Baptism-Buried in Christ's Death; Raised in His Resurrection

» Jim_Weeks - Catholic standing for Lutheran child

I am a catholic and have been asked to stand as Godfather for a child to be raised Lutheran.
What are the ramifications?? According to the Lutheran doctrine, what are my responsibilities??
Are there any inherent conflicts of interest??

Thank you for your insight.

-- posted by Jim_Weeks

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» H2O - Re: Catholic standing for Lutheran child

In response to message posted by Jim_Weeks:

Ah, yes, the traditional Godparents. What to do, who to choose, what's the responsibility, are gifts exchanged only until the child is confirmed or graduates from high school, so many questions, not enough answers. Almost feels like looking for presidential election results.

The practice of having a "sponsor" dates back to early Christianity. As a sponsor, the godparent vouched for the child as the child was brought into the church. Many lodges still have this. You don't just join a lodge, but you are nominated by someone who "sponsors" you. You don't just go into a Shriner's hospital and receive treatment; someone "sponsors" you. The same idea was in place for sponsors in the early church. Adults who were baptized also had sponsors!

Today, it has largely become symbolic. The pastor of my church growing up would make distinctions: the godparents who were WELS were sponsors; those not WELS were merely "witnesses." The idea is that if they are not WELS, they really can't vouch that they know this child will be raised in the confessional Lutheran faith. They can only witness that the child was baptized.

Of course this brings up problems, especially in printing bulletins. Thus often pastors simply called them all "godparents."

Ask the people asking you to be a godfather what they expect. Do they anticipate that you watch over the child's soul and bring him up in the Lutheran church? And can you do this in a clear conscience? This is a question only you can answer.

The position is largely symbolic and traditional. It served a purpose when life expectancies were dramatically shorter as parents then had surrogate parents in place should our Lord call them home. No doubt a strong consideration was the faith of the person asked to be a godparent. Personally, I take my responsibility as godparent to two of my nieces seriously. I watch that their parents are faithful in their church attendance. Now, the parents and children involved are WELS, so I don't have that conflict. But if asked to be a godparent and the stipulation is to raise the child in a non-WELS/ELS church, I may well ask them--gently--that they may want to find a more qualified candidate. If they merely want me as a witness, then I would have no problem.

I hope this answers your questions or at least helps you sort out the responsibility presented before you. There is no hard and fast rule; the soul of the child, not the faith the godparent, is the focus of baptism. And in baptism, God promises us that he is working through the water and the Word to create faith in the baby and, by our witnessing, strengthen our faith as well.

-- posted by H2O

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