What are the responsibilities of godparents and what should godparents do?

Baptism in infancy are carried out by those people who want their children to be involved in the Orthodox faith as early as possible.

Baptism is a sacrament without which it is impossible to begin church life. And in this action, the presence of godparents is a prerequisite. Not everyone knows what requirements are placed on them, and even fewer people have any idea what godparents should do. The further quality of the child’s spiritual life largely depends on correctly performed actions and the desire to help the godson.

General requirements for godparents

The requirements for godparents (their second name is godparents) must be identified before determining for the godparent what to do at the christening.

General requirements for godparents:

These people must be believers. Representatives of other religions or those who deny God cannot become godparents. This requirement is due to the fact that their main task is to vouch for the faith of the godchildren in the future, when they will be able to understand the meaning of the sacrament that took place. The best situation is when godparents have a thorough understanding of Orthodoxy, not only theoretically, but also practically, that is, they attend divine services and participate in church sacraments.
Parents do not have the right to be children's adoptive parents; other degrees of kinship are permissible. If there is both a godfather and a godmother, then they should not be married to each other.
There are no clear age limits for godparents; most often people over 14 years old are allowed. The main thing is that they understand the full degree of responsibility that is entrusted to them, because they cannot subsequently abandon their responsibilities. Likewise, parents of godchildren cannot look for replacements for them. The connection between godchildren and their godchildren is lifelong, so the latter must feel a great responsibility to their godchildren, their mom and dad, and to God.
It is desirable that there be friendly relations between the family of the child being baptized and his godfather; the godfather must be in close proximity to the godson in order to be able to see him.

The rules of baptism require the presence of a godfather for a boy and a godmother for a girl, but there is a tradition according to which parents invite both godparents for the child, and they jointly perform their duties. One person can become a godfather an unlimited number of times during his life. At the same time, it is better for her to find out what a godmother should do in advance and think about whether she can approach this responsibly, and if the answer is negative, refuse the offer to become a godmother. The same goes for the godfather.

Why is the conversation being held?

Currently, according to the Decree of the Patriarch of All Rus' Kirill, a mandatory interview in the church before baptism has been established in Orthodox churches.

Sacrament of Baptism

The conversation is conducted with:

By parents.
Perceivers.
Those who are baptized are over 15 years of age.

Many temple visitors do not understand the meaning of the innovation, because before everything was much simpler.

The conversations are conducted by a catechist, their goal is to increase the level of conscious readiness to receive the Sacrament of both the baptized and their godparents.

Attention! Without conversations with godparents and parents, the baptism of a child (adult) is not carried out.

Rules of the Sacrament of Baptism

During the Sacrament, a person is plunged into holy water, thereby symbolically dying to a life of sin and being resurrected to a new, holy, sinless life. Just as Jesus died on the Cross and rose three days later to a new, glorified life, so the one who is baptized after being immersed three times comes out of the font changed.

Child Baptism

For adults wishing to receive Holy Baptism, the following requirements are mandatory:

acceptance and fulfillment of God's Commandments;
agreement with the tenets of Orthodox doctrine;
awareness of the need for constant participation in parish life;
acquiring initial skills in attending worship services;
knowledge of basic prayers;
acquaintance with the text of the Gospel.

Before performing Baptism, an adult must make a confession, and the next day receive communion at the Liturgy.

More about the Church Sacraments:

Participle
Confession
Wedding

During the Baptism of infants and youth (up to 15 years), the presence of at least one godfather is required:

for boys - a man;
for girls it is a woman.

Responsibilities of a godfather before baptism

The responsibilities of godparents arise from the moment they are invited by the parents of the child they want to baptize. The godmother and godfather must understand whether they have enough knowledge about the Orthodox faith in order not only to participate in baptism and understand everything, but to further explain to the godson the meaning of the Orthodox faith. The question of what a godmother should do if there are significant gaps in knowledge is simple - they need to be filled, you definitely need to read the Bible or at least the New Testament.

What should godparents do before baptism? – Answering this question, it should be noted that in this matter they usually need help from knowledgeable people. To do this, they must undergo public conversations in the church where the sacrament of baptism is scheduled to take place. Their number and content are established by the leadership of the temple or by the priest who will baptize the baby. The future godfather or godmother can ask him all the questions they have. Perhaps the priest will limit himself to interviews with future recipients. The presence of parents at conversations and interviews is not strictly mandatory, but is encouraged, because they should have an idea of the level of training of the godparents.

What's a godfather to do?

Godfathers are usually preoccupied with buying gifts for godchildren. They consider this their duty, but it is not written down anywhere. In some cases, the problem of what to do for a godfather who wants to somehow participate in the preparation for baptism is easily resolved - he buys a cross and a rope or chain for the godson; they can be purchased at a jewelry store or directly at a church store. The younger the child, the simpler the cross and chain/rope should be, because he can accidentally ruin them while playing.

What should a godmother do before baptizing a child?

a godmother do before baptizing a child — She can buy a baptismal shirt alone or together with the child’s mother. If she is a skilled needlewoman, then she may well sew it herself or make a memorable embroidery on it. Previously, the problem of what the godmother should do before the sacrament was simply resolved - she brought a white cloth to the temple, which was called a “rizka”. Now you can also buy a special cloth or a baptismal set, a towel, the main thing is that the newly baptized person will have them for life.

It is advisable for godparents to prepare for christening by going through confession and communion. This will help cleanse their souls before this great sacrament.

Should a person confess his sins to another person before baptism?

Here's what Douglas Jacobi, a Christian teacher, says about this.

I don't see a passage in the New Testament that requires us to confess all our sins to another person. The passage in the Epistle of James is written for believers:

So confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man has great power. (James 5:16)

John's baptism passages set a precedent for confession before baptism, but they do not create a command to do so. Confession makes future help easier for the believer. Creates a spirit of openness.

Sometimes there was a teaching that repentance was not true unless all sins had been confessed. I see that there are several problems with this teaching:

As the years go by, we begin to realize more and more sins in our lives. To a certain extent, sensitivity to sin depends on our spiritual maturity. Unlike repentance. Some people would then have to be baptized again, their understanding of sin would change so much. As a good friend said, “It is always easier to doubt baptism than to trust in the mercy of God.”
The lack of crystal clear biblical teaching that we have in the case of faith, repentance and baptism should make us wary of increasing the demands of God, even though our intentions are good.
We do not see this custom in practice in the book of Acts, which records how the young church understood the apostolic teaching.
Some people are so deeply traumatized (sexual abuse, psychological trauma, etc.) that they are unable to fully open up, even after several years in Christ. It takes time to build trust in order to reveal your secrets to new people. This does not mean that we should stop preaching about being open and honest, but we must be careful not to demand more from a repentant person than God himself requires.

Responsibilities of a godfather during baptism

The duties of a godfather are written down in the church book. And in order to understand what godparents should do during baptism, you should familiarize yourself with the order of the sacrament. Afterwards, it becomes clear that they hold the child in their arms during almost the entire sacrament.

The sacrament of baptism consists of several parts:

When answering the question of what a godfather should do at a christening, you need to dwell on one of the parts - the announcement; the godfather carefully listens to the priest who reads special prayers - prohibitory ones. At certain moments, the recipient must utter phrases regarding renunciation of Satan, union with Christ, must answer the clergyman’s questions and say the Creed prayer. By this, godparents testify to the confession of the Orthodox faith by their godchildren.

Baptism in infancy involves immersing the child in the font three times, accompanied by a special prayer rule. Actually, this is baptism, what the godmother does in this case is easy to understand - she keeps a large towel ready, in which she wraps the girl when the priest takes her out of the font. The godfather does the same in relation to the godson. They must also put a cross and a baptismal shirt on the newly baptized person.
The priest smears the child’s body with the consecrated Myrrh (special composition). They ask the question: what should a godmother do at a christening after anointing. She must take her goddaughter in her arms, together with the priest they go around the font three times, then wash off the Miro. The same thing happens with the godfather and his godson.

Hair is cut on four sides, which shows submission to God,
Hair is cut on four sides, which shows submission to God, the priest prays for the newly baptized child and his godfather. If there are two godparents and this is the christening of a boy, what does the godmother do, the question does not arise - she also prays for the boy at this moment.
The final stage - the clergyman brings the child to the temple icons, the boy is brought into the altar, then the children are returned to the godparents.

There is no mandatory rule about what godparents do after baptism, but many godparents want to please their godchildren and buy them gifts. You can stop at the measured icon of the saint with whose name the child is baptized. Also a good gift is a children's Bible, which godparents can study together with their godchildren.

Responsibilities of a godfather after baptism

The responsibilities of the godparent after baptism must be determined and brought to the attention of the godparents before the ceremony. They can be divided into three groups:

One of the main actions that a godfather needs to do is pray, but not all godparents cope with this. You can pray not only in church, including submitting notes, but also at home. There are special prayers for godchildren. When the child grows up, you need to explain to him the meaning of prayers, teach him the simplest prayers.
To explain what the godfather should do, it is necessary to turn to the doctrinal function - he must not only theoretically talk about Orthodoxy, but also introduce the godson into spiritual life practically - attend church, participate in the sacraments. Godparents should show the benefits of this by their example.

Moral and educational function: godchildren should learn only good things from their successors - they should tell them what moral standards are, teach them how to apply them in life, and distinguish good from evil. When considering what a godmother should do, it should be noted that she should always be ready to give advice to her goddaughter, the same goes for the godfather and his godson. Previously, they were asked for their blessing on choosing a life path, on choosing a life partner.

The duties of godparents are now simplified to rare meetings and gift-giving. The recipients need to remember the day of the godson's baptism and remind him of this himself if he has forgotten. Weak connections between godparents and godchildren negatively affect not only the spiritual life of the godson, but also, in general, his entire life, when he does not know what to do in a given situation. It is better for godparents to prepare in advance to fulfill their duties in order to make the lives of future godchildren happier.

*Baptism is a good deed that any Orthodox person should strive for. There is a lot of evil in the world and you can protect a child from it, including through the prayers of godparents.