Sunday May 6th, is the third annual God Parents’ Sunday and celebrates all that godparents contribute to a child’s and their family’s amazing journey of faith, but you can celebrate the role of godparents at any time of year.
We know from research that godparents really, really matter to families. Godparents are part of family life for all the years ahead, a relationship that will last into adulthood and beyond.
So setting apart a Sunday to celebrate and pray for this special relationship is a great opportunity to share with families and ask for God’s blessing on godparents and godchildren everywhere. It’s an opportunity to invite recent baptism families to come along with godparents to a special service. And it would seem that contact like this is crucial for church growth as Sue Mitchell, Children & Families’ Missioner explains,
“Recent research by the Church of England found that families are often disappointed with the lack of contact both before and after baptism. But the key to getting people to come back to church and become part of the congregation is that contact. So as part of a national project, our Diocese is partnering with Rev Dr Sandra Millar Head of Life’s events for the Church of England.
“Called ‘Three Steps to Christenings’ our initiative will help parishes will look at what we can do around baptism and enable families to feel part of the congregation. We’ll develop new resources and practises with the aims of inspiring, equipping and connecting both parishes and baptism families, to create good long-term, sustainable baptism practices throughout the Diocese. In turn, we will be enabling churches to build good relationships with families and develop relevant groups and congregations to invite them back to.”
Earlier last year a group of churches from across our Diocese agreed to become our guinea pigs. Over the next few months, you’ll be able to hear about their experiences and what impact the initiative has had on their church growth.
If your church is interested in becoming involved in the ‘Three Steps to Christenings’ project please contact Sue Mitchell Children & Families’, Missioner.
E: sue.mitchell@liverpool.anglican.org
If you’d like more information or resources about God Parents’ Sunday, the Church Support Hub is a great place to start.
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