Committee shuns invitation to visit Lay Committee office By John H. Adams The Layman Online Wednesday, December 10, 2003 Before voting 10-4 to seek the invalidation of Parker Williamson's ministry as the chief executive officer of the Presbyterian Lay Committee, the Committee on Ministry of the Presbytery of Western North Carolina took one other vote during its hour and one-half closed-door meeting Tuesday. According to a member of the committee, who asked not to be identified, that vote was on a motion to delay the consideration for a month and to send a delegation to the Lay Committee's office in Lenoir, N.C., to meet with Williamson. Both Wallace Johnson, the chairman of the Committee on Ministry, and William "Bill" Taber III, the presbytery executive, spoke in favor of the delay. They said Williamson had invited the committee members to Lenoir. Williamson was unable to attend the Committee on Ministry meeting because of a previous obligation in California. During the discussion of the visitation motion, some committee members said they were not prepared to make a decision or a formal statement about why Williamson's ministry should be invalidated. The vote on the motion was 7-7, and it died for lack of a majority. The issue of a visitation arose about mid-way through the committee's deliberation, according to a member of the committee. After the motion died, the committee continued to talk about Williamson's work with the Lay Committee. At times, the discussion became heated. "It was really a tough afternoon – pretty tense," the committee member said. That member said there was an attempt to differentiate so that the language of the committee's statement could not be viewed as an attempt to invalidate Williamson personally, but to invalidate the Presbyterian Lay Committee as a body. But the final language of the committee's resolution did target Williamson. It said, "After careful consideration and prayer, the Committee on Ministry adopted a recommendation that the ministry of the Chief Executive Officer of the Presbyterian Lay Committee and Editor-in-Chief of the Presbyterian Layman and its publications, not be validated because of the character and conduct of its ministry. The Committee on Ministry will present this recommendation as a motion to the full Presbytery for a vote at its stated meeting, Jan. 31, 2004 at First Presbyterian Church in Asheville." The committee member interviewed by The Layman Online said members of the committee were invited to speak their minds openly without interruption. "No one said it," the committee member said, "but it came down to the real gut issue of getting rid of Parker." The references to "character" and "conduct" included few specifics, the committee member said. The member noted that comments included references to the Presbyterian Lay Committee's Declaration of Conscience, particularly a sentence that says, "We no longer believe that either the General Assembly per-capita budget or the unrestricted budget of the PCUSA is worthy of support." While that sentence is a statement of the Lay Committee's belief, the Declaration of Conscience does not call on Presbyterians to withhold money from the denomination. Rather, the declaration calls on Presbyterian ministers, officers and members to respond to "our erosion of faith and life" in the PCUSA by "prayerfully considering" redirecting their tithes and offerings away from programs and activities in the denomination that do not reflect the Reformed tradition of the denomination. The committee member said some of the other issues raised included: Criticism of a Layman Online article ["Wiccan priestess studies at Presbyterian seminary," Oct. 28]. One member said the article slandered Jerry Van Marter, director of the Presbyterian News Service, because it included a photograph of him made up like a wizard for a Halloween celebration by the staff at the PCUSA headquarters in Louisville in 2002. The story focused on the Wiccan priestess, but also included references to other instances in which the PCUSA has welcomed Wiccan speakers - both serious and lighthearted. The photo of Van Marter was posted on the PCUSA's Web site. One committee member complained about an insert in The Layman that described the PCUSA –which has lost nearly 43 percent of its members since 1967 – as a "drainline denomination." Williamson was accused of "not speaking respectfully" to other people. The Layman was accused of "spewing hate." The Declaration of Conscience was criticized for the statement that, "The Presbyterian Lay Committee believes that it is unconscionable to remain passive while some groups train their followers to subvert the Constitution and denominational officials undermine it by their refusal to require compliance." Near the conclusion of the closed-door meeting, Taber and Johnson told committee members that they would announce the decision to a waiting reporter from The Layman Online. They told committee members to respond, "No comment," if the reporter questioned them about the meeting.

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