I am my nephew's godfather... as I understand it, the godparents are responsible for the child's religious upbringing or somesuch.

I've done nothing of the sort for my nephew.

Basically, I just stood there at the christening.

As we are dirty horrible atheists, we chose "god"parents slightly differently and we spoke to them about their role.

We chose "mentors" of each sex for my son when he was born. One was a close friend for whose child I fill the same role and one was my husbands oldest and dearest friend. And, while the female of the pair is not very involved in my son's life, her male counterpart is very serious about the entire thing.

We explained to Paul that we wanted him to be the guy my son, Kieran, could grow up having a close relationship with. We wanted our son to go to him when he felt he couldn't come to us for advice or guidance. Paul should consider it his duty to teach Kieran things, to make Kieran feel special. Ultimately, his role would be as a special and loving uncle.

For most of Kieran's life, Paul and his wife have lived first in Argentina and now in Taiwan (we're in Ontario). Paul regularly calls and talks exclusively to Kieran (now nearly 3y) and writes long letters exclusively to Kieran. When he is physically here, he leaves behind small gifts we can give Kieran at the appropriate times in his name.

I don't believe in god, though I do often use the term godfather because there is a meaning in that term that everyone gets that wouldn't be adequately conveyed by mentor. But, it is essentially a mentor's job.

Mentoring was traditionally and officially in a religious capacity, but in the modern world, I think the idea of a life mentor is a good one. They need not be involved in a daily or even monthly way in your life or the life of your child, but they should participate with your child regularly (Paul contacts Kieran semi monthly or quarterly, which is about how often we'd see him if he lived in the province).

Well, the religious upbringing and all, for sure.

But also, if something should happen to you and your partner, the godparents are responsible for making sure the kid grows up okay.

I thought that's what designating guardians in our will was for..?

Our son has only a godmother too. We wanted one to have mainly in the traditional sense minus the whole ceremonial sense (because our non-denominational faith doesn't really have one...) She's a close friend of mine, someone I really respect. I guess you just do whatever you want nowadays...?

We're Catholic, and for us, godparents are responsible NOT for raising the kid if anything happens to the parents (that would indeed be the task of the legal guardian) but to ensure that the godchild leads a faithful life.

This is not only if the parents die, but also if they fail to instruct their child in the faith. How the godparent is supposed to step in when that happens (secret meetings?) I do not know. But that was drummed into my sister good and hard when she sponsored our son.

As for the history - we were told that in the beginning of the Catholic Church, most baptisms were done on adults. For those done on children, a "sponsor" was chosen to make the profession of faith for the unwitting child, who was ostensibly unable to do so for themselves. (As for waiting until the child could make that decision for themselves - well, that's not really our way.)

For Greek Orthodox types, the Godfather or Godmother is responsible for the spiritual upbringing of the child. The person that you choose must be trusted to teach the faith to the child, to bring him/her to church regularly, and to be a part of all of the child's spiritual milestones i.e. Baptism, communions, Easter celebrations, wedding, etc.

Traditionally, the Godfather of the first child is also the best man at the wedding, and when the time comes for Baptism, the Godfather also must choose the name for the child, although this part of the tradition is now rarely followed.

Usually, there is only one Godparent, and that person's spouse becomes the other Godparent. However, many couples are now choosing two Godparents who may or not be related i.e. one is a friend of the mother, and one a friend of the father.

hi im actually wondering whats a godparent do
im 17 n my best friend just had a girl n i don't have a clue what i do as a god mother can u tell me