YOU may have missed it but a couple of weeks ago it was the first ever Sunday on the church’s calendar to celebrate the unique role of godparents.

In various ways we were encouraged to remember and pray for the special relationship that exists between godparents and godchildren.

Yes, godparents really do matter to families.

In one survey, 91% of parents gave ‘having godparents’ as a reason for wanting to have their child baptised at a christening. Godparents can become part of family life for all the years ahead.

They are people on whom parents can depend; someone in a position to show interest and have a significant influence on their children; hopefully they are there for godchildren to ring or make contact with on Facebook; ideally they will model a life of faith and will pray.

When I started my ministry in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, I quickly gleaned that my first Vicar was very keen on godparents.

It turned out that he had been baptised as a child but grew up in a household where his atheist parents stayed well away from church.

Tom became a Christian at university and went on to be ordained and became a principal of a Theological College – training people to be vicars.

On this journey, he discovered that at his baptism he had had one praying godmother who had prayed faithfully for him for 20 years. No wonder he was keen on the role of godparents.

When my wife and I chose godparents for our three children we deliberately did not choose family members. We felt that family would be interested in and love our children anyway and that left us free to have the bonus of friends as godparents in this special relationship. Extra blessing!

You may have missed Godparents’ Sunday but it’s not too late to consider how important this role can be. Maybe like me you haven’t always fulfilled the role as well as you could or should have done. It’s not too late to simply pray. Always a good idea.

Bishop Geoff Pearson, Bishop of Lancaster