| Following the action of the Presbytery
of Western North Carolina to withdraw the validation of the ministry
of the Rev. Parker Williamson with the Presbyterian Lay Committee, we
have received a number of comments, which we will share here as soon as
their authors have given full permission. You
may want to look at our
report on the Presbytery action. |
We received this note on Feb. 2, 2004.
[Quoting from our report:]
An amendment was then offered by the Rev.
Pete Peery, pastor at First Presbyterian Church in Asheville. It would
have affirmed the COM recommendation that Williamson's ministry not be
validated, while softening the action by continuing him on the roll of
presbytery as a member at large. Williamson and his defenders argued
against the amendment, apparently wanting a clear action by the presbytery
to reject him and his ministry. According to the Layman Online, Mr.
Williamson himself denounced the amendment as an "oily compromise."
Does Mr. Williamson really not understand
how comments like this damage his credibility? I see this amendment as a
pastoral attempt to keep him in relationship with his presbytery. "Oily
compromise"? I think Mr. Williamson does indeed work outside the bounds of
the church in order to destroy it. Sad.
Molly Douthett
Waterford, VA
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Barbara Bever of Kansas City, Missouri, comments on the
action of Western North Carolina Presbytery in light of current issues in
Heartland Presbytery:
What is happening in Heartland involves a financial pinch that has become
severe in the last 2 years and the Presbytery council which decided to pass
a resolution that it would no longer sign off on applications to borrow
money (CDC or other sources) nor would it sign off on applications either
for Presbytery funds or
General Assembly funds for any church which was not paying
it's per-capita. There were a couple of other routine requirements, like
making and paying a mission pledge of some amount, keeping their terms of
call paperwork up to date and their statistical reports and the like,
generally keeping the tie-ties tied and "fully participating" in the life of
the larger church.
You can imagine the hue and cry that ensued when this was
presented to the Presbytery, and one of the larger suburban churches which
wants to build and needs the Presbytery's okey-dokey to borrow the money,
all the while withholding their per-capita in protest of whatever their
current issue is, has filed a judicial case against the Presbytery, alleging
I am not sure what.(Imagine!)
One of the pastors had the "chutzpah" to stand up in a
Presbytery meeting and say that the answer to the whole problem was "just
don't pay" the per-capita (!) Right, tell the General Assembly that the
whole of Heartland Presbytery supports this" political protest" about
whatever the current issue is. I, for one, think not, thank you very much.
I have had the experience of the shoe being on the other
foot, a misworded ad in the paper made it appear that the whole Presbytery
was supporting something which they were not. One of those situations where
the perception serves to create the reality, just like this "just don't pay
it" approach would do. And no one yelled louder about this than these very
self-same people who are now claiming that they are being discriminated
against. Funny how that happens.
One wants to say, oh, do come along, what is sauce for the
proverbial goose. . .
The larger issue, of course, is really about the structure
of the connectional nature of the denomination, and, this is coming up in
Heartland again in February when Presbytery next meets. I do hope it does
not become like the ordination issue and just remain chronically unresolved,
but it does look like it might.
If Williamson and his co-religionists succeed in keeping
presbytery after presbytery tangled up in these kinds of discussions, what
happens to the denomination, does it just fall in on itself like a house of
cards.
Dear God, save the church from these people.
Best regards,
Barbara Bever
Kansas City, Missouri
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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