Being godparent: A dialogical hermeneutic study of godparenthood

This dialogical hermeneutic study seeks to understand the meaning of being a godparent in contemporary, early 21st century North American practice. It addresses widespread uncertainty surrounding the tradition of godparenthood, its historical origins, and the range of practices across cultural contexts. Fifteen self-identified active godparents were interviewed. Interpretive research methods were used to analyze the data, and nine themes emerged to describe the experience of being godparents. These themes were placed in conversation with the historical record, adult education learning theory, and the literature on mentoring. Through the centuries being a godparent has moved away from being a relationship of political and religious significance toward one of social and spiritual meaning. This study identified a clear distinction between the practice of godparenthood in dominant and minority cultures today. Being a godparent in the dominant culture is a social honor with more or less spiritual responsibility. In minority cultures, being a godparent means primarily accepting responsibility as extended kin, with or without the spiritual content. Across cultures, being a godparent is an honor and a responsibility. Godparenthood is a unique and positive form of life-long mentoring that challenges the prevailing formal-informal mentoring paradigm, deserves further study, and has unrealized potential for healthy youth development and social welfare.