Reverend Jacob Powell prays for 12-year-old Renegay Chambers during his dedication ceremony. - George Henry

BY GEORGE HENRY, STAR Writer

It has been the norm and still is the norm for parents to take their children to the church to be christened while they are infants. However, it is noticeable these days that quite a number of parents have been taking their children at varying ages to be dedicated, with some being as old as 10, 12 and even over 20 years old.

Well, such was the case when Deloris Bredna took her 12-year-old son Renegay Chambers to the Sharon Baptist Church in Santa Cruz, St. Elizabeth, to be christened by pastor for that church, Reverend Jacob Powell, on March 2.

Mother's illness

Chambers, who is from Park in the parish, was born on January 7, 1995, but was not christened because according to his mother Deloris, she was ill and was not able to take her son to take part in the traditional ceremony.

But for her, it was not too late to have the blessings of the Lord pronounced on Renegay, and she was thrilled to have witnessed her child being christened to the glory of Jesus.

The mother, who added that she has other children, pointed out that now that her youngest child has had the blessings of God pronounced on him, she now feels better.

"I feel better now that my son is christened. He was denied for too long and now that God's blessings are on him, he is now covered by the presence of the Lord who will take care of him when he goes out and when he comes in," said Deloris.

Reverend Jacob Powell, during his talk to the mother, said that the church and religion have a part to play in the life of the child. He pointed out that parents need to take their children to God for dedication and that they should be allowed to attend Sunday school.

The pastor said his church wants to play a role in Renegay's development and to make him aware that there is hope, joy and peace in Jesus Christ.

Powell pointed out that if children do not know the way of the Lord from an early age, they could end up doing the wrong things and could even end up going to hell.