Baptism...

Christine wrote:
Also, should we be thinking about God parents?...I'm not Catholic, is
this a Catholic tradition?

Jane Thorpe" wrote in message
You will need to pick Godparents even if not Catholic.

No, you don't *need* to have Godparents at all if you don't wish to. We are
protestant and don't do the God parents thing. IME, that aspect has been a
Catholic thing.
--
Sue (mom to three girls)

I have been to 14 Christenings in various Christian religions including
Catholic and protestant (C of E) in the last 10 years but have never been to
one without Godparents. I guess I assumed from that that it is the norm -
it is expected and to be honest I don't see the point in a Christening
without Godparents - but then being Atheist I haven't Christened my children
anyway - nor am I Christened.

I think in the majority of Churches and in families it is expected that you
will have God parents - even if not *needed* - when Christening a child.

Jane


No, you don't *need* to have Godparents at all if you don't wish to. We
are
protestant and don't do the God parents thing. IME, that aspect has been a
Catholic thing.
--
Sue (mom to three girls)

In message , Ericka Kammerer
writes
Christine wrote:

what if you do not have a will?
and both parents would die....what happens?

A lot of unhappy stuff that will be awful for
your children, most likely. Almost certainly your
child would be put in foster care while the state
sorted things out, which can't be a wonderful thing
while having to deal with the loss of your parents.

would'nt my mother just automatically get her?

In most cases, the state would get to decide,
and there's no guarantee they'd decide what you would

Get a will. Now.

..........and discuss the matter with not only the people you would like
to take care of your child, but also with anyone else from the family
who may be assuming that you're going to choose them, so that everyone
knows in advance what the arrangements will be. And be prepared for it
to be a very sensitive issue.

We tried discussing this one with my mother a few weeks back, and she
freaked out, big-time, at the mere suggestion that we might consider
giving custody of the baby to DH's parents rather than to someone on my
side of the family. It wasn't even that we'd decided to do this, just
that we were considering the options - but that was enough to send her
off the deep end. We had a huge row and she got quite hysterical about
it.

Since then, she's calmed down and apologised profusely for the whole
episode. However, it was most unpleasant at the time, and it gave me
one more reason to be glad we'd brought the subject up before time
rather than ignoring it and leaving our families saddled with the
situation after our death. If my mother had been reacting like that in
a situation where we _had_ both suddenly died, it would have been very
difficult for DH's parents to deal with, and downright horrendous for
the child getting caught in the middle of it all. At least this way
she's had a chance to have her meltdown beforehand and get over it, and
there's a much better chance of her actually behaving rationally if the
worst does come to the worst.

Which, of course, doesn't get us a whole lot closer to actually making
the decision about whom we should pick. Heigh ho. Now, if my sister
could only hurry up and find somebody nice to settle down with.........


All the best,

Sarah

--
"I once requested an urgent admission for a homeopath who had become depressed
and taken a massive underdose" - Phil Peverley

"Jane Thorpe" wrote in message
news:arBQc.19152$M95.13612@pd7tw1no...
I have been to 14 Christenings in various Christian religions including
Catholic and protestant (C of E) in the last 10 years but have never been
to
one without Godparents. I guess I assumed from that that it is the norm -
it is expected and to be honest I don't see the point in a Christening
without Godparents - but then being Atheist I haven't Christened my
children
anyway - nor am I Christened.

In our Church of Christ religon we don't christen babies. You are not
baptized until you become of an age that you can sin and that you know that
you are sinning. So, there is no christening and no God parents.
--
Sue (mom to three girls)

In ,
Christine wrote:

*what if you do not have a will?

Then you are not a responsible parent, in my opinion. Sorry if that is
bitchy but it's my absolutely honest feeling on the subject.

*and both parents would die....what happens?
*would'nt my mother just automatically get her?

Nope, your mother wouldn't automatically get her. She'd be put through
hell in some jurisdictions. She would probably spend at least a short time
as a ward of the state until the courts settled it.

--
hillary israeli vmd http://www.hillary.net
"uber vaccae in quattuor partes divisum est."
not-so-newly minted veterinarian-at-large

"Jane Thorpe" wrote in message news:1fwQc.17163$M95.3662@pd7tw1no...



Also, should we be thinking about God parents?...I'm not Catholic, is
this a Catholic tradition?

You will need to pick Godparents even if not Catholic. Normally it is two
Godfathers and a Godmother for a boy and two Godmothers and a Godfather for
a girl but often people just pick one set of Godparents these days.


That must depend on the denomination and/or church and/or parents. I
have no godparents and I was baptised as a baby in a Methodist church.
I think Catholics require them. DH was born and raised Catholic (as
is his HUGE extended family), and I've never heard of having more than
one godmother or godfather for a single child.

BTW, this is a timely thread for me, since my MIL has been asking for
about 3 months when we're going to baptize the baby (the same baby
who's not due till late September...). I guess I need to call the
church and find out what all we have to do and when, since I don't
even know if htere's a minimum age requirement for the baby or
anything. When she first asked about it, I didn't want to make any
definite plans since the baby wasn't even to the point of viability,
and it somehow seemed wrong to be planning things for after the birth
that early. Now that I'm about 34 weeks and all is still well, its
probably a bit safer to at least start thinking about it...

--Elit.
#1 due 9/20/2004

Sue wrote:

In our Church of Christ religon we don't christen babies. You are not
baptized until you become of an age that you can sin and that you know that
you are sinning. So, there is no christening and no God parents.

Yes, but the majority of protestant denominations
*do* infant baptism, and many (most?) of those have godparents
or sponsors of some sort. It's not a Catholic vs. Protestant
thing. Many Protestant denominations have godparents. You
have to check specifically with the denomination in question.

Best wishes,
Ericka

Elitsirk wrote:

"Jane Thorpe" wrote in message news:1fwQc.17163$M95.3662@pd7tw1no...


Also, should we be thinking about God parents?...I'm not Catholic, is
this a Catholic tradition?

You will need to pick Godparents even if not Catholic. Normally it is two
Godfathers and a Godmother for a boy and two Godmothers and a Godfather for
a girl but often people just pick one set of Godparents these days.

That must depend on the denomination and/or church and/or parents. I
have no godparents and I was baptised as a baby in a Methodist church.

I think the Methodist church accepts godparents but
doesn't require them.

I think Catholics require them. DH was born and raised Catholic (as
is his HUGE extended family), and I've never heard of having more than
one godmother or godfather for a single child.

The two-of-the-same-sex-one-of-the-other seems to be
a CofE/Anglican/Episcopalian tradition, at least in my experience.
I've heard it frequently from those with that tradition and
rarely (if ever) from others. My first has four godparents,
my second two, and my third three (for all sorts of odd
reasons ;-) Only three out of the nine could be construed
as the same denomination we are currently.

BTW, this is a timely thread for me, since my MIL has been asking for
about 3 months when we're going to baptize the baby (the same baby
who's not due till late September...). I guess I need to call the
church and find out what all we have to do and when, since I don't
even know if htere's a minimum age requirement for the baby or
anything.

Again, depends on your denomination. If the denomination
does infant baptism, there probably isn't a minimum age
*requirement*, but some tend to do it earlier than others.
In some churches (probably not many anymore) it used to be
traditional to do regular (as opposed to "emergency") baptisms
on certain holy days. One church we were at used to do them
on...hmmm...Epiphany, All Saints Day, the Easter vigil, and
one other I'm blanking on at the moment, though I'm guessing
it would have been a summer one--Pentecost, maybe?
Be sure to ask about any requirements for godparents
(some will require a godparent of the same denomination, some
only care that the godparent is baptised Christian, and others
don't give a hoot) and whether there is any education for
parents or godparents required.

When she first asked about it, I didn't want to make any
definite plans since the baby wasn't even to the point of viability,
and it somehow seemed wrong to be planning things for after the birth
that early. Now that I'm about 34 weeks and all is still well, its
probably a bit safer to at least start thinking about it...

We ended up planning pretty early because one set
of grandparents really wanted to be there *and* wanted to
come soon after the birth *and* could only make one trip,
so we planned a baptism at about a month and a half. At
least there weren't any worries about her outgrowing the
baptismal gowns ;-) My other two were baptized around four
months of age.

Best wishes,
Ericka

In ,
Christine wrote:

*what if you do not have a will?

and Hillary responded:

Then you are not a responsible parent, in my opinion. Sorry if that is
bitchy but it's my absolutely honest feeling on the subject.

Well, you're a would-be responsible parent who has your head in the sand, is
how I'd put it. My husband and I didn't have either wills or life insurance for
me until last year -- after three kids. I'm not at all proud of that fact, I
think it was idiotic of us, but it does happen to otherwise perfectly sensible
people (at least I consider me and my husband such).

--Helen

In ,
H Schinske wrote:

*In ,
*Christine wrote:
*
**what if you do not have a will?
*
*and Hillary responded:
*
*Then you are not a responsible parent, in my opinion. Sorry if that is
*bitchy but it's my absolutely honest feeling on the subject.
*
*Well, you're a would-be responsible parent who has your head in the sand, is

Would-be responsible? THat is a charitable way of putting it

--
hillary israeli vmd http://www.hillary.net
"uber vaccae in quattuor partes divisum est."
not-so-newly minted veterinarian-at-large