We got complaints from a couple of readers about this story in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, headlined “Improvising Illinois priest barred from pulpit.” It’s written by Tim Townsend, someone we frequently praise here at GetReligion:

Last night I read a Washington Post story that gave me reason to revisit my Lutheran confirmation rite. After a reading from the Gospel of Matthew, the catechumen is then directed to answer some very serious questions about what he or she believes. The structure of the rite is that as the pastor asks the questions “Do you believe in God, the Father Almighty” and “Do you believe in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord?” and so and so forth, the response is to quote from the Apostles’ Creed, one of the earliest confessions of Christian faith. The final five questions are: