Chapter 1: The Church

1.9.1 the primary vocation and responsibility, in accordance with the value set upon the apostolic ministry in the New Testament and in the early Church, of declaring the universality of the grace of God by preaching the gospel of ‘a free, full, present salvation’ for everyone who repents and believes upon our Lord Jesus Christ.

1.9.2 a change of heart wrought by the grace of God, issuing in a new birth, in a conscious personal experience of the forgiveness of sins, and the spiritual glow of a ‘joy unspeakable and full of glory’ as the present privilege of every believer in Christ.

1.9.3 the necessity of a living fellowship in the realities of the Christian experience in order to nourish the life of God in the soul and to enrich the Body of Christ, so that ‘when each separate part works as it should, the whole body grows and builds itself up through love’.

1.9.4 the teaching of the possibility, here and now, of Christians being made ‘perfect in love’ through the obedience of faith.

1.9.5 the reaffirmation and consistent exercise of the New Testament truth of the universal priesthood of believers. The Methodist Church, therefore, holds that while certain of its members are called of God and are ordained and separated to the holy office of the Ministry within the Church, these hold no priesthood differing in kind from that which is common to the Lord’s people, and have no exclusive title to the preaching of the Gospel or to the care of souls. These ministries are shared with them by others, men and women. ‘It is one and the same Spirit who does all this; as the Spirit wishes different gifts are given to each person’.

1.12.1 by an ordained Minister or probationer Minister duly authorised thereto. It may be administered by a member of the Church only in the exceptional circumstances of impending death when a Minister is not available.

1.12.2 with water, in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. It may be by sprinkling, pouring, or immersion.

1.12.3 to those children only whose parents, one or both, are members of our Church or congregation. Instruction in the meaning of baptism shall be given beforehand. When parents wish to have their infant baptised in a Society other than that which they normally attend, they shall provide the Minister officiating with the written approval of their own Minister.

1.12.4 to older people who have not previously been baptised, and who desire upon profession of their faith in Jesus Christ to become members of the Church. Their preparation for such baptism shall be similar to that for persons being prepared for public reception into full membership or confirmation. Baptism shall not be administered to persons who have previously been baptised. If there is doubt about previous baptism, the Minister shall use the words, ‘If you are not already baptised, I now baptise you.... ‘.

1.12.5 in a Church building in the presence of a congregation either at a worship service, in a Sunday School session, or as specially arranged in consultation with a Society Steward. Where possible, the Sacrament of Baptism shall be conducted at Sunday Services planned at regular intervals. In cases of emergency, and in the case of those persons who reside in places remote from our Church, exceptions may be made at the discretion of the Minister. The Society Leaders’ Meeting may be consulted about requests for Baptism. The responsibility for the final decision whether or not to conduct a particular baptism rests with the Minister.

1.23.1 The Holy Communion The Methodist Church celebrates Holy Communion, also known as The Lord’s Supper or Eucharist, in obedience to the command of Jesus “who on the night when He was betrayed took bread, and when He had given thanks, He broke it, and said: ‘This is My body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance (anamnesis) of me.’ In the same way also the cup, after supper, saying: ‘This cup is the new covenant in My blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.’ (1 Cor. 11:23-25; cf Matt 26:26-29; Mark 14:22-25; Luke 22:14-20). Holy Communion is a sacramental meal that by visible signs communicates to us, through the power of the Holy Spirit, God’s love in Jesus Christ, crucified and risen. It therefore proclaims and celebrates the gift of new life in union with Christ and enables us, through faith, to share in the triumph of His death and resurrection which will be consummated at His coming again. It is a sacrifice of praise in which the Church gives thanks to the Father for everything He has accomplished in creation, redemption and the gift of the Holy Spirit; for everything He is accomplishing now in the life of the Church and the world; and for everything He will accomplish in bringing His Kingdom to fulfilment. It is the memorial (anamnesis) of the crucified and risen Lord that proclaims and makes effective in the present the one, perfect and sufficient sacrifice by which we are forgiven and reconciled to God. In this memorial the Church is united with the great High Priest as it offers itself in Him to the Father, joins in His continual intercession for the world and proclaims His Word in preaching and in sacrament. By sharing in this way in Christ’s sacrifice the People of God are enabled to be servants of forgiveness and reconciliation in the life of the world. The crucified and risen Christ is present in the Holy Communion in accordance with His promise in the word of Scripture, in the community of the faithful and in the elements of bread and wine. These are the body and blood of Christ not in the sense that they cease to be bread and wine but in that they receive a new meaning as representing the person of Christ who has given Himself on the Cross and now meets with His people. His presence depends upon His own promise; it is discerned and appropriated by the faith of His people. As we have communion with Christ, so also we have communion with one another. The whole Church is involved in each local celebration. By partaking of the one loaf and the common cup around the same table at the invitation of the same Lord, we are built up as members of His one undivided body, and called to care for, and suffer and rejoice with, all other members in love. Thus Christ joins us together in one new humanity in which the barriers that divide us in this age are broken down. Every celebration of the Lord’s Supper is the assurance of the victory of Christ in which we share; it is the occasion when the future triumph, guaranteed by the death and resurrection of Christ, is celebrated in the present. Thus He sends us forth into all the world to be His witnesses in word and deed. The Holy Communion has its origin in the saving purpose of God the Father; it is centred in the incarnate Son in whom our release is secured and our sins forgiven; and it is made effective by the power of the Holy Spirit for whom the Church prays to the Father in the Eucharistic liturgy. The Holy Spirit makes real among us the presence of Jesus Christ and makes effective the memorial of His sacrifice once offered. He inspires the faith that discerns Christ’s presence; the sacrifice of praise and prayer that we offer to God; the love which binds us together in Christ and enables us to care for the world; and the hope which confidently affirms that Christ will come again. Because the Holy Communion is an act of the whole Church, the celebrant is a Minister whose call from God has been recognised by the Church as a whole and who has been set apart by ordination to the ministry of Word and Sacrament. All are welcomed to the Lord’s Table who have been baptised and who by faith respond to the grace set forth in their baptism.

1.23.2 Administration of the Sacraments The Wesleyan tradition affirms that the celebration of the sacraments is an exclusive function of the office to which a Minister is duly ordained. There is no theological or pragmatic reason why contemporary Methodism should deviate from this tradition. Clearly it is the right of the Church to decide whom it will ordain for the purpose of administering the sacraments. If the exigencies of stations, together with our responsibility to evangelise and extend pastoral care, through the administration of the sacraments, indicates that we have insufficient ordained Ministers to exercise a sacramental ministry, then we as a Church must act in accordance with our tradition in meeting this need, that is we must ordain more people. An ordained Minister may invite lay persons to assist in the distribution of the elements. A Probationer who has been authorised to administer the sacraments shall first obtain permission from the Superintendent before issuing such invitations. (See Methodist Service Book 1975, page B.l)

1.23.3 Dispensation to Probationer Ministers Conference adopted the following guidelines for granting dispensations to Probationer Ministers to administer the Sacraments: • that circumstances in the Circuit concerned clearly require it; • that adequate instruction in the doctrine, liturgy and method of administration of the Sacraments be given.

1.23.4 Distribution of Holy Communion Conference resolved that Superintendents may authorise laypersons to distribute the elements as soon as possible after a communion service to persons who are unable through illness or infirmity or for other sufficient reason to be present at that service. Such laypersons shall receive instruction for this ministry. They may read scripture and offer prayer but shall not repeat words of institution and shall make it clear that the communicant is being included in the worship of the congregation. Conference directs that the elements remaining after a service of Holy Communion be disposed of reverently, and that communion stewards be so instructed. Conference resolves that if it is necessary to set apart additional bread or wine while the elements are being distributed, the officiating minister shall offer the following or a similar prayer: Hear us, heavenly Father, and with your Word and Holy Spirit bless this bread/wine that it also may be the sacrament of the precious body/blood of your Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord, who took bread/the cup and said, “This is my body/blood”. AMEN. Conference draws attention to the fact that The Methodist Church of Southern Africa is in a relationship of reciprocal communion with the other member churches of the Church Unity Commission. Conference therefore affirms that ordained ministers of these churches are permitted to administer the sacraments in Methodist congregations and may be invited to do so, especially when the services of a Methodist minister are not available. Conference resolves that Superintendents consult the Bishop before inviting ministers of churches other than those belonging to the CUC to perform this ministry. [NB: The member churches of the CUC are the Church of the Province of SA (Anglican), the Evangelical Presbyterian Church, the Methodist Church of SA, the Presbyterian Church of Southern Africa, the Reformed Presbyterian Church in Southern Africa and the United Congregational Church of SA.]

1.23.5 The Ministry and Ordination The source of all ministry is Jesus Christ, who is the true minister (Mark 10:45) and bishop (1 Peter 2:25) and priest (Hebrews 9:11). The Church, as the Body of Christ, carries on Christ’s ministry to the world, so that the Church as a whole is “a royal priesthood” (1 Peter 2:9; Exodus 19:6). The call of God is first and foremost into membership of the Church (1 Peter 2:9, 21; 5:10), so that the Church may glorify God (Ephesians 1:4-6), preach the Gospel (Philippians 1:5, 7) and show the service and love of Christ to all who are in need (John 13:14-16). From the beginning certain persons were called and appointed to particular forms of ministry, of various kinds and for various purposes, but all directed towards the up building of the Church (1 Corinthians 12; Ephesians 5:11-16). Though the New Testament provides evidence for several possible lines of development, it witnesses to the fact that appointment to office is due both to the call and gift of Christ (1 Corinthians 12:1-11; Ephesians 4:11) and to the Church itself through its ministerial representatives (Acts 6:6; 14:23; 2 Timothy 4:1-5; 2 Timothy 1:6). Persons so appointed are as a result set in a new relationship both with Christ and with the Church, and are representative both of the Church and of Christ Himself. The development in subsequent centuries of the institutional ministry of the Church, already apparent in Acts and the Pastoral Epistles, was in line with the teaching of the New Testament. In the developed pattern there emerged a threefold order of bishops, presbyters and deacons, in which the bishop was seen as the focus of unity, linking the local church to the Church universal, of which he was the chief minister in each place. In Methodism, as in certain Reformation Churches, the threefold order of ministry was not retained, but we believe our pattern also to be in line with the teaching of the New Testament. Ordination describes the act by which Christians are authorised by the Church to act in its name and on its behalf in certain ways. By the same act the ordained persons receive the grace of God in response to the prayers of the Church to enable them to fulfil the ministry to which they are ordained. In the Methodist Church they are set apart for the ministry of the Word and Sacraments and the pastoral oversight of the People of God. Because of its importance the rite of ordination has always been accompanied by certain outward signs, which have always included the laying on of hands with prayer. The ordaining Minister has been the one who best represents the fullness of the universal Church. In episcopal Churches the Minister of ordination has therefore all along been the Bishop. In the Methodist Church the ordination is authorised by Conference that represents the wider Church and is performed on its behalf by the Presiding Bishop and other presbyters. The ordained Minister is recognised as being ordained to the ministry of the Church of God, and not simply of the Methodist Church. The ordained Minister is one of the outward signs of the unity of the Church in space and time. For this reason ordination is one element among many in the concept of apostolic succession, whereby the Church today is linked to the Church of previous centuries and to the time of the New Testament. Ordination places ordained Ministers in a new relation both with Christ and with the Church. Under Christ they are the leaders and teachers of the congregation, setting forth in their own life the headship of Christ over themselves and over the Church. As president at the Holy Communion, the presbyter represents the whole Church and shows the Communion to be the act of the whole Church as it offers unceasing worship of God. In the life and ministry of the ordained Minister is focused the calling of every member of the people (Laos) of God, so that though the ordained Minister has a different commission and authority from other members of the Laos, the distinction must not be overstressed.

1.23.6 Children and Holy Communion Conference adopted the Statement on Children and Holy Communion: • the attitude of Jesus was to include children in His Kingdom; • children are able to make a response of faith appropriate to their age and grow in faith by participating in worship; • children can make a valid contribution to the life of the Church and should not be separated from their parents in this central act of worship; • children need to be affirmed and made welcome and to enjoy a greater sense of community in the Church; Conference therefore resolves that baptised children who show evidence of faith in Jesus may be admitted to Holy Communion.

1.26.7 Guidelines – Children and Communion Conference adopted the following guidelines in respect of the admission of children to Holy Communion: • Circuits and Societies may move at their own pace in admitting children to Communion; • children admitted to Communion are not thereby made Full Members with the right to vote and occupy positions of leadership in the Church. They should be encouraged to prepare themselves to be received as Full Members by the Leaders’ Meeting and recognised as such at a service of “Public Reception into Full Membership” or “Confirmation”; • the decision as to when a child may receive Communion should be made jointly by the child, the parents, the Leader or Sunday School teacher and the Minister; • children should be accompanied by a parent or church Leader when they first receive Communion in order to help them to feel at home and to receive the elements appropriately; • children who do receive Communion should be helped to grow in their understanding and appreciation of the Sacrament. This help should be given by parents and Leaders; • when a child who has been receiving Communion is transferred to another Society, the Minister should be informed. If Communion is not normally given to children in that Society great sensitivity and patience must be exercised by all the parties concerned; • some parents do not have their children baptised on the grounds that they cannot make the response of faith but want them to receive Communion. If a child can make the response of faith necessary to receive Communion, that child can also respond in faith to the Sacrament of Baptism and, therefore, should be baptised.