Godparents Role

[Hikergirl]

For those who don't know, Martin Luther was a former Catholic priest, therefore many of the Lutheran practices and traditions are very much similar to those found in Catholicism. Both will baptize candidates well beyond infant age.

My youngest ds (15) was never baptized since I felt it was hypocritical as I wasn't a practicing Catholic any longer, but I know that I could still have it done. I know there a few people in my family who really wish I would.

 

[cabanafrau]

A friend of mine (who is Lutheran) refers to his religion as 'Catholic Lite'

Clearly not Missouri Synod branch then.

That's a frequent comment. I've had more than one Catholic friend tell me how surprised they were by the similarities in the liturgy after a service at our church. Most people don't realize that "Lutheran" wasn't initially intended to be a thing.

 

[aprilgail]

For some reason in my parents religion if it is a girl she gets 2 godmothers and one godfather- boys get 2 godfathers and one godmother. My daughter has 2 godfathers and 2 godmothers (one of her godfathers was my 12 year old godson who passed away 2 years later). The godparents I know typically throw the baby shower.

 

[dakotix]

A friend of mine (who is Lutheran) refers to his religion as 'Catholic Lite'

And there are three varieties of Lutheranism... I forget what their names are but one is VERY conservative, another is middle of the road, and the third is very liberal. My husband's family is part of the conservative flavor and he has said that if anyone in their family went to the more liberal version that they would not even eat together. lol So weird.

 

[SharonZ]

It's more symbolic these days. I've never heard that the godparents are required to go to the hospital for the birth, that's kind of crazy. I would ask the soon-to-be parents what their expectations are for the godparents.

 

[mjkacmom]

A friend of mine (who is Lutheran) refers to his religion as 'Catholic Lite'

I know many ex Catholics who have switched to an episcopal church say the same thing.

 

[goofyernmost]

Aren’t Godparents usually someone close to the couple? Perhaps the mother has seen Godparents at the birth and just assumed it was some kind of requirement?

Ds and his gf are Godparents to the child of a close friend of his. They were at the hospital for the birth (not in the room with her just there) but it was more for moral support than a duty. The father was extremely nervous and just needed a friend there, I guess.

Yes, they don't pick strangers, but, there is no need to be at the hospital for the birth. They don't become Godparents until the actual baptism and I can think of no reason why their presence is necessary. If it is for moral support, that is fine, but, shouldn't be a part of the job, so to speak.

Everyone has there own preferences when it comes to child-birthing. My wife and I did not want an audience. As all you ladies know that have given birth, modesty is not an option. It's one thing to have a doctor or nurse involved, but, it can be a little distracting to have a room full of people watching a pelvic exam. But, everyone is different. My oldest daughter had her sister present and it was filmed. It was something that they wanted at the time. However, that video has strangely disappeared. As we get older, we get wiser, I guess.

 

[goofyernmost]

For those who don't know, Martin Luther was a former Catholic priest, therefore many of the Lutheran practices and traditions are very much similar to those found in Catholicism. Both will baptize candidates well beyond infant age.

Episcopalian is almost exactly the same exact thing as Catholicism. The words used in the service is exactly the same as the mass, except that it is don't in old English. Still, one is not a Godparent until the baptism in any christian form. The proper wording would have been "We would like you to be the Godparent, if you will", it is not "You're the Godparent, report for duty".

 

[goofyernmost]

It's true, clergy can interpret things differently. I had four godparents picked out. (Twins.) At my local parish the priest was adamant that all had to be practicing Catholics who regularly attended church. Three attended church regularly, and one did not. Priest insisted that the one person could not be a godparent. This seemed to be different than anything I'd seen or heard of before, so I checked with another priest, we talked about it, and he was ok with that person as godparent. He invited us to come there for the Baptism and we did. I thought it was ironic since we as parents weren't attending church regularly. We are also godparents to two. So it just depends. I think there are some who remain very strict about it, but there are others who recognize that things like this can turn people away. (And my parish did lose a lot of long time parishoners from this one priest who was strict/unreasonable about a lot of things.) I understand it's a doctrine issue, but it's one I don't care to take on.

It's old school vs. modern theology.

 

[luvsJack]

Yes, they don't pick strangers, but, there is no need to be at the hospital for the birth. They don't become Godparents until the actual baptism and I can think of no reason why their presence is necessary. If it is for moral support, that is fine, but, shouldn't be a part of the job, so to speak.

Everyone has there own preferences when it comes to child-birthing. My wife and I did not want an audience. As all you ladies know that have given birth, modesty is not an option. It's one thing to have a doctor or nurse involved, but, it can be a little distracting to have a room full of people watching a pelvic exam. But, everyone is different. My oldest daughter had her sister present and it was filmed. It was something that they wanted at the time. However, that video has strangely disappeared. As we get older, we get wiser, I guess.

Oh I was the same way. Wanted just a chosen few and that was it. And they had to leave the room when modesty called for it. Now dil had everybody and their brother there. I was stunned at how many people were in and out.

I just thought that it’s fairly common to have folks there and in the waiting room and maybe that’s what this mom was thinking about?

But if the parents nor the Godparents are Catholic or Lutheran and this is more of a symbolic thing, the part about becoming Godparents at Cbristening wouldn’t hold true. Not all Christian faiths have Christenings.

 

[Summer2018]

We are not Catholic. DS and his fiancee have been asked to be godparents for their friend's baby. They were told that when she goes into labor, they have to go to the hospital immediately. This is okay if it's on the weekend I guess but DS is a paramedic and FDIL is a dental assistant, so they can't just leave work at a moments notice. I think it's a lot to ask of a young couple who needs to work. I think getting to the hospital as soon as possible after the baby is born should be sufficient. The couple expecting the baby have another child and it's godparents are someone else if that matters. I realize it it totally none of my business but I was wondering if anyone else had heard of this or what everyone's take on it is.

News to me.

My daughter’s Godmother, happened to be my best friend; a nurse; and the person who gave me my fertility shots every day for over a year. She was with my husband and I during labor as my closest friend. She would have been present at the birth if I didn’t have an emergency c-section. My mother passed away and my father was dying. My friend and my husband were the two most important people to me. Her being at the hospital had nothing to do with her duties as DD’s Godmother. Her Godfather certainly wasn’t present.

 

[HopperFan]

Well, reading through sounds like ...
.... every denomination, every church within the denomination,
every spiritual leader and every family .... do it their way.

I do think each person who is asked should then ask the parents,
what are your expectations for me in this role ...
and then decide if that is something you can commit to.

 

[marthachick]

I do think each person who is asked should then ask the parents,
what are your expectations for me in this role ...
and then decide if that is something you can commit to.

I certainly agree with this. I’m sure DS and FDIL have all the details about expectations.

 

[cabanafrau]

Episcopalian is almost exactly the same exact thing as Catholicism. The words used in the service is exactly the same as the mass, except that it is don't in old English. Still, one is not a Godparent until the baptism in any christian form. The proper wording would have been "We would like you to be the Godparent, if you will", it is not "You're the Godparent, report for duty".

Actually my husband and I have been godparents for eleven-plus years in a Christian tradition where baptism has not taken place. It is in a non denominational setting where we stood with our godchild for his dedication ceremony as an infant. I have yet to be able to make heads or tails out of how and when baptism will someday occur, but under their Christian tradition we are indeed godparents wherein baptism has not taken place yet.

 

[siren0119]

Actually my husband and I have been godparents for eleven-plus years in a Christian tradition where baptism has not taken place. It is in a non denominational setting where we stood with our godchild for his dedication ceremony as an infant. I have yet to be able to make heads or tails out of how and when baptism will someday occur, but under their Christian tradition we are indeed godparents wherein baptism has not taken place yet.

Absolutely true. In churches where babies are "dedicated" and baptism occurs when the person decides they are ready to make a public "proclamation of faith", Godparents are chosen and present at the dedication. There are not Godparents per se (but there may be "sponsors) at the youth/adult baptism, similar to sponsors for confirmation.

 

[DisneyHardin]

A friend of mine (who is Lutheran) refers to his religion as 'Catholic Lite'

One of my best friends was raised Lutheran and that's what she calls it too

 

[mummabear]

People keep saying it is a symbolic role, but that isn’t true. As godparent, you are supposed to be a believer and active in the faith. If you don’t meet that criteria, you are an unsuitable choice for godparent. I’m referring to the catholic faith. Not sure about other denominations.

I agree, we are atheists and our best friends are catholic. When their kids were born we chatted about the godparent role because they were torn, I said we would make crap godparents, if the kids ever came to us questioning their faith we would be in no position to help (I didn't want to be lying to them about my feelings on the matter)
We agreed instead to have the title of awesome aunt

 

[marthachick]

UPDATE: Baby was born today while DS and FDIL were at work. They both went to hospital after work and everyone was good with it. Baby is healthy and mom is doing well so that’s all that matters.

ETA: It would have been hard for DS to be there anyway as he was working as a firefighter today and they had a working fire.

 

[ncc1701]

I admit I always thought Godparents were a strictly catholic thing before this thread.

Many other Christian demoninations have Godparents. I am Methodist but have other relatives who are Presbyterian and most of us had Godparents.
The legal guardian if anything happens to the parents is a separate thing. My Sister and I had separate Godparents but our Grandparents would have been our legal guardians
until I was legally old enough to be Sis's .