|
Bill, the concern I have (which doesn't invalidate the practice) is suggested by something Bruce said about a membership roll defining the limits of accountability. In one sense, I can certainly see how this is so. And if you practice close(d) communion, then it may be that a confrontation is that all can be done with someone who is not a member. But in churches which practice open communion, if the elders are not willing to discipline a non-member by barring them from the Lord's table (or if they will take no responsibility in prayer and visitation for that person --and I'm not saying that Bruce practices or advocates either of these), then I think something has gone rather wrong. In today's climate it often does take people quite a long time to be sure that they want to join this particular church: perhaps there is a distinctive they don't understand; perhaps they are Baptists in a presbyterian wilderness; perhaps the membership class at the church is a 3-year course. If they are discovered in flagrant, unrepentant sin during that time they should be barred from communion: if a problem is suspected, they should be visited.
|