Tuesday, March 7, 2017

Episode 005: Baby Dedication Services

Does your church do a dedication service for parents who want to make some kind of public commitment to raise their child to know Jesus?  Have you ever thought about making it more intentional?  

Last year we did a total reboot of the service we offered and created an experience for parents of babies called Rooted.  Check out the newest episode of the Simple Kidmin podcast to hear more about it.  




Click here to listen in iTunes.

Parents committing to raise their child to know Jesus

Rooted welcome desk where families check in and pick up their gift bag



Families praying over their children and grandchildren

Rooted service at our portable Georgetown Campus

Before the Event

When families sign up for Rooted, they receive a link to three audio sessions which walks them through the homework they have to complete before attending the event.  Some churches do a pre-event orientation meeting, but this wasn't practical in our setting to get all of our families together before the actual dedication service.

In the homework we ask parents to choose a key verse for their child and write out a prayer that they will pray over their child at the event.  

We also include sample prayers and Bible verses in case parents need some ideas or guidance as they write their own prayers for their kids.

During the Event

  • Pre-service Slideshow - families share cute pictures of their kids with us during the registration process, and we load them into a slideshow set to music to play as families walk in.
  • Opening Video - we use this video titled The Way They Should Go to kick off the service and set the tone for the day.  
  • Welcome & Teaching Set Up - the event host welcomes families and shares some spiritual parenting vision based on this marbles illustration from Reggie Joiner.
  • Teaching Video - this is the heart of the teaching for Rooted, and we recorded the original video on location in front of a tree with its roots in a stream of water to illustrate the point. 
  • Parent Vows - after the video, the host invites parents to bring their children on stage and repeat their vows.  
  • Friends & Family Vows - while the parents are still on stage the host invites the friends and family in the audience to commit to supporting them in their spiritual parenting
  • Family Prayer Time - during this time parents, friends and family circle up around the children and pray over them, using the prayer and Scripture the parents chose as a part of their pre-event homework.
  • Wrap Up - at the end of the service, we tell families this is just the beginning of our partnership, invite them to bring their child to our nursery environments if they haven't done so already and we also invite the parents, friends and family to consider partnering with us further by leading in Children's Ministry.

After the Event 

Every family receives Family Keepsake Book which contains a three year prayer guide with a monthly prayer and verse to pray over their child based on the following topics:
  • Year 1: 12 Names of Jesus
  • Year 2: 12 Promises of God
  • Year 3: 12 Fruits of the Spirit

Here are a few snapshots of the prayer guide and keepsake book.













 



2 comments:

  1. Are you willing to share a full copy of the Family Keepsake Book?

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    Replies
    1. Absolutely! We are always happy to share resources with other churches. Just email me at jason@simplekidmin.com.

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