DavidL
Puritan Board Freshman
I'm curious what the broad take on BCO 57-5 is, particularly with regard to previously baptized children who are now professing faith and becoming communing members. It has come to my attention that churches in our presbytery don't always ask the 5 membership questions of these children who are being welcomed to the table. Some practices that I have become aware of:
The question, I am finding, runs deeper to questions of discipline, particularly with question 5 in submitting to the government and discipline of the church. An argument was made that discipline of children is primarily a parental responsibility, so there is an objection to placing children in a position where a litigious session would be instituting process with a child who is failing to obey his or her parents as children often fail to do as they grow up. Therefore, there is discomfort with asking a child the fifth membership vow.
Perhaps my biggest concern here is that this ultimately creates a class of membership between non-communing and communing members, and I don't see grounds for this in the BCO. It seems to me like a communing child should have the right to be a full membership of the church while also submitting to the rightful authority of his or her parents, and that the church should come alongside in supporting and caring for parents as they discipline their children instead of jumping in to institute process and usurp the parental authority.
Does anyone have any insight into the transition from non-communing to communing membership, or perhaps know of any blogs or other resources where this is discussed?
- Ask the questions as written in BCO 57-5
- Rewrite the questions to be better understood by a child, presumably without changing the content of the questions
- Ask a simple question such as "Who is your Lord and savior?" in lieu of the questions of BCO 57-5, with the understanding that the session has examined the individual prior to the public worship service
The question, I am finding, runs deeper to questions of discipline, particularly with question 5 in submitting to the government and discipline of the church. An argument was made that discipline of children is primarily a parental responsibility, so there is an objection to placing children in a position where a litigious session would be instituting process with a child who is failing to obey his or her parents as children often fail to do as they grow up. Therefore, there is discomfort with asking a child the fifth membership vow.
Perhaps my biggest concern here is that this ultimately creates a class of membership between non-communing and communing members, and I don't see grounds for this in the BCO. It seems to me like a communing child should have the right to be a full membership of the church while also submitting to the rightful authority of his or her parents, and that the church should come alongside in supporting and caring for parents as they discipline their children instead of jumping in to institute process and usurp the parental authority.
Does anyone have any insight into the transition from non-communing to communing membership, or perhaps know of any blogs or other resources where this is discussed?