wfn.org | [UMNS-ALL-NEWS] UMNS# 215-Bishops can give deacons sacramental authority

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Bishops can give deacons sacramental authority

>May. 21, 2008

NOTE: Photographs are available at http://umns.umc.org.

>A UMNS Report By Vicki Brown*

United Methodist bishops will be allowed to grant authority to deacons
to administer Holy Communion and baptism in certain circumstances under
legislation approved this spring by General Conference.

The authority can be granted to a deacon within his or her primary
appointment in the absence of an elder. The change takes effect in
January 2009.

"This legislation is an effort to extend the mission and ministry of the
church in extraordinary circumstances when an elder is not present,"
said the Rev. Mary Ann Moman, a staff executive with the United
Methodist Board of Higher Education and Ministry.

"The legislation is a reminder of the importance of the sacramental
ministry in the church and the world. It is fair to ask why elders
aren't present in the places where the sacraments are needed."

The board presented the petition through its Study of Ministry
Commission, which also asked to continue a denomination-wide
conversation regarding ordination and sacramental authority for four
more years. Delegates voted to create a new commission to continue that
conversation and also approved the legislation allowing sacramental
authority.

The legislation was approved by 67 percent of the delegates voting.
General Conference, the top legislative body of The United Methodist
Church, met April 23-May 2 in Fort Worth, Texas.

The petition amends the Book of Discipline to add: "For the sake of
extending the mission and ministry of the church, a pastor-in-charge or
district superintendent may request that the bishop grant local
sacramental authority to the deacon to administer the sacraments in the
absence of an elder, within a deacon's primary appointment." (Paragraph
328.)

Moman said agency staff will work with the Council of Bishops as the
church's dpiscopal leaders address the issues of implementation,
including exactly what situations would apply.

The board plans to distribute information to deacons, chairs of orders,
and annual conference Boards of Ordained Ministry about the change.

The Rev. Sharon Rubey, director of candidacy and conference relations,
said the legislation gives the authority to "extend the means of grace
for the missional needs of the church, and not a means of convenience."

The Rev. Anita Wood, the board's director of professional ministry
development, said the heart of the ministry of the deacon remains the
call to connect the needs of the world to the ministries of the church.

"Deacons are called to the responsibility to serve in specialized ways
that bridge ministries of the congregation with the needs of the
community. Sometimes that may call for sacramental authority, and many
times, not," Wood said.

Wood said it will be important to articulate the connection between the
ministries of the deacon and offering the means of grace through
sacramental authority and will require much discussion and discernment.
"Informal conversations have already begun," she said.

*Brown is associate editor and writer, Office of Interpretation, United
Methodist Board of Higher Education and Ministry.

News media contact: Linda Green, e-mail: newsdesk@umcom.org.

>********************

United Methodist News Service Photos and stories also available at: http://umns.umc.org

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