If the objective is to get a baptism and confirmation recorded, then someone needs to find out the "some reason" the bishop is hesitating. And someone still needs to get a statement in the first place.krk22 wrote:The current bishop is NOT concerned about the validity or truthfulness of the testimony of the two parents but is still insisting on a written testimony signed by the former ward's bishop in order to be compliant with the CHOI (even though there is no requirement in the CHOI for doing what he is requiring). For some reason he is interpreting there to be requirements which are not stated in the CHOI.
While there may be a discussion about whether the members should sign the statement in front of a member of the old bishopric or in front of a member of the new bishopric, the Handbook is very absent a statement that any bishop needs to also sign the statement.
Has he not read the Handbook recently?
And if the former bishop has moved across the country, then the current bishop is placing an obstacle to the recording of the ordinance(s).
There are two people who would normally speak with the bishop about this, the clerk or the stake president. If your bishop has assigned a counselor to oversee the work of the clerks, you might speak with him and ask him to consult with the bishop. If not, you might speak with the stake clerk and suggest he consider having the stake president speak with the bishop.
This is a very interesting discussion. But there are some key pieces missing from this story.
So, if the objective is to get a baptism and confirmation ordinance recorded, I would start by getting a statement from the parents with the needed information and then deal with (or have someone else deal with) the bishop after that.
And if the objective is to have a nice discussion about bishops interpreting the handbook, speak on. (Although I think we have pretty much covered most of the opinions and options in the discussion so far.)
At some point, it would be fun to learn the rest of the story. And you should all be very glad I am not one of the parents.