We’re thrilled that you’ve expressed interest in dedicating your child at Cornerstone Community Church! Below you’ll find a rationale as to why we practice child dedication; what it means and what it doesn’t mean for us at Cornerstone.
**If you're intersted in having your child dedicated, please fill out our online form by clicking the "Register Now" button at the bottom of this page. **
Dedication is an opportunity for parents:
• to commit themselves to be, by the power of the Holy Spirit, the primary faith-shaper’s in their child’s life, following the clear example of Deuteronomy 6:1-9;
• to make a public commitment to God that you will teach your children to obey you in the Lord, that you will teach your children to honor you as their parents, that you will not provoke your children to anger, and that you will bring up your children in the discipline and instruction of the Lord (Ephesians 6:1-4);
• to commit, from this day forward, to raise your children with the goal that they would love God with all their heart, soul, and mind, and to love their neighbor as themselves (Matthew 22:37-40);
• to express your thanksgiving to God for blessing your family with a child (Psalm 127:3);
• to prioritize your family’s relationship to God as most important. This shows itself in family life through disciplines such as the reading of Scripture, prayer, teaching the Word of God to your family, evangelism, and participating in the life of a local church (like Cornerstone) through regular attendance, service as the Spirit of God enables you, and financial giving to support the poor and further advance the kingdom of God.
On the other hand, dedication does NOT:
• secure salvation for your children. We believe that, by the grace of God, each person must individually trust Jesus Christ as their Saviour and Lord, and follow after him (John 11:27; Acts 16:31; Ephesians 2:1-9);
• serve the same role as baptism. We believe that upon a clear confession of faith in Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord, a person should be baptized (Romans 6:1-4).
A parent/child dedication is an important opportunity for our church community. As a church family, we have the blessing of publicly declaring our commitment to pray for your family, to bear one another’’s burdens, and to live life together as disciples of Jesus Christ. It is our prayer that in the children He has brought to Cornerstone, God is raising a generation of people who will be radical, God-centred believers who will lay down their lives in acts of mercy and mission for the spreading of the gospel.