What is a godfather (godparent) in baptism?
A godfather (or godmother) is a Christian who stands as a spiritual sponsor, on the church's behalf, for someone being baptized, usually an infant. At the baptism the godparent professes the faith for the child and helps the parents raise the child in that faith. This is not a biblical command but a tradition dating from the early church.
The New Testament does not mention godparents. Acts tells of Lydia and the jailer at Philippi being baptized with their households, but describes no sponsor or godparent there. The practice developed in the early church; Tertullian, writing around AD 200, already mentions baptismal sponsors. Church tradition links the role to Jesus' command to baptize and to teach, and to handing faith down the generations, as when Paul recalls that Timothy's faith first lived in his grandmother and his mother.
Practice varies from church to church. In the Catholic Church, the person being baptized is given, as far as possible, a godfather or godmother (or one of each), who is generally expected to be at least 16, baptized and confirmed, a practising Catholic, and not the child's own parent. In Orthodox baptism the godparent is a necessary part of the rite, renouncing Satan and his works on the infant's behalf and reciting the Creed, and is expected to be Orthodox. Godparents are also part of Armenian and Syriac practice, and of Anglican and Lutheran churches. Baptist, Pentecostal and many independent Protestant churches, however, baptize not infants but people who profess their own faith, so they usually have no godparents; instead, a dedication service may be held in which the family and congregation pray for the child.
Being a godparent is not legal guardianship and does not replace the parents; it is a spiritual responsibility and a friendship that can last a lifetime. In everyday English, godfather can also mean a mafia boss, a sense made famous by Mario Puzo's novel The Godfather and its film adaptation (shown in Turkey as “Baba”); that usage has nothing to do with the church meaning.