Council grants another year to study changes in communion policy By Paula R. Kincaid The Layman Online Thursday, October 7,1999 SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico - The General Assembly Council granted the Office of Theology and Worship another year to study whether communion should be served to those who are not baptized. Overture 98-33, which was referred to the Office of Theology and Worship by the 1998 General Assembly, calls for amending the Book of Order to establish open communion. According to the report of Congregational Ministries Division Committee, the study "is not now complete, and cannot be completed satisfactorily in time to prepare an adequate report to the 212th General Assembly (2000). An additional year will provide the time necessary for consultations that are planned for 1999 and 2000." The overture was sent to the Charlotte Assembly by the Presbytery of the Twin Cities Area. In W-2.4006, the overture calls for replacing the sentence "All baptized faithful are to be welcomed to the Table, and none shall be excluded because of race, sex, age, economic status, social class, handicapping condition, difference of culture or language, or an other barrier created by human injustice;" with "All persons of faith are to be welcomed to the Table, baptized or not, child or adult, in order to be assured of God's love and grace in Christ Jesus." The overture calls for W-2.4011a to be amended to read, "The invitation to the Lord's Supper shall be extended to all persons of faith present, remembering that access to the Table is not a right conferred upon the worthy, but a grace extended to all." That sentence would replace "The invitation to the Lord's Supper is extended to all who have been baptized, remembering that access to the Table is not a right conferred upon the worthy, but a privilege given to the undeserving who come in faith, repentance, and love." In W-2.4011b, the word "baptized," would be deleted as the first word of the sentence, so the section would read, "Children who are being nurtured and instructed in the significance of the invitation to the Table and the meaning of their response are invited to receive the Lord's Supper, recognizing that their understanding of participation will vary according to their maturity."

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