Godparent Stories

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PTC is an acronym, a reminder for godparents to engage godchildren broadly and build godparent relationships thoughtfully.   Integrate these three activities regularly to design memorable and impactful godparent relationships.     

P is for Pray

Godparents share the responsibility with parents for nurturing and modelling the foundational skill of praying for godchildren and godteens.  While the methodology of prayer may vary, praying is a vehicle for communication with God, discernment of His plan for us, and for ultimately building a lasting relationship with Him.  The discipline of praying is a practice that can mature and develop over time and with age.  So, godparents have an opportunity to support the spiritual development of  godkids and godteens by nurturing and strengthening their prayer skills. 

Weekly worship services, traditional Sunday school and play, bible studies classes, vacation bible school and parochial school experiences, all familiarize children and teens with formal prayers.  But godparents and parents often introduce praying to children earlier and in less formal ways.  At meals, as an example, encouraging kids to lead grace at the table, conveys the importance of integrating prayer into daily life activities. Godparents can supplement bedtime reading for young kids with books, songs or videos featuring common prayers. As they grow, godparents can encourage godkids and godteens to integrate prayer more broadly, supporting behavior and character development, decision-making, coping mechanisms and celebrations.  

Clergy can be an excellent resource for godparents regarding resources for  godkids and godteens growing their prayer skills. Additionally, children’s ministry leaders within your godchild’s house of worship may also suggest materials, exercises and experiences to strengthen prayer skills, appropriate given denominational affiliation. Additionally, our newsletter includes helpful tips for our Subscriber Insiders to keep godkids and godteens prayerfully connected. Books, letters, rosaries, prayer cards and the like, given to you as a godchild, can support prayerful habits as well, while serving as an heirloom memento from you to your godchild. Regardless of your choice of resources, reach out to your godkids  and godteens often and regularly to pray with them, pray for them and encourage integrating prayer in their daily lives.       

T is for Teach

Many godparents are chosen, in part, for their perceived ability to impart background and understanding of theological teachings, as well as contribute to the development of academic skills for godchildren and godteens. Discussions with your godchild’s parents, as described in our Godparent Magazine, Expectations, should help discern whether educational support was a consideration within your selection, as godparent. Teachable moments can happen almost anytime you are connecting with your godchildren. A trip to the barbershop can spark conversations about transforming talents into careers. Young girls can be guided to find inspiration in the biblical stories of strong women like Esther and Ruth.   An afternoon pitching session can include physics pearls to better predict the ball’s trajectory out of your hand.  Almost any moment can serve as an opportunity to share a little wisdom or provide guidance to your godkids. Currently godparents, positioned to provide sound guidance in theological and religious teachings, specific traditional academic subjects, post-secondary trade training options, or pre-college preparation and related counseling, can be particularly impactful in supporting kids, teens and families.  Young people are experiencing education losses due to pandemic-related interruption of in-person traditional learning in schools and cancellation of in-sanctuary children’s ministry and programming over the last couple of years. So, academically adept godparents can be extremely impactful, working synergistically with parents, to find vacation bible school experiences, standardized test preparation experiences, summer science camps, etc. to bolster learning skills and foster subject mastery for kids and teens. 

C is for Celebrate

Celebrating milestones is one of the joys of being a godparent! Many godparents celebrate school success, sports field triumphs, graduations, birthdays and holidays with their godkids and godteens.   Adding celebrations of baptismal anniversaries, first holy communion, confirmations and the like as well, highlights the unique spiritual nature of this special relationship. While gifts are common within godparent relationships, the godchild-godparent bond becomes stronger between gifts.