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Reformed Churches

In the Reformed tradition that includes the Continental Reformed, Congregationalist and Presbyterian Churches, the godparents are more often referred to as sponsors, who have the role of standing with the child during infant baptism and pledging to instruct the child in the faith. In the baptismal liturgy of Reformed Geneva, "the traditional presence of godparents was retained". John Calvin, the progenitor of the Reformed tradition, himself served as a godparent during forty-seven baptisms. The Reformed Church in Geneva, in order to ensure confessional orthodoxy, "expected parents to select Reformed godparents." Today, many Reformed churches invite parents to select godparents for their prospective neophyte, while other parishes entrust this responsibility to the whole congregation.