The missional importance of supporting godparents

A CHRISTENING GIVES PARENTS THE opportunity to formally involve other significant adults in their child’s upbringing, for advice, protection, support and encouragement, and they will give a lot of thought to choosing good people.

How parents choose godparents

The choice of godparents often honours long friendships, and in choosing them, parents are envisaging a relationship that will last at least 20 years, probably a lifetime.

In research commissioned through the Archbishops’ Council, the biggest reason (by a small margin) that parents gave for wanting their child to be christened was to ensure he or she had godparents. So it is almost impossible to overstate the importance of godparents to families and this needs acknowledging and applauding.

Parents seek a baptism wanting their child to have the best start in life and God’s blessing on them. This can lead into conversations about how parents and godparents can ‘be a blessing’ in their child’s life.

Involving godparents

Inviting godparents to baptism preparation, to church and to meetings where appropriate will help parents see how much the church values godparents and their role.

Tip: if godparents live some distance away, Zoom/Skype/FaceTime could be used to include them in preparation discussions, if the parents would like that.

Godparents are so important they have their own section on the Church of England website, outlining the role of a godparent, the promises they make during the service and ideas for keeping that commitment in the years to come. Point parents to this section on the website so they can share it with the godparents.

Supporting godparents

Because the relationship with the godparents is so important, a special card for parents to send to them has been produced. It says ‘thank you’ and helps godparents know they are valued – it also helps the parents know we take godparents seriously.

The card is a keepsake, includes all the main responsibilities of a godparent and a simple prayer. So it has a practical purpose too. The prayer is printed on a fridge magnet, giving the godparent a daily reminder to think of their godchild and pray for them.

There are more prayers in the christenings pages of the Church of England website, which can be used before and after a christening.

Godparent Sunday

Since 2016, the Church of England has set aside a national day in the year to celebrate and support the godparent/godchild relationship.

It is called Godparents’ Sunday and takes place on the first Sunday of July, though you can have it on any convenient date for your church.

Helpful resources

• Life Events Diary – helps you record and store details about all your Life Events services safely and legally.
• Godparents Certificate – includes space for details of the godchild and their baptism day, as well as a reminder of the responsibilities of being a godparent. A prayer for godparents is included on the reverse.
• Godparent Keepsake Card – another way to help godparents remember the promises made during baptism.