Methodists May End Infant ‘Dedication,’ Confirmation

A San Diego pastor heading a United Methodist Church study committee on baptism says the nation’s second-largest Protestant denomination may be asked in 1992 to eliminate “infant dedications” and confirmation of teen-agers.

“What we are trying to do is conform the life of the church to what we have discovered baptism is all about,” the Rev. Mark Trotter said after a recent meeting of the 20-member committee. Trotter is pastor of First United Methodist Church of San Diego.

The proposals still must go to the denomination’s Board of Discipleship in January before being presented to the 1992 General Conference. Under the proposed changes:

* Baptism of infants would be endorsed, but “infant dedications” would be declared unacceptable as a separate ritual.

* Pastors would be expressly forbidden to “rebaptize” people coming from another Christian church because of the rite’s “unrepeatable” nature.

* Confirmation, a rite introduced into Methodist churches in 1964, would be dropped. Instead, youths might be provided an opportunity “to affirm the baptismal covenant made in her or his name in infancy,” the committee said.

Trotter said one trouble with confirmation of youths is that it appears to emphasize the individual’s decision to join a church.