Looking for Place to Bless My Son - Nondenominational?? We Think!!

Andrews Memorial Chapel in Dunedin is a beautiful place for this. My husband and I were married there, non denomintation and they offer for "baptism" as well.
Good Luck
J.

ok so I have a silly question. Do you believe in God's Word,the Bible? Where does it say in the Bible to get your child blessed? Just curious. Thks.
If you want to please God, shouldn't you just do what He says in His Bible?

Hi V.,

I am in the same situation as you. I was raised Catholic, but do not practice and my husband does is Christian but does not practice any religion also. My son is 21 months old and I feel guilty about not having him Christened or anything.

Please let me know what you find out and how your experience goes, as I want to do the same thing with my son. I do not want to go anyplace where I will be judged for not attending regular church services.

Some people have posted some rude comments, I would not want to go to their church! That is exactly why I stopped going to Church in the first place. We should all be here to SUPPORT each other.

Again, Please let me know how it goes for you!

E.

You should look into Cypress Meadows in Safety Harbor. It is a great church with great people. They do "dedications" on Mother's Day. I had my son dedicated there about 2 years ago. Their website is www.cypressmeadows.org

I'll repeat the "unitarian universalist' suggestion... I'm a member there, all are welcome, all are accepted.

We appreciate the openness of UUism and learning about different philosophies, religions, & beliefs.

There is a UU church in your area. They do 'dediations'.

You have gotten alot of responses already. I think it is great you are concerned and asking questions. Here is what I would like to pass on. Both my husband and I were raised Catholic. My husband and I are Christians. We both left the Catholic faith years ago, at different times. One of the things, for me, was it dawned on me that God is not Catholic, Methodist, Episcopalian, Protestant, Lutheran, you can go on and on. Both of us are now worshipping with a non-denominational congregation. We have 2 girls, 6 and 4, and they have not been "blessed" or baptized or any of that. What is the reason for wanting a blessing? God looks down at your son and blesses him all the time. Your son makes God very happy. If anything happened to your son he would go straight to heaven, as would my girls. The age of awareness and accountability is around 12. Children as young as yours and mine are too young to have sin. We teach them not to lie, to obey us, etc. but until they can really comprehend the ramifications of all of this, what good is it going to do, except for our own gratification (or our families) to get them blessed or baptized? It means nothing to God. God wants us to be obedient to his word (study the bible with me!). Tradition handed down from generation to generation is good for some things but when it comes to the eternal soul it is good to look and see if what we are practicing is actually going to get us and our kids to heaven. If you want to chat more, then, reply back. I would love to share what I believe with all my heart. K.

Baylife Church in Brandon is wonderful!

V.,

I would highly recommend looking at BridgePoint Church which is Non-Denominational. They have a very contemporary service each Sunday at 10:30 am.

The website is www.bridgepointonline.org

They do Baby Dedication services and it is very nice.

J. M.

HI
Somethings I learned this year, I have recently converted to baptist, you cannot have your child baptised but you can have at my church you dedicate your self to raiseing you child Christian, which is basically what you want I think, which is also the samething as a Christianing, that the catholic and lutherns do also .. I give you kudos for wanting your child blessed but the best thing you could do would start going to church, and the rest will follow.
Good luck on you endevors

V.,

I attend a non denominational church, if you will. I also grew up in the catholic religion. I do not practice it any more. There are some issues that I just don't agree with.

I am in Land O' Lakes. The church that I attend is called CHURCH OF THE SUNCOAST. It is actually held at Rusche Middle School on Sunday's at 10:00AM. The pastor is very young, but he is great. He definetly puts the message out there in a way that everyone can relate to.

They just did a dedication this past weekend for the children. And some adults also got babtised.

The Pastors name is Brian. His phone number is ###-###-####.
My husband sings in the Church Band, my 14 year old son video tapes the service, and my 6 year old son goes to the beach (kids room at church - they do lessons in there for them and give them home work to do as well). I hope this helps. Again, this is in Land O' Lakes (Concord Station -off of Highway 54). I'm not sure where you are at.

L.

V. i don't know where your from, but i visit a non denominational church in port charlotte fl, the name of the church is new life international. we are international cause we have people from all over the world we are totally bilingual our services are translated in english and spanish we have lots of fun we also worship GOD with live music in spanish and english. i give you credit for not wanting to baptize your son and giving him the chance when he grows up to choose for himself. but i do believe he should be presented to the lord our savior JESUS CHRIST.
I HOPE THIS HELPS IN SOME WAY. AND I KNOW THAT WHERE EVER YOU ARE FROM YOU CAN FIND A NON DENOMINATIONAL CHURCH N YOUR AREA JUST DO SOME RESEARCH YOU'LL FIND ONE IF GOD FEELS IT IN YOUR HEART THE DESIRE TO SEEK HIM FOR YOUR SON HE WILL SHOW YOU THE WAY JUST ASK IT WITH A SINCERE HEART. GOD BLESS YOU AND YOURS.

Good Morning V.,

It is wonderful that you want to bless or baptise your son, i don't think that all denominations will do this at such a young age. We are baptist and the church will dedicate a child and the congregation promises to guide the child on a path to God until they are old enough to decide that they want to accept Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. I did not understand this at first but i have come to understand that even as their parents God does not give us the right to make that decision for them and it does not mean anything unless each individual person hands their life over to God.
i also know that the methodist church will baptise young children.
Good luck in your decision and God Bless, i will pray for you and your family. have a wonderful day!

Hi. Have you thought about the Unitarian Universalists? We had our son blessed during a ceremony with them and they are very non-traditional. It was simple but nice. I don't know where you live but they have churches in Clearwater, St Pete, and Tampa. I would try giving one of them a call. Good luck!

There are so many churches in Tampa. Most places will ask you if you will be attending their services or taking part in their community. You said that you don't attend any church or practice any specific religion, is there a particular reason why you want hime blessed. I used to be a practicing catholic but found, for me, the Methodist church much more uplifting with their music and messages. But there are so many bible teaching churches here, many for you and your husband to pick from.

The View in Riverview is having a child dedication this weekend. We are getting our sons dedicated. They are a small church, so they are able to schedule more if needed. We haven't gone there a long time, but have been pleased so far. They are non-denominational also. Good luck!

The View Church
Pastor Rob Rutherford
Meeting at 11990 Big Bend Rd.
Riverview, FL 33679
Summerfield Elementary School
Sundays at 10:00 AM

###-###-####

I guess the first question is to find out what you're trying to accomplish...if you "don't practice any religion" then why are you seeking this? I have a hard time understanding how you and your husband were raised catholic but don't want your own child to learn anything connected to it. You could probably call around to some Methodist or Presbyterian churches and ask...they're a little more laid back; however, they probably would also question your motives. Are you talking about baptism here? All the churches I'm involved with baptize with the purpose of gaining commitment from the parents and the church family to raise the child knowing and believing in God. If you have enough interest to get your child "blessed" then maybe it's not such a bad idea for your son to learn what it means. Just find a church home where your family feels comfortable and don't put so much emphasis on the denomination.

Why do you want your son Blessed? I'm sure it is because you love him and want all the best for him. When you are deciding where to take him keep in mind that it is not just for show that there is a real purpose and spiritual transition that occures when he is truly blessed/Baptized. Do you want someone to pour water on him, anybody on the street can do that. Or do you real want him Bless as in the bible , to remove original sin? If you want to do the best, pray about it, search you heart and I think your Lord will speak to you. Also I recomend reading the Bible about your decision. This is truly your decision and one of the most important decisions you will ever make for your son. If you fell in your heart that you want him Baptized in the Catholic church, let me know where you live(just area/town) and I can give you info on the closes one. And remember pray about it.

I was also raised Catholic but chose not to baptize my kids Catholic (ages 25 months and 6 months). My husband and I decided to go with Unity Church. I am in the Southwest Florida area. But I imagine they are in most communities. I is non-denominational.

Oh - and it was a very brief 'ceremony'. They did not use water - but scattered rose petals over them -- which I think was very nice!

my first thought was the unitarian universalists... quakers always seemed kind of cool too :)

Perhaps Chapel By The Sea on Clearwater Beach would work for you? I'm not sure what demoniation they are but my husband and I were in the same boat with our son. I was raised catholic but do not practice it now and he was raised non-denominational. We've been to the church twice, once to get married and once to 'bless' our son (not sure if they consider it a Baptisim). Both times they have welcomed us with open arms and most importantly, No Strings Attached.

Consider checking out www.Bahai.org