The Spiritual Side of Godparenting

By Kathryn Slattery, Guideposts Contributing Editor

It all happened so fast. My dear friend Sandy had just telephoned long distance from Florida to ask if I would consider being godmother to her second child, a newborn son.

Godmother! I was honored. I was flattered. I'd never been asked to be a godmother before. "Sure," I replied easily.

"You don't have to answer right away," Sandy said. "Being a godparent is a serious responsibility. Maybe you'd like to think it over for a few days, maybe even pray about it."

"Don't be silly," I laughed. "I'd love to be Josh's godmother."

We talked some more, mostly about the baby and his upcoming baptism, and then, as quickly as it had begun, our conversation was over. Sandy and her new son were 2,000 miles away in the Florida sun, while here I sat in our New York City apartment, staring out the window at the zigzag pattern of fire escapes across the street.

With some unease I sensed that in the course of one simple phone call my identity had taken on a new, uncertain dimension. As mother of two, I was familiar with plain old garden-variety parenthood. But godmother—this was different. This was...

And then it hit me. I hadn't the foggiest idea what being a godparent meant. What was it Sandy had said about godparenting being a serious responsibility? The way she talked, her request had more to do with Josh than with honoring me. Clearly her expectations were high. But what exactly did she expect?

I thought of my own godmother, my mother's best friend from her college days. Our families lived thousands of miles apart. On the few occasions our paths crossed, I remembered her as a warm and friendly woman. When I was very young she sent me Christmas presents—sometimes a doll, sometimes a book. Still, I couldn't recall that she had ever done anything that set her apart as a godmother.

Story continues below ad

Mornings with Jesus 2012

Mornings with Jesus 2012 features an uplifting devotion that demonstrates how Jesus’ life and teachings apply today.

Buy Now!

Well, there was no turning back now. For better or worse, I'd impulsively said yes to Sandy's request. "Father," I whispered, "please teach me what it means to be a godparent."

Over the next several weeks I set out to discover everything I could about godparenting. I'm an Episcopalian, my friend Sandy is Catholic, so I talked to a number of pastors. Books on the subject are surprisingly hard to find. I also talked to friends—godparents and godchildren alike—to learn from their experiences. And what I discovered was fascinating.

The tradition of godparenting among Christians is an ancient one going back to the days of the early church, when believers were persecuted—and when life expectancies in general were much shorter than they are today.

While modern-day American believers are not persecuted as the early church once was, it could be said that the healthy growth and development of our children's faith is threatened as never before by the cumulative effect of society's ills: widespread divorce; broken homes; rampant materialism; both parents working, out of economic necessity rather than choice; lack of parental supervision; parental mental illness; alcohol and drug abuse; parental physical, sexual and emotional abuse; and the desensitization of our children to violence and sex via unsupervised viewing of inappropriate television, videos and movies.

In other words, kids today need all the help they can get. Over and over I was astonished to hear from clergy and laypeople alike that something so old-fashioned as good godparents practicing good godparenting could make a powerful difference.