Members of PJC grant stay of enforcement against invalidation of Williamson’s ministry
The Layman Online, March 12, 2004
Members of the Permanent Judicial Commission of the Synod of the Mid-Atlantic have granted a stay of enforcement against the Presbytery of Western North Carolina’s decision to invalidate the Rev. Parker T. Williamson’s ministry with the Presbyterian Lay Committee.
Williamson, under D-6.0103a(3) in the Book of Order, sought the stay March 4 when he filed a complaint with the synod court that said the presbytery committed a number of constitutional irregularities when it invalidated his ministry as chief executive officer of the Presbyterian Lay Committee and editor in chief of its publications.
The stay of enforcement required that three members of the synod court sign the request. Signed by Mr. Hyun Sung Lim, the Rev. Russ Ritchel and the Rev. William Serjak, the stay states “probable grounds exist for finding the decision or action of the presbytery erroneous.”
Should the presbytery decide not to respond or fails to successfully oppose it, the stay will remain in effect until the complaint filed by Williamson against the presbytery has been adjudicated. The presbytery has 45 days to decide if it wishes to contest the stay. If it does, the PJC will convene a hearing of the parties and decide to continue, modify or terminate the stay.
“I welcome this decision,” Williamson said. “Having received misinformation and some very bad advice, the Presbytery of Western North Carolina acted unconstitutionally – a fact that will soon come to light in court. In the meantime, I am grateful that this assault against my ministry with the Presbyterian Lay Committee has been suspended.”
On Jan. 31, the presbytery voted to invalidate Williamson’s ministry with the Presbyterian Lay Committee and declare that he was no longer – after 32 years – an active member of the presbytery. Rather, the presbytery made him an at-large member – a status normally conferred upon a minister only upon that minister’s request, according to the Book of Order. Williamson opposed the change in status.