A Service of Thanksgiving
One of the most important things that many parents want to do is to thank God for their child, to present the child to God before gathered friends and relatives and to announce their name. This is the core of the service of thanksgiving at which the minister takes the child into their arms and prays for God's blessing on them. A copy of a Gospel is presented to signify the choice that parents are making to lead the child in the way of God, in the hope that as the child grows he/she will choose to read the Gospel and commit themselves to follow Jesus throughout their life. This service does not require the parents to make any declaration of their own Christian faith.