Committee begins drafting its case against Williamson
By John H. Adams, The Layman Online, January 13, 2004
MORGANTON, N.C. – The Committee on Ministry of the Presbytery of Western North Carolina, after meeting in closed session for four hours Tuesday, remained committed to recommending that the presbytery demote Parker T. Williamson to inactive status.
After discussing Williamson’s case, some members of the committee retreated to a private office to work with William “Bill” Taber, the presbytery’s executive, to draft a document specifying why the committee wants to ban Williamson from having voice and vote at meetings of the presbytery, of which he has been a member for 32 years.
Heretofore, the only specific reason the committee has given in writing is the “character and conduct” of the Presbyterian Lay Committee. Taber and some committee members have also cited the Lay Committee’s “Declaration of Conscience,” which calls on Presbyterians to “prayerfully consider” whether to redirect some of their gifts away from denominational programs that are not Biblically grounded and focused on Christ.
The Rev. James E. Aydelotte of Asheville, the chairman of the Committee on Ministry, told The Layman Online that the document will be completed by Thursday for inclusion in the packet for the Jan. 31 meeting of the presbytery in Asheville.
Williamson, chief executive officer of the Presbyterian Lay Committee and editor in chief of its publications, has asked for a “full, fair and open” discussion of his ministry with the Presbyterian Lay Committee. He, Peggy Hedden of Columbus, Ohio, chairman of the Lay Committee, and Robert L. Howard of Wichita, Kans., former chairman, have asked for permission to speak on the presbytery floor.
They all say his ministry meets Biblical, confessional and constitutional standards.
But Aydelotte said the Committee on Ministry did not address those requests. They will be considered Wednesday at the meeting of the presbytery’s council. Williamson will address the council.
Aydelotte, a retired minister who lives in Asheville but still accepts interim assignments, is one of four people who voted with the minority (10-4) on Dec. 9 against the motion to take away Williamson’s voice and vote at presbytery meetings and place him on inactive status. The Book of Order requires a three-year probationary status for ministers placed on inactive status. If they do not secure a ministry that the presbytery will validate before the end of the three years, they lose their ordination.
Aydelotte also told The Layman Online that no motion was made to reconsider the Dec. 9 action by the Committee on Ministry. He said committee members did read a number of letters from Presbyterians about Williamson’s case, which has received national attention.
One of those letters, he said, was submitted by the Issues Committee of Presbyterians For Renewal, which, like the Presbyterian Lay Committee, is one of the leading renewal organizations in the Presbyterian Church (USA).
The Layman Online obtained a copy of the PFR letter, which said it would “be gracious, judicious, and proper for you to maintain the presbytery’s relationship with Williamson and the Presbyterian Lay Committee.”
It also included a warning: “The effects of your action to validate or remove validation of the ministry of Rev. Williamson will ripple far beyond your bounds. If your desire is to further the peace, unity, and purity of the church, will that goal be accomplished by making a martyr of Williamson in the public perception? The outrage both within and outside your presbytery will be tremendous, driving people away from the Presbyterian Church. Might you not consider it simply unwise and inexpedient to fan the flames of discord by an abrupt invalidation of Williamson’s ministry?”
That ripple has already begun. The Layman Online has received nearly 150 letters from readers across the nation – with 94 percent supporting Williamson. Other Presbyterian media have published letters as well. Major religious and secular media have run stories about the presbytery’s move to disenfranchise Williamson.
Most letters and articles have expressed surprise that a presbytery would take steps to disenfranchise one of its high-profile evangelical ministers when numerous presbyteries have refused to submit to constitutional requirements that forbid the ordination of practicing homosexuals and allow their ministers to conduct same-gender marriages.
Realizing that the Williamson case is a national issue for the PCUSA, Aydolette made a special effort to keep the committee’s meeting confidential. He greeted the reporter for The Layman Online outside the committee room and told him that under no condition would he be allowed to observe any of the committee’s deliberations.
The doors were closed even when the committee members ate their catered lunch.
But the Williamson case did bolster the committee’s attendance. Twenty of the committee’s 24 members were present Tuesday. Only 14 attended the Dec. 9 meeting.