1 /5 Hannah Simpson: My boyfriend and I were really looking forward to dedicating our 6 month old at The Bridge. We attended their child dedication class to learn more as it is a prerequisite to the ceremony. They make you do the class as well as an interview with an elder or pastor. We are unmarried, but raise our child in Jesus’s image and faith focused. We never thought that being unmarried would cause an issue as we are still devout in our faith. The bridge made it very clear that if you were unmarried, then you cannot dedicate your child in the ceremony. as they told us, for being unmarried, is not a “no” but a “wait” to be married first before we could dedicate our son. This is very disappointing for Christians, as we are a committed, loving family who want to raise and dedicate our child to Jesus, but I told no because we are not perfect. we find it very hypocritical that “accept everyone” but truly do not unless you have a perfect image. people come in all sorts of relationships. and circumstances (single parents, same-sex, unmarried, etc.)
The judgment we felt was humiliating and unnecessary. With that being said, we won’t be returning to the bridge and will be finding somewhere else to go that is more accepting and understanding.