Not Welcome at Church

In today's on-line Washington Post Religion section are two stories about two people who were told they were not welcome at church.

One of the stories detailed the story of Douglas Kmiec, a staunch Republican and a firm foe of abortion and a veteran of the Reagan Justice Department, who had been denied Communion. His crime? He announced his support for Barack Obama.

If you think back to the 2004 election, you will remember that the Catholic hierarchy announced that John Kerry and other pro-choice politicians would not be allowed to take communion because of their views on abortion. Even during the Pope's recent visit to America, there were some slight tremors of controversy because many of the sanctioned Republican and Democratic politicians, including Rudy Giuliani, were seen taking communion.

The case of Mr. Kmiec is different, however. His doctrinal credentials are impeccable. He was denied communion because his candidate of choice in the 2008 presidential race, Barack Obama, is in favor of abortion rights.

The other situation involves a 13 year old. He is autistic, and his behavior, deemed "out-of-control" by church leaders, led them to tell his mother not to bring him back for communion.

According to the church leadership, their only concern is for the safety of the other parishioners. They allege that the teenager, who is quite large for his age, has hit a child and nearly knocked over elderly churchgoers as he raced from his pew, among other inappropriate behaviors. His mother claims the allegations made by church leadership are overblown and that, their real issue, is his autism.

Here are two separate situations in which a practicing Catholic was kept from taking communion, which is a REALLY serious thing in Catholic theology, by the church.

What do you think about this? Is a church within its rights to deny someone who wants to participate in a church ordinance? If so, what reasons are sufficient for this to happen?

For example, could a Protestant Church keep someone from taking part in the Lord's Supper, which, while important to it, does not have the same meaning as in the Roman Catholic Church, or could it keep a person from being baptized or having a child baptized? Could any church bar a person from being part of worship, from attending church camp, or going to Sunday School? If so, why?

If no church has that kind of right, what might that mean for their ministry or the integrity of their membership? If you were the one being denied, how would you feel?

Difficult questions, these. Unfortunately, these questions might become more common.