Planning A Quinceañera With Other Faiths

While it's true the Quinceañera celebration has deep roots within the Catholic faith, the modern American quince anos celebration is limited to no such specifications. As the American Latino community spreads and grows throughout the U.S., many are embracing new faiths and new lifestyles. The result for the Quinceañera celebration is that many quince anos girls of different faiths want to commemorate the tradition, even while keeping the prayer within their own spirituality.

The decision to hold a Quinceañera is a personal choice for every quince anos girl and her family. Especially for families leading a faith-based lifestyle, including prayer in the coming of age celebration is a lovely way to give thanks and praise for the daughter's life. Families with a more secular daily life may still wish to include a moment of prayer or attend a service.

Some congregations may already offer Quinceanera celebrations.

Depending on the size and makeup of the church's congregation, the local minister may already hold a special service for quince anos girls celebrating their birthday during a certain time frame - once a month, for example.

If no formal service is already in practice, the quince anos girl can still discuss the event with her faith leader. By working together, they should be able to devise a special service that accomplishes many of the same goals and expresses the same hopes as the traditional Catholic service. Alternately, they may decide to create a new service more attuned to their own faith and its teachings, taking the prayer into new directions that articulate the quince anos girl's current life.

Designing the prayer service for friends and family.

The quince anos girl, and her parents as well, should meet with their faith leader at least once to discuss the traditions of the Quinceanera and how its meanings and themes can take shape within their own religious understanding.

There is also the question of whom to include in the prayer service, if the quince anos girl's faith is not the same as her family's traditional spiritual path. In most cases, a typical guest list would include the quince anos girl's parents and grandparents, her padrinos, her siblings and her closest friends.

Forfeiting the misa for the sake of a bigger fiesta

Of course, choosing not to have a service is still another choice. The quince anos girl may wish to forego the costs of staging the misa, with all its accessories and planning, in favor of redirecting the money towards a better or bigger celebration. Such a decision should probably also require as a courtesy the permission of her parents and padrinos.