Pastor spurns isolation by presbytery officials
The Layman Online, January 27, 2003
The Rev. William R. Pawson, minister of Westminster Presbyterian Church in Canton, Ohio, whose session filed a remedial complaint against the moderator and stated clerk of the General Assembly, has spurned an attempt by top presbytery officials to isolate him in a private meeting.
Westminster’s complaint alleges that General Assembly officials violated the denomination’s constitution by failing to call a special meeting after having received the required number of petitions from commissioners.
Alarmed by news coverage of the complaint that appeared in the Associated Press and the Canton Repository, a five-person contingent from the Presbytery of Muskingum Valley requested the private meeting with Pawson.
The five are James Spain, moderator; David Meerse, interim executive presbyter; Virginia Birks, assistant executive presbyter; Michael R. Seely, chair of the Committee on Ministry; and Bob Porter, area chair of the Committee on Ministry and the committee’s liaison to the nominating committee that recommended Pawson to serve Westminster Church.
One of the most powerful committees in the Presbyterian system, the Committee on Ministry deals with the accountability of ministers and, at times, disciplines them.
On the advice of the session’s attorney, Paul Rolf Jensen, Pawson wrote to Spain on Jan. 26, declining to appear at the private meeting. Although the presbytery officials said their only purpose in isolating Pawson is to “listen, and learn,” Jensen said he was wary of their intentions regarding his client. “This appears to be a blatant attempt to intimidate a minister,” Jensen told The Layman Online.
‘Intimidation denied’
“Absolutely not,” said Seely in a telephone interview with The Layman Online. “Our main concern came from the fact that we had to learn of this through the secular press … As brothers and sisters in Christ, we are frustrated by that. We are a connectional church, and it would have been a polite thing to let us know.”
Seely said that presbytery officials found the secular reports “confusing,” and that the articles might have been more accurate if they had been able to talk with Pawson before he spoke with the press. Pawson told The Layman Online that he gave the reporters accurate information when they called him for interviews and that he should not be held accountable for the resulting articles.
Asked why the officials wanted to meet with Pawson alone rather than with his session, Seely said, “We talked about that, and we felt that in our initial meeting, we just wanted to talk with Bill. Meeting with the session would be great, but we just wanted to hear him, how he feels about the connectional nature of the church … There is absolutely no coercion involved here. That never came up in our discussion.”
‘Unconstitutional intrusion’
“Westminster Presbyterian Church is involved in ongoing litigation,” said Jensen. “I would advise any client against meeting with presbytery officials under such circumstances. This is entirely improper. Exercising a power that is granted by the Book of Order, Westminster filed a complaint that is to be adjudicated by the General Assembly Permanent Judicial Commission. The Presbytery of Muskingum Valley has no role in it. This is a patently unconstitutional intrusion.”
Pawson declined to discuss specifics of case with The Layman Online, but when asked if he is concerned about his career as a Presbyterian minister, he replied, “I decided long ago that I do not have a career. I have a calling.”
According to Jensen, Pawson told presbytery officials that he has no objection to their visiting the entire Westminster Church session, at which he will also be present as moderator, during its next stated meeting in February.
Damage control
Meanwhile, on Jan. 24, the presbytery office sent a notice to all pastors in the presbytery, signed by David Meerse. Referring to press coverage of Westminster’s complaint, Meerse said that because the general public is unfamiliar with Presbyterian polity, “there is potential impact on this Presbytery, on your church, and on your members from these press reports.”
Meerse said presbytery leaders had met by conference telephone call and decided to prepare two statements. One will be written for the press and “will not be as sensational as some press reports.” The second, said Meerse, “is a more specialized piece, which can put in your hands something to be shared with members of your congregation about what this means for them.” Meerse suggested that parishioners be urged “to be patient until appropriate information can be placed in your and their hands.”