jenw866 Posted January 21, 2017 Report Share Posted January 21, 2017 So, a little background. I am a convert to the church, I was baptized when I was 16. After graduating college I became inactive and have just started coming back to church. My husband and I have a 6 month old son and upon meeting with my new bishop (we also just moved) he suggested having my son blessed. My husband is not a member of the church. He is a disfellowshipped Jehovah's Witness and has very strong feelings over having children commit to religion related to his being disfellowshipped. I would like to have my baby blessed, but I honestly don't know muchabout about the ordinance itself, not having grown up in the church. Despite my lack ofthe knowledge, I feel in my heart having him blessed is the right thing to do. My question is, what are some things I can discuss with my husband to show him the importance and significance of the baby blessing? I have a feeling he will be skeptical and I want to broach the subject correctly. Like I said, I don't know much myself, so I would like to learn more for my own sake as well. Thank you in advance! zil 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zil Posted January 21, 2017 Report Share Posted January 21, 2017 Welcome, @jenw866! I can't answer your question, but I'm sure there are many parents here who can. I just wanted to say hello and welcome you to the forums! Sunday21 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vort Posted January 21, 2017 Report Share Posted January 21, 2017 Here is my take on the matter, for whatever it's worth to you: A baby blessing is a privilege for LDS parents and their children. It functions as a way to introduce a new child to the ward family. It also allows an easy system to generate a Church record for the baby. In my opinion, it has another function of allowing the father the opportunity to begin getting involved in the child's spiritual life from the earliest days and weeks of life. In the case where the father is not a Priesthood holder, the blessing is done by someone designated by the parents, usually a home teacher or family friend, or perhaps the bishop. A baby blessing is not a "saving" ordinance, like baptism or temple ordinances. You don't have to do it; it's essentially a wonderful bonus given us. It is a type of a father's blessing, and is more similar to a blessing of comfort or of healing. Blackmarch 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Backroads Posted January 21, 2017 Report Share Posted January 21, 2017 While rather inaccurate, I have used a comparison to a christening when trying to describe it to others. Not a huge hullabaloo or even a particular commitment to a religion. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jane_Doe Posted January 21, 2017 Report Share Posted January 21, 2017 HI @jenw866, and welcome to the forum! I'm an LDS lady married to an inactive non-denominational. His parents are divorced, so I have two sets of in-laws, one atheist and one anti-Mormon Evangelical. Our friends are a variety of non-LDS faiths. When we went to have my daughter blessed, I started out explaining to my husband what this was NOT first. A baby blessing is NOT a baptism. It is NOT her making an commitment to the LDS faith made herself or by you parents or anyone else-- in fact, the very idea that anyone but herself could make a commitment to the LDS faith is strictly against our faith. The only person who can make any commitment to the faith is she, if she is of age and chooses to (and parents give express permission). So, what a baby blessing IS: a prayer (blessing) for the baby. We pray for those we love, and this is a more formalized version of that. The blessing giver says her name, and prayers that she may grow up strong, wise, and other good things. The entire thing takes <5 minutes, and can be done at home or at church (whichever you'd like). Everyone is welcome to attend (like my atheist in-laws came and were very happy about it). The baby blesser does have to be an LDS priest (which is pretty much any adult LDS man). It is not a ordinance that pertains to salvation at all, but to simply be enjoyed. (Sorry, I realize you have a boy, I just wrote this from my perspective of having a girl). Backroads, zil and SilentOne 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
classylady Posted January 23, 2017 Report Share Posted January 23, 2017 (edited) On January 20, 2017 at 11:53 PM, Jane_Doe said: HI @jenw866, and welcome to the forum! I'm an LDS lady married to an inactive non-denominational. His parents are divorced, so I have two sets of in-laws, one atheist and one anti-Mormon Evangelical. Our friends are a variety of non-LDS faiths. When we went to have my daughter blessed, I started out explaining to my husband what this was NOT first. A baby blessing is NOT a baptism. It is NOT her making an commitment to the LDS faith made herself or by you parents or anyone else-- in fact, the very idea that anyone but herself could make a commitment to the LDS faith is strictly against our faith. The only person who can make any commitment to the faith is she, if she is of age and chooses to (and parents give express permission). So, what a baby blessing IS: a prayer (blessing) for the baby. We pray for those we love, and this is a more formalized version of that. The blessing giver says her name, and prayers that she may grow up strong, wise, and other good things. The entire thing takes <5 minutes, and can be done at home or at church (whichever you'd like). Everyone is welcome to attend (like my atheist in-laws came and were very happy about it). The baby blesser does have to be an LDS priest (which is pretty much any adult LDS man). It is not a ordinance that pertains to salvation at all, but to simply be enjoyed. (Sorry, I realize you have a boy, I just wrote this from my perspective of having a girl). As per the bolded part of Jane_Doe's reply: The baby blesser is required to be a Melchizedek Priesthood holder. A Priest holds the Aaronic Priesthood not the Melchizedek. From Handbook 2 : General Guidelines “Every member of the church of Christ having children is to bring them unto the elders before the church, who are to lay their hands upon them in the name of Jesus Christ, and bless them in his name” (D&C 20:70). In conformity with this revelation, only Melchizedek Priesthood holders may participate in naming and blessing children. Priesthood leaders should inform members of this instruction before their children are named and blessed. Edited January 23, 2017 by classylady Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maureen Posted January 24, 2017 Report Share Posted January 24, 2017 jenw866, as a non-Mormon I see baby blessings as very similar to baby christenings or baby dedications. All 3 are wonderful ways to introduce a new member of a family to their new church family. The only difference that stands out to me as a non-Mormon, with baby blessings, is that women do not take part in the blessings. With baby christenings and dedications women, especially the mother of the baby are always part of the ritual; but with a Mormon baby blessing, the mother does not participate. In some rare occasions, mothers have been able to hold their baby during the blessing but you usually need the bishop's approval. M. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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