermione I presume you are Anglican - it's interesting you say parents don't have to be baptised. to be baptised Catholic you definately need to have one parents who has been baptised Catholic.

I've also heard of vicars who are not willing to baptise chilren who are born out of wedlock in recent times, which I thought was a shame.

Thankyou everyone for your speedy responses it's a lot clearer to me now.

Hermionegrangerat34 - Can I ask you how does a blessing differ to a baptism? Do the rules on Godparents still apply also?

I was asked to be a god parent, despite not being christened and being an Atheist. I accepted after reading something on a humanist site about the need to have people in the children's lives who can offer them an alternative view to the religious one. Well, that and the fact that my friend was only getting them christened so she could get them into a particular school.

no one asked me if I was christened myself.

dizzydixies - I think the Church of Scotland doesn't really do godparents in the same way - I think during the baptism service the whole congregation makes the sort of promises which the godparents and parents do in Anglican churches - things about supporting them in their faith, raising them to understand about Christianity etc - so they don't feel a "need" for specific godparents.

I lied

Wasn't struck down with a thunderbolt. Didn't mention being pagan either.

(Oh in my defence, I promised to bring her up in whichever faith she chose)

thanks AMumInScotland - I just couldn't understand why they accepted godparents at DD2's christening and when I went to tell him the names of DD3's godparents he wasn't interested they're such a huge part of our girls lives and we put a lot of thought into who they should be

All my dd's godparents had been baptised but only one of them was actually confirmed.
Vicar would have preferred them all to be confirmed members of the church, so I am guessing unbaptised godparents would have been out of the question.