Presbytery’s Committee on Ministry also seeks invalidation of Williamson’s ministry
By John H. Adams, The Layman Online, December 9, 2003
MORGANTON, N.C. – The Committee on Ministry met and voted in an executive session Tuesday to recommend that the Presbytery of Western North Carolina “not validate” the ministry of Parker T. Williamson as chief executive officer of the Presbyterian Lay Committee and editor-in-chief of its publications.
After the closed-door meeting, Wallace Johnson, pastor of First Presbyterian Church in Hickory and chairman of the 18-member Committee on Ministry, and William “Bill” Taber, the presbytery’s executive, met with The Layman Online reporter briefly to announce the committee’s action.
Williamson, who heads a high-profile public ministry that includes publishing The Layman and The Layman Online, was unable to attend the meeting because of a commitment he had made to be in California.
“Presbyterians who care more about institutional preservation than constitutional integrity have won a short-term skirmish in a battle that is wider than they can imagine,” Williamson said by telephone. “I treasure the fact that God called me to the ministry, which is as valid today as it was on the day that I was ordained.”
Taber said the committee “carefully and seriously discussed and debated” Williamson’s ministry during a one and one-half hour closed-door meeting, and decided “not to validate the ministry of the CEO of the Presbyterian Lay Committee.”
Taber and Johnson would not provide the vote count, but Taber said it was “overwhelming.”
Before it began discussing Williamson’s validation, the committee had a voice vote to go into executive session. Before that vote, Johnson told The Layman Online’s reporter, who was invited to remain at the meeting while other matters were being discussed, that he would have to leave. The reporter cited the open meetings requirements of the Presbyterian Church (USA), but Taber said those requirements did not apply to the presbytery.
Two members voted against closing the meeting.
Asked what matters were discussed during the closed-door meeting, Taber said, “It was all across the board. We talked about a whole lot of issues. It was a faithful and thoughtful decision.”
The issue of Williamson’s validation will go to the floor of Presbytery on Jan. 31. If the presbytery concurs with the Committee on Ministry’s decision, Williamson immediately would be demoted from active membership in the presbytery to inactive status.
He would also be required to go through a three-year probationary status without voice or vote at presbytery meetings. At the end of the three years, unless his ministry is revalidated, the Book of Order requires that his ordination as a minister of the Word and Sacraments be annulled.
Before the Committee on Ministry made its decision, the presbytery’s Task Force on Validated Ministry had voted 4-1 to recommend that Williamson be placed on inactive and probationary status. Williamson, who became editor of The Layman in 1989, has been a member of the presbytery for 29 years. He was serving as pastor of First Presbyterian Church in Lenoir before being called by the Presbyterian Lay Committee.
Taber was asked if any persons were allowed to remain in the meeting while Williamson’s validation was being discussed other than members of the Committee on Ministry. He said staff members were allowed to meet with the committee behind closed doors.
The move by some leaders in the presbytery to invalidate Williamson’s ministry and nullify his ordination is an administrative process, not a disciplinary action. If it had been a Presbyterian court case, it would have been open to observers, including the press.
While Taber, Johnson and others have not commented on the specific reasons for the move to invalidate Williamson’s ministry, an agenda item for the Committee on Ministry provided some clues:
“In light of the Validated Ministry Task Force report, ‘recommends that the ministry of the CEO of the PLC and editor-in-chief of The Presbyterian Layman, because of the conduct and character of its ministry, not be validated.’ It would be helpful if you reviewed samples of the work of The Layman Online. It can be found at www.layman.org or you may contact the presbytery office for a copy of the newspaper.”
The chairperson of the task force, Mary V. Atkinson, a former employee of the denomination, refused to tell The Layman Online what the committee meant by “conduct and character.” Later, she told the denomination’s Presbyterian News Service that the Presbyterian Lay Committee’s Declaration of Conscience “tipped the scales for us.”