Can a Father Bless His Child in Fast Meeting?

Can a Father who Does Not Hold the Priesthood Bless his Child in Fast Meeting;? Does a father, holding the office of teacher or deacon, have the authority to bless his child in a fast-meeting, and give it a name by which it shall be known while it lives on the earth?" Attention is called to the Doctrine and Covenants, sec. 20, paragraph 70, page 128 which answers the question: Every member of the church of Christ having children, is to bring them unto the elders before the church, who are to lay their hands up- on them in the name of Jesus Christ, and bless them in his name. From this, we consider that only elders, or others holding the Melchizedek priesthood, can officiate in this calling of blessing children before the Church. If a father is called upon, who does not hold the Melchizedek priesthood, he cannot officiate as mouth in the blessing of his children before the Church. It must be re- membered that if a father and mother have been married in the order of the Church he will hold the Priesthood, and it is hoped that there are only few cases where a father, who is a member of the Church, is not worthy of holding the holy priesthood. We see no objection, and do not think there can be any, to a father not holding the priesthood, as head of the family, blessing and praying for his own child at home, although one can readily see that in administering to his children, even though he is the head of the family, he can not officiate by authority of the priest- hood.