My sister is a Methodist minister in a small rural church.. There’s a developmentally challenged young woman there who will never progress intellectually beyond a childlike state. She constantly carries with her a doll that she calls her baby. She asked my sister if she would baptize the “baby.” My sister did this during a Sunday morning service, using a simplified and abbreviated form of the actual rite. All the congregation, who knew the girl and her situation quite well, approved and were touched by the event. Some of my sister’s friends from other congregations expressed dismay and challenged the act on theological grounds. I understand both sides of this, but love that my sister acted on the side of charity rather than legalism.
My sister is a Methodist minister in a small rural church.. There’s a developmentally challenged young woman there who will never progress intellectually beyond a childlike state. She constantly carries with her a doll that she calls her baby. She asked my sister if she would baptize the “baby.” My sister did this during a Sunday morning service, using a simplified and abbreviated form of the actual rite. All the congregation, who knew the girl and her situation quite well, approved and were touched by the event. Some of my sister’s friends from other congregations expressed dismay and challenged the act on theological grounds. I understand both sides of this, but love that my sister acted on the side of charity rather than legalism.