Trusted with your care

“For this child I prayed, and the Lord has granted me the petition that I made to him. Therefore I have lent him to the Lord; as long as he lives, he is given to the Lord.” And they worshiped the Lord there.” (1 Samuel 1:27-28)

As Baptists, we do not baptize infants, however in the tradition of Hannah with Baby Samuel and Mary and Joseph with Baby Jesus, we bring our children to the house of God to dedicate them back to God as an act of thanksgiving and worship. When Afia was dedicated, Joseph and I selected godparents, people we knew, loved, and trusted with her spiritual, emotional, and physical care to walk alongside us in our journey. We knew that Afia’s godparents would show up and care for Adjoa in the same ways that they would for Afia--prayer, wisdom, birthdays, holidays, etc. So, when Adjoa was born, we elected to do something slightly different and unconventional.

At Adjoa’s dedication, we did not have individual godparents, but we asked the entire congregation at the New Hope Baptist Church of Metuchen to stand and covenant with us to rear her in the love, knowledge, and ways of God. The joke in our family is that Congressman Frank Pallone was present, so he, too, is one of her godparents. 

We asked the congregation to stand as her godparents, not to increase the number of gifts she’d get on her birthday, but as a witness to the responsibility of the congregation in helping Joseph and me to raise her.

All that said, we are delighted to dedicate Baby Sophia and Baby Syoriah back to God this day. Although Sophia and Syoriah have godparents, I invite you, the congregation, to partner with these parents to train up these girls in the way that they should go, so when they are older they would not depart from it.

Growing in Christ

Pastor Donna Olivia Owusu-Ansah