Nervous for baby blessing

[MaMeeshkaMow]

I'm blessing my second child this Sunday and I'm feeling really nervous. Those that have lots of experience with baby blessings, can you give me tips? Also, is it true I shouldn't say the following things:

"by the power of the Melchizedek priesthood" should I say in the name of Jesus Christ and by the authority of the Melchizedek priesthood or JUST by the authority of the Melchizedek priesthood...

"the name he shall be known by throughout his life and on the church records is...."or should it be the name he will be known by is.....

Any other advice is appreciated on right words and tips to deal with being nervous. Thanks!!!!

[MarginOfError]

The proper phrase is "by the authority of the Melchizedek Priesthood," but if you slip up, no one will jump down your throat.

There's no set wording for how to give the child a name. Most of the ones I've heard in my ward have said, "the name he shall be known by throughout his life and on the records of the Church is...." When I blessed my daughter, I simply said "by the authority of the Melchizedek Priesthood, we give this child the name...." and then went into the blessing.

As for when to invoke the name of Christ, you just need to do it at least once. For instance, if you wanted to play with people a bit, you could say

"By the authority of the Melchizedek Priesthood and in the name of Jesus Christ...." and them simply close at the end with "Amen." But if you do it twice or three times, it doesn't matter. It just needs to be done at least once.

[HiJolly]

Yes, good post from MOE.

I just had to share....

A couple of weeks ago I was visiting my son's ward and a brother was blessing a baby. He gave a good blessing but at the end he kind of summed it up by saying "We bless you with all this stuff... <pause> ...all these things, in the name..." and he finished strong!

I just about laughed out loud, though, when he said "stuff". But hey, he recovered!

HiJolly

Edited December 3, 2010 by HiJolly

[MarginOfError]

Yes, good post from MOE.

I just had to share....

A couple of weeks ago I was visiting my son's ward and a brother was blessing a baby. He gave a good blessing but at the end he kind of summed it up by saying "We bless you with all this stuff... <pause> ...all these things, in the name... and he finished strong!

I just about laughed out loud, though, when he said "stuff". But hey, he recovered!

HiJolly

I find it more comical that he felt the need to convert from one meaningless, non-descript word to another meaningless non-descript word.

[mordorbund]

You can find the official guidelines in the Church Handbook of Instruction. If you're still nervous about it, talk to your priesthood leader (he specifically has a charge to teach you how to perform the ordinances).

I would add to the previous comments that this can be a great opportunity to enjoy the sprirt of revelation (I think there's a reason why fast Sundays are the preferred day for baby blessings). Pray and prepare for that spirit and write about the experience so you can refer to it in the future.

[MaMeeshkaMow]

Thanks everyone. The baby blessing went great. I was nervous for the first couple sentences but then it rolled quite nice. If anyone was going to say I sounded nervous, I was ready to say it was a spiritual and emotional experience (which is true!!).