Fancy a discount on your order? Click Here. Categories: Events. Contact Connect with Melanie Notkin. Keep in touch Contact Melanie Notkin or her representatives below: For general press inquiries: press melanienotkin. Subscribe to newsletter Subscribe. That's because both the Church of England and the Catholic Church only have minimum requirements, of three and one respectively.
A godparent is supposed to mentor the child in their faith. And the rules haven't changed. The Church of England does not distinguish between denominations, says Stratford. A Muslim or a Hindu cannot strictly speaking be a godparent, nor can a secularist who has not been baptised.
While the Church does insist on godparents being baptised , that may not be uniformly enforced across all parishes. Stratford acknowledges that in practice the godparent's role is broader than just a religious one. That is fairly common in the Church," he says, explaining that the Church is soon to advise using the term "supporting friend". People may be less religious but many are reluctant to relinquish all church traditions.
These were almost non-existent about 15 years ago but now there are hundreds every year, according to the British Humanist Association. And while they may have rejected religion, they haven't rejected religious terminology. Plus, Marlon Brando has never portrayed a "supportive mentor".
One in three Church of England christenings is now of a child between the ages of one and Sort of like a two-for-one deal. But it's only partially about cost, she says. High competition for school places is credited with creating a new phenomenon - the "bogus" baptism - where the primary motivation is to get a child into a faith school. In very cynical terms that might be wealth.
But it might also be glamour, adventurousness, sporting prowess or a link with another country. I think people are now increasingly seeing it as a way of widening a child's horizons.
You begin to think, well, is this about the child, or is it about a networking, mutually beneficial relationship? When I ask William Cash, editor-in-chief of Spear's , a magazine for "high-net-worth individuals", whether the role of the modern godparent has changed he says: "Definitely.
The ultra-rich tend to compete with each other in obscure ways, and one is that they can afford to have lots of children — and not only children, but a whole network of godchildren. And it is definitely a network. It's a way of taking care of all sorts of potential employment opportunities. It's quite calculated and almost Medici-like in its aspirations. Cash says he has come across quite a few people "who sack their godparents and move on. It's the ultimate form of social climbing, you could say.
Girls or boys of 12 or 13 will fire one of their godparents, perhaps because they're not influential or useful enough, and then adopt another one. Cash himself has an adult goddaughter who appointed him when she converted to Catholicism before marriage. If they convert to a religion as an adult, people will sometimes collect a series of godparents at that point.
So I have a highly successful female entrepreneur banker who is my year-old goddaughter. Beyond the rarefied worlds of the rich, aristocratic and celebrated, there are signs that this behaviour is trickling down.
We now live in a world where networking is more transparent and acceptable than ever — also, where people are increasingly worried about a troubled jobs market and their children's prospects.
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