Most people know what godparents are but what are guide parents?
You may have heard it once before in passing and just thought your ears were deceiving you but they are a real thing.
As the world becomes more secular, not all parents are going for the traditional Christenings that used to be the go-to naming ceremony in Ireland.
While many religions worldwide have their own specific celebrations or traditions for welcoming a new baby to the world, those who don’t practice have started a new tradition.
Parents are now having naming ceremonies where they also appoint guide parents, but what are they and how are they different to godparents?
What are they and what is their role?
In short, guide parents could be considered the non-religious equivalent of a godparent as they both make promises to a child during a naming ceremony.
Yet unlike godparents, they don’t provide spiritual guidance but love and support throughout their lives.
In years gone by, the godparent was the person who took in the child if something happened to the parents but these days that is, generally, not the case for godparents any more or guide parents.
What do they do during the ceremony?
It depends on what role you want them to take, during many humanist ceremonies, they have been known to do a reading or make a promise to the child at the centre of the day.
Yet there are no strict rules for them to follow, if they would like to and you agree they could even sing a song or read a poem.
If you would like more ideas, speak with a celebrant and they could offer more suggestions.
How many guide parents can a child have?
Again this is completely up to you, if you have two people in mind you would like to take up the role ask them but if you can’t decide between six, all of them could be involved!
There are also no rules about gender to follow, if you want two women to fill the position go ahead, do you have six brothers you want to include? Just go for it.
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