In some religions they believe a baby shouldn't be christened/baptised until they are old enough to make their own decision as to what religion they want to be and that's usually around 10 yrs old.Hence the dedication!! HTH
Kathi

In my experience, a dedication was stating that the parents promised to raise the child in the ways and knowledge of their church. There was not a specific Godmother/Godfather named, but all members of the church agreed to "guide" the child during their formative years. This was many years ago, I was still a teen, but imagine it is the same today.

Ellie

I think a Christening is Catholic and dedication is a generic Christian event where you promise to raise the child in a Christian household. I have never been to a Christening before but have been to a few dedications.

Please correct me if I'm wrong....

Okay, that would make sense.

I went to buy a card the other day and all I could find was Baptism and Christening and didnt want to buy the wrong thing so I wanted to make sure I understood the difference before I got anything.

Well I'm surprised Hallmark doesn't have a card for a Dedication because they have one for every other event!

Christening is not a Catholic thing since I was Christened and I did not grow up Catholic. I believe Baptism is a Catholic thing for babies. In any case, baptism/christening/dedication are all the same thing.

Steph, a dedication is a Christian event where you promise to raise the child in a Christian household. As for Christening and baby baptisms, I really don't know much about them.
You can probably find a Dedication card at a Christian book store.

In the Church I belong to (Nazarene) we Dedicate babies.It's a ceremony dedicating the baby to God and as Ellie said promising to raise the child in the ways and knowledge of their church. Our Pastor also anoints the baby with oil.I have never been to a christening so I don't know about that.

Christening and Dedication are absolutely not the same thing. Christening involves baptism. Dedication (at least in all of the churches I know about) does not involve baptism. During a dedication, the parents are prompted to answer questions that show that they are planning on raising the child in a Godly home. Often the congregation is prompted to agree to help (i.e., it takes a village). Some churches also present the parents with a tiny Bible for the baby/child. And a prayer is said. Absolutely nothing remotely involving baptism is included.

Thanks everyone, I understand it now. At least I know not to get a Christening card! There's a Christian bookstore not far from me, I'll check there for a Dedication card.

In a Dedication it is the Parents who are dedicating themselves to raise the child in the beliefs of their church, and the congregation voices agreement to nurture the child. Always in my experience the couple is given a small Bible to read to the child as they grow. Often Dedication services are done on Mother's Day, and the mother is given a rose.

Grandparents often attend Dedication services, even coming from out of town for the occasion.

I have never seen or heard of a Dedication card. And I've never known of anyone giving gifts at that time. Can't say it hasn't happened, just never heard of it. :)

Dedication has no connection to baptism or christening.

Sue

Up here its exactly as Kathi said. One church in town my GF's son was dedicated, then you will be confirmed at a later date when you are old enough to make that decision. But I have no idea how old "old enough" is! LOL

stephmc72, that was perceptive of you to pick up that there (might be) (is) a difference. Using the wrong term could cause hurt feelings -- it's nice of you to care :-)

In the interests of education, not "discussion" LOL -- per my own religious upbringing, baptism refers to the washing away of sin, and is done to at any age, infant to whatever, but is only done once. We have no separate dedication ceremony. I *do* understand that other denominations have different views, and that's okay with me personally. Just wanted to share one more perspective.

I go to a Christian church,,,a dedication is just that,,,we dedicate our childs life to God and promise to raise them to love and serve the Lord.It is not the same as a Baptism or Christening.

Donna Loomis, Christening does not always involve baptism. I was christened as a baby. In the church I grew up in babies were christened and you did not get baptized until you were old enough to understand what you were doing, usually as a teenager.

Baptism or christening involves the use of water. Dedicating does not. Baptism is immersion and christening is sprinkling.

In the christian church that my parents brought me up in,a dedication and christening were one and the same..we gave christening cards,but rarely gifts. The babies also wore a christening dress.
Having said that,maybe the customs are different in the US than in Canada.

"Baptism is immersion and christening is sprinkling."

I was baptised as a Catholic when I was a baby, and I was not immersed.

I was Christened at the Baptismal font in the Anglican Church when I was 1 year old and the rest of my siblings were done at the same time. We are Confirmed when we are young teenagers. Catholics are Confirmed at a younger age.

I have never heard of a Dedication before so I am learning something new.

Anne

Here are a couple of articles about Dedication and Christening/Baptism.Thought this might explain the differences.

http://christianity.about.com/od/babydedication/f/babydedicati
on.htm

http://www.baptism.org.uk/christening.htm

I learned quite a bit from this thread. Not that I'll remember it... *wink* ...but at least I learned something new!

A dedication, in the church to which I belong (American Baptist), is exactly as said, above, by caroline1947 and a couple others. We dedicate infants, meaning that the parents dedicate the child to God and vow to raise him/her in a Christian home, etc., etc. We practice "believer's Baptism", meaning that when a person understands what Baptism is and means, and believes, and can, on their own, commit to it, they do the study and ceremony. herefore, "believer's Baptism". That "typically" occurs in the early to mid teen years, but I've seen it all the way up into 60s and 70s, even from some people who were Baptised in a different religion as an infant but wanted to recommit based upon their own beliefs.

I agree - for us, anyway, a baptism and dedication are absolutely not the same thing.

I was dedicated as an infant. My brother was dedicated the same day, but he was 5 years old. My parents hadn't had him dedicated prior to that because they hadn't been associated with a church. So we were "done" the same day :-). I was Baptised on Easter Sunday - I think I was 13. I don't remember when my brother was Baptised, but I'm sure it was somewhere between 13 & 15.

Sounds like there are a whole lot of similarities and differences in how the various Christian religions do things. As far as I'm concerned, no rights or wrongs - just different ways of accomplishing the same thing (pretty much).

And no, despite a zillion (or so) dedications that I've witnessed, I've never seen a special card, and typically not an occasion for a gift. It would be very appropriate, though, to send a nice note.

Suzieque

Oh - just a clarification.

>> until they are old enough to make their own decision as to what religion they want to be

That's not what Baptism is in my denomination. It's not that they are old enough to decide what religion they want to be, it's that they're old enough to decide that they are going to commit themselves and their lives to God.

Suz.