
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, March 15, 1991                   TAG: 9103150333
SECTION: EXTRA                    PAGE: E-3   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Cody Lowe
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

METHODIST BISHOP ISSUES WARNING ABOUT NEW RITUAL

The bishop of the Virginia Conference of the United Methodist Church last week urged ministers to exercise care in the use of a new short ritual for a congregation's acceptance of confirmands.

Thomas B. Stockton, speaking Sunday to Roanoke District youth who are in the process of confirmation, said the service described in the denomination's new hymnals "assumes you are a full member of the church" after baptism, which may have occurred in infancy.

That is "wrong theology" and not the traditional Methodist view, he said. The church traditionally has provided for confirmands to make a voluntary, personal commitment to the church, usually during adolescence following a series of classes with a minister.

In the new confirmation liturgy, a minister apparently may skip questions about renouncing wickedness and confessing Jesus Christ as savior. Stockton said he considers those crucial to a full understanding of what membership in the church entails.

A national church committee is studying the subject again, Stockton said in an interview, but may not make recommendations for some time.

Stockton spoke at Bonsack United Methodist Church in a joint worship service for youth from throughout the district.

by CNB