What joy! A new life to share in the love you have created between you! What better way to welcome a little one to the world and deepen the sense of family and community than to create a Christening or Welcoming ceremony.  Rev. Rebecca has created dozens of unique that bless both child and those who have pledged to love, protect and guide this new life. Please read below for an idea of how a ceremony might flow. Then call Rev. Rebecca to discuss your own ideas!

Christening Ceremony Example

Opening

A World You have Blessed (Jo Mapes)

Sleep, sleep, wee small thing

Into our troubled world you bring

New love, new light, new hope for a better day.

Sleep, sleep, sleep and nest

Wake to a world that you have blessed

With love, with light, with hope for a better day.

__________ is here

What can we show her (him)

How can we help her to grow without fear?

Teach her to love

This much we owe her

And the millions of little ones yet to be here.

Sleep, sleep, sleep and wait.

Wake to a world that's free of hate

Where children will know

That they grow in a world made of love.

Welcoming Words - Generation to Generation (Antoine de St. Exupery) - Minister welcomes everyone to the ceremony and sets the tone.

Reading

In a house which becomes a home,

one hands down and another takes up the heritage of mind and heart,

laughter and tears, musings and deeds.

Love, like a carefully loaded ship,

Crosses the gulf between the generations.

Therefore, we do not neglect the ceremonies of our passage:

When we wed, when we die, And when we are blessed with a child;

When we depart and when we return; When we plant and when we harvest.

Let us bring up our children.

It is not the place of some official

to hand them their heritage.

If others impart to our children our knowledge and ideals

They will lose all of us that is wordless and full of wonder.

Let us build memories in our children, Lest they allow the treasures to be lost

Because they have not been given the keys.

We live, not by things, but by the meanings of things.

It is needful to transmit the passwords from generation to generation.

Remembrance - Parents light candles in honor of those relatives recently deceased

The Naming - Minister says a few words about the spiritual import of a name and then the parents come forward and announce the name of the child and say a few words about why the name was chosen. Special gifts are added to the basket.

Blessing

We give thanks for the wheel of life

We give thanks to those who brought us life, And thanks to those who pass it on.

May the grace, beauty, power, and love of (the ancestors/God/The Holy Spirit, etc.)

Be with you now, ______________, and throughout your life.

Covenant of the GodParents - Minister says a few words about the tradition of choosing godparents for a child and the idea of spiritual qualities or values which are to be the child's special gift from the godparents.. The godparents are then asked to share their gift with their new goddaughter or godson. They can say something spontaneous, do a reading, offer a token for her basket, etc.

Parent's Blessing

I wish for you warmth when it is cold outside

I wish for you a star when the night is dark

I wish for you courage when the world is afraid

I think of you, †I wish for you and I hope you know-

that here, there is a heart and a home;

and here, there is someone who loves you more

then any wish could ever give.

Blessing of the Rose

Dear Child, you have blessed our hearts with beauty and joy this day,

Take this rose so bright and lovely.

From its stem we have taken away the thorns, for today we promise you this:

That we shall protect you as best we can from harm;

That we shall never knowingly injure you - in body, mind or spirit;

That we shall teach you right from wrong,

So that you may one day protect yourself

From the perils of wrong-doing.

We shall live our lives as examples of what it is possible for humans to become.

We shall strive to be more loving, more giving, more honest, more tender.

We shall strive to win your affection and respect,

Even as we guide you into becoming more affectionate and respectful.

We shall rejoice in your successes, comfort you in times of distress,

Support you in your goals, refrain from unnecessary advice,

And remember always that you are your own person.

We know that you have come from afar in order to become all that you were meant to be.

We are grateful to have been given the chance to know you,to love you, to name you - Beloved Guest.(Minister touches the child on forehead, mouth, chest, hands and feet with the rose)

May your mind seek wisdom;

May your lips speak peace;

May your heart know love

May your hands give comfort

May your feet love the earth on which we live.

Dear Child - Welcome to the World!

Offering of Gifts -Closing & Benediction - Minister may ask the parent or godparent to hold the child up and face him or her towards the guests. The guests are then asked to speak aloud the child's name and welcome the child into the great circle of spiritual seekers and earth dwellers.

We give thanks for the love and generosity of family and friends

Who make this life precious and rich.

May this child's presence among this community bring gladness and hope and renewal.

May her life be a blessing to all those she encounters.

May she travel the path with heart and rejoicing, reach the end of her Soul's desire.    AMEN.

Closing Song:

Your Children (Kahlil Gibran)

Your children are not your children

They are the sons and the daughters of life's longing for itself

They come through you, but they are not from you

And though they are with you

They belong not to you.

You can give them your love but not your thoughts - No!

They have their own thoughts, They have their own thoughts

You can house their bodies but not their souls

For their souls dwell in the place of tomorrow

Which you cannot visit, not even in your dreams

You can strive to be like them, but you cannot make them just like you.

You can strive to be like them, but you cannot make them just like you.


 The other guests have been invited to write a blessing, poem, memorable lyrics, etc on decorated paper. These 'paper blessings' , or flowers, are now gathered up and added to the Gift Basket.