Word Nerd Posted May 30, 2011 Share Posted May 30, 2011 The churches I've been in arrange for meal deliveries for new babies, regardless of which number child it is, but not showers. Our small group ladies held a shower for me for my first, but it wasn't a church-wide event. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Holly IN Posted May 30, 2011 Share Posted May 30, 2011 I voted other. Yes and No...If you are friends with lots of people there normally you would get a shower by those people. No to church wide event of a baby shower....whether a member or not.... Now you do have to be a member in order to do small group. Small group will give baby shower and food. Yet, if not a member but were involved in some way in a ministry then that particular ministry will do the shower and food. So yes and no...hence other! This is a mega church of 3500+. Holly Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OrganicAnn Posted May 30, 2011 Share Posted May 30, 2011 I voted "Other". They just don't do baby showers through Church. When I first read the subject like, I thought it was some type of weird baptism or cleaning up procedure - for a church needing a shower specifically for babies. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dinsfamily Posted May 30, 2011 Share Posted May 30, 2011 However, our church does bring meals for any new moms. The women sign up and bring a new mom a meal each day for about 7 days. It is a wonderful blessing and much better than a baby shower. ;) Our church does this for the first 2 weeks and I agree, it's a wonderful blessing... although I'm now short 3 casserole dishes. :tongue_smilie: Our church does this as well and it IS a huge blessing! I did lose my favorite soup Tupperware but have gained so many great recipes that I'll call it a wash. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jentancalann Posted May 30, 2011 Share Posted May 30, 2011 This is a terribly awkward issue. First of all, who is going to know who is a member and who is not? Who is going to decide which pg ladies have enough friends in the church Ladies' society to organize something? And, if it's winter nobody may really notice that someone is pg. And what about families who are in need vs those who are affluent? :confused: In our church, once someone starts visiting regularly they are put on a SS role. It is just the way we stay connected- its called "inreach". We run about 500-600 on a Sun. a.m. There really isn't any other way. Each class takes care of showers a little differently. Some teacher's wives are in charge of scheduling it, some classes have members that take care of it, but the whole class throws it on a Sunday night after church. The class brings the food, decorates, etc. The only way we don't know if someone is pregnant is if they choose not to tell. That kind of news travels fast. If you choose not to tell, you can't really expect a shower, can you? I said this in my other post, but each family only gets one shower. However, those who are in need but have already had one will usually be thrown a shower outside of church times- either in a home or on a different day at church, by anyone who wants to. The key is communication. If a church is good at this it's not so hard. I had my first shower there with my third child, and a group of friends took me out to eat and showered me w/ diapers for my fourth. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jean in Newcastle Posted May 30, 2011 Share Posted May 30, 2011 No baby shower done by the church. Some of the ladies do bring food to the mom and her family after giving birth though. Also in our general community baby showers tend to be for first babies only. Sometimes if it is a surprise baby after all the baby stuff has been given away, there might be a shower. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OnTheBrink Posted May 30, 2011 Share Posted May 30, 2011 I don't understand why a church would throw a shower for a pregnant member, but not for a pregnant woman who has been attending regularly for over a year and who is involved in serving at the church. It seems quite unkind. I understand the hurt or confused feelings. It is like the church leadership is communicating that a woman is welcome to attend and serve the church every week, but is not important enough to warrant a baby shower. How sad. It doesn't sound like a very friendly church to me. At my church, you can't do much by way of service if you're not a member. You can do some things, but not a whole lot. Anyway, my church's deaconesses will give a shower for a first baby for members and people who have attended a while and are in the membership process. I don't think there are any families who are long-term attenders who aren't members. Our church does this for the first 2 weeks and I agree, it's a wonderful blessing... although I'm now short 3 casserole dishes. :tongue_smilie: Meals are provided for the new family, regardless of which number baby they're having. Typically, it's 5 meals, but it can go up to 10. It depends on the family and their needs. Many times, new parents have relatives who come to stay, so meals aren't always needed right away. Deaconesses sign people up to deliver meals. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kolamum Posted May 30, 2011 Share Posted May 30, 2011 :grouphug: :grouphug: :grouphug: I'm with you 100%. We had this very issue in a church we attended in the US. I was pregnant with my second at the time and not a single women in that church offered anything. As in, help, smiles, etc. We were not members for some of the same reasons you mentioned all though they really wanted us to join. We did, however, work in the nursery, tithe, etc. We were struggling financially at the time but helped in anyway we could around the church. The men welcomed us as part of the church family, but the women did not. The preacher was always profusely grateful for what we did and he told dh he was going to get onto the women about throwing a baby shower. I was shocked by the news, but I'll also confess it never happened. A week after that happened I was put on bed rest. We had a 2 year old. No one called the first 2 weeks i was on bed rest. Then a member of our sunday school, a male, called and asked if everything was okay. I told him what was up. He was shocked to learn no one had contacted us before that moment. Yet, I gave birth to our second child before we returned to church and people were shocked to see us. No joke. I wasn't looking for a shower or truly caring one way or another, but I do get the hurt you feel. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jenny in Florida Posted May 30, 2011 Share Posted May 30, 2011 (edited) I have never heard of a church giving a baby shower. Maybe individual members who are friends of the expectant family but never the church itself. I've never heard of this, either. Most churches I know of, no matter what the denomination, have some sort of overall women's group. Interesting. I've belonged to only one denomination in my life (and UUs are, well, different). We don't have a women's group. All of the UU churches in which I've been active have some kind of congregational care group, but they tend to help people who are having some kind of crisis. They provide meals when a family member is in the hospital or transportation to chuch if someone isn't driving, that sort of thing. I've never seen them throw a baby shower or anything like that. Edited May 30, 2011 by Jenny in Florida Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vonfirmath Posted June 16, 2011 Share Posted June 16, 2011 Our church does not give baby showers. If you are plugged into a group (Sunday School, small group, etc) and someone there wants to organize it, you get a baby shower. I am not a member, but am a regular attender, etc. But not in a small group. So was expecting nothing with this baby. But the ladies of my Sunday School class surprised me with a small shower at the regular Ladies Night meeting in May! A couple of the others had just had girls earlier this year, so I got some hand me down clothes, etc. And was just blessed that they thought of me. Even the first-time baby of our class missionaries does not appear to be getting a baby shower from the Sunday School -- probably because no one stepped up to do it. In my old church, every baby in the class was celebrated. It was an excuse to get together. You'd have multiple mothers celebrated at one shower, etc. I LOVED it. But different groups do it differently. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hannah C. Posted June 17, 2011 Share Posted June 17, 2011 Our church brings meals 3x/week for about three weeks to anyone who's just had a baby, starting whenever the mom wants them to start after baby comes. Any baby showers would happen in small groups, and only if someone decided to take the initiative in at least suggesting a baby shower. I don't think it matters if you're a member or not - but then again, our church doesn't do traditional "membership" at all, so it's really dependent on if you come or not. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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