Child Dedication
Washington Alliance Church conducts child dedications for families ready to make a commitment to raise their children up in the Lord.
Celebration Sunday – November 23, 2025
Interest Form Due – Sunday, November 2, 2025
Click the button below to complete an interest form.
Why Child Dedication?
We know that, as a parent, you’re the most important influence in your child’s life. But you’re not the only influence your child needs. That’s where your church family comes in. Child dedication is an opportunity to invite others to develop and influence your child as they grow in their faith. It can relieve a lot of parenting pressure because you get to partner with people who will love and lead your child well.
Your kids didn’t begin following Jesus by accident. When you dedicate your child, you’re deciding that you’ll raise your kids knowing who Jesus is.
We love God with everything in us, and we model that for our kids because we know that our example is far more powerful than our words. We teach our kids what it looks like to follow Jesus. And we talk about it and think about it often. Leading kids to live like Jesus isn’t a checkbox on a parenting to-do list. It’s an intentional, ongoing conversation that shapes who they are now and who they’re becoming.
WHAT IS THE BIBLICAL PURPOSE AND HISTORY OF A CHILD DEDICATION?
The scriptural root of a child dedication is found in 1 Samuel 1:27–28 (NASB), where a godly woman named Hannah prayed year after year for God to give her a child. He answered her prayer and she gave birth to a son, whom she named Samuel. When Samuel was born, Hannah prayed these words: “For this boy I prayed, and the Lord has given me my petition which I asked of Him. So I have also dedicated him to the Lord; as long as he lives he is dedicated to the Lord.”
In Luke chapter 2 of the New Testament, following the birth of Jesus, Mary and Joseph took the infant Jesus to the temple and dedicated Him. In both Scripture passages, the parents entrusted their child completely to God.
The writings of Moses found in Deuteronomy 6:5–9 describe God’s plan for how a parent should raise up a child: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.”
One key step in marking your desire to nurture your child in the ways of God is to dedicate him or her to God publically, through a child dedication service.
3 Common Questions About Child Dedication
- Do my kids need to be dedicated for them to be Christians?
Child dedication is a great step for your family, but it’s certainly not the same thing as salvation. Salvation is what happens when your child decides to start a relationship with Jesus, and baptism is when they decide to go public with their faith. Child dedication is less about your child’s choice now and more about setting them up for those choices later. When you dedicate your child, you’re committing to raise them in an environment where they hear about Jesus and have an opportunity to accept Him as their personal Lord and Savior. It’s a great practice, but it is optional.
- What’s the big deal about child dedication?
Child dedications are a spiritually significant milestone for your whole family. When you dedicate your child, you’re choosing to make some parenting decisions that honor God, like finding trusted relationships through a Connect Group, modeling what it looks like to be planted in the church through serving, and showing your kids an example of what a generous life looks like. And while it sounds like you’ve got more things to do, you’re actually lightening the load because you’re committing to do these things in partnership with the church.
- When can you dedicate your child?
That’s your decision. You can dedicate your child whether they’re three days old or 13 years old. The age doesn’t matter as much as the principle. Child dedication is an important step in your family’s faith life because it’s setting a foundation that your family will be known for following Christ. So, consider choosing a family verse, picking family values, or finding friends who will help you grow in these values and become the people God has called you to be.