What is a Baby Blessing?

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This is a ceremony of celebration, thanksgiving and honouring. A Baby Blessing or Naming ceremony can be a time to gather family and friends to mark the arrival of the newest member of the community. It is an opportunity to give thanks for the safe arrival of this child and to acknowledge the symbolic role that the Grandparents and/or Godparents will hold, as loving guardians of the child and the family. Although the role carries no legal obligation it can be of great support to the family and to the child.

 

When a baby is born there is great excitement, a fair amount of exhaustion, and a mixture of the sacred and the mundane woven into every day. It is a time when ‘doing’ seems so important and can overpower the natural tendency during this time for ‘being’. What greater gift can we give another person than being an unconditionally loving presence in their lives?

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A Baby Blessing or Naming Ceremony also is a place where siblings can be recognised for the new role they now have in the family, sharing, guarding and supporting this new member.

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The ceremony is created specifically for this child, in this family constellation and can combine elements of different traditions, depending on the wishes of the family. The ceremony itself usually lasts no longer than twenty minutes and is often followed by a celebratory meal.

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Adoption

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A blessing for a new child joining a family can be a beautiful way to honour this transition and to bring the child's new community together to welcome him. It may be that the child is not receiving a new first name but instead a new surname. The child may be not be a baby. There may be siblings to consider. All of these features of blended families can be woven together to create a special welcome for this new member of the family. The ceremony can also be a way for the parent/s to release the arduous paperwork that has led to this moment and to finally celebrate this momentous occasion - this child is finally home with us for good!

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