Regarding your question whether there is any special
ceremony which the believers should perform when they wish to “name” a baby;
the Teachings do not provide for any ceremony whatever on such occasions. We
have no “baptismal service” in the Cause, such as the Christians have. There
would be no objection, however, for the friends to come together on such happy
occasions, provided they do not hold an official public ceremony, and provided
also they strictly avoid uniformity and rigidity in all such practices. No rule
whatsoever that would tend to be rigid and uniform should be allowed in such
secondary matters, particularly as there are no specific instructions in the
Teachings regarding them.
- Shoghi Effendi (From a letter dated December 20, 1938, written on
behalf of Shoghi Effendi to an individual believer; ‘Arohanui: Letter from
Shoghi Effendi to New Zealand’)
