Presbytery panel would strip Williamson of his ordination By John H. Adams The Layman Online Friday, December 5, 2003 A task force of the Presbytery of Western North Carolina has recommended that Parker T. Williamson, chief executive officer of the Presbyterian Lay Committee and editor-in-chief of its publications, be denied validation as an active member of the presbytery. If the presbytery's Committee on the Ministry and the full presbytery concur with the task force's report, Williamson would be demoted to inactive status and no longer be granted voice or vote at presbytery meetings. Unless restored to active status within three years, Williamson, a minister-member in good standing with the presbytery for 32 years, will be stripped of his ordination, according to requirements of the Book of Order. Section G-11.0406 says, "If at the end of three years the minister has not been restored to active membership or membership-at-large, the presbytery shall delete that person's name from the appropriate roll of presbytery and may give that person a certificate of membership to a particular church." The Rev. J. William "Bill" Taber III, the executive for the Presbytery of Western North Carolina, notified Williamson on Dec. 4 about the task force's 4-1 vote against the validation of his ministry with the Presbyterian Lay Committee and invited him to meet with the presbytery's Committee on Ministry on Dec. 9. Williamson will be unable to attend that meeting because of a previous commitment in California. Taber, who met with the members of the Task Force on Validated Ministries, did not spell out why the committee voted against Williamson's validation. "The Validated Ministry Task Force is bringing a recommendation to the Committee on Ministry not to validate your ministry," he said in an E-mail to Williamson. But Mary V. Atkinson of Black Mountain, the chairperson of the task force, told The Layman Online that the vote against validating Williamson was because of the "character and conduct of the ministry of the Presbyterian Lay Committee." Asked to explain what that meant, Atkinson, a former employee of the denomination, quickly changed the subject, saying, "We're not talking about Parker. I know Parker. He's a fine man. Things have just gone too far. It's all part of a package." She urged The Layman Online not to write about the decision of the task force and declared that it was the Committee on Ministry's responsibility – not the task force's – to decide whether to ask the presbytery to invalidate Williamson's ministry. Then, she said the interview with The Layman Online had gone too far as well. "No comment," she responded, when again asked to specify what the task force meant by the "character and conduct of the Presbyterian Lay Committee." Neither the Presbyterian Lay Committee nor any other organization is a "member" of presbytery. Only individual ministers are members. And organizations served by ministers – including, for example, seminaries, colleges, hospitals, interfaith groups and even pro-gay ordination groups that promote defiance of the constitution – are not subject to review by the presbyteries. Williamson, joined by Peggy Hedden, a Columbus, Ohio, elder and lawyer who is chairman of the Presbyterian Lay Committee, met with the task force on Nov. 9. He said the issue that seemed to provoke the most heated discussion was the Presbyterian Lay Committee's "Declaration of Conscience." 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 declaration does not directly call for Presbyterians to withhold money from the denomination, but it does suggest that sessions consider designating gifts only to specific ministries that are faithful to Biblical standards. "Peggy told the committee that, in the interest of full disclosure, she wanted to share with them our board's most recent statement regarding contributions to the General Assembly," Williamson said. He said Hedden distributed copies of the board's declaration and walked committee members through each paragraph. Williamson recalls Taber saying, "'This is just unacceptable. We can't validate this. A validated ministry must support the work of the presbytery.'" But Williamson said Hedden pointed out that the principal requirement in the Book of Order is that the ministry must be in conformity with Scripture and the Constitution. Furthermore, the Constitution of the PCUSA, the denomination's highest court and several General Assemblies have repeatedly affirmed the right of sessions to determine how the tithes and offerings in their congregations are spent. The courts have ruled that no session can be compelled to remit, or be punished for failure to remit, per-capita requests to support the denomination. Nonetheless, many in the denomination – including Stated Clerk Clifton Kirkpatrick – have regarded redirecting or withholding funds as tantamount to renouncing the jurisdiction of the PCUSA. In a letter to presbytery stated clerks and executives in February 2002, Kirkpatrick said that officers – clergy and lay – who advocate withholding funds from the denomination are in danger of violating their ordination vows. Following the meeting with the task force, Hedden sent its members a letter with a further explanation about how Presbyterian courts and governing bodies have dealt with the per-capita issue. She emphasized in that letter that "we believe it is also clear that a PCUSA -related ministry cannot be denied validation, nor its minister employee be punished or discriminated against, because that ministry declares as a matter of conscience that [quoting from the declaration]: "'We encourage all individuals and sessions to exercise their stewardship responsibility and right to determine how money entrusted to them is spent. We likewise encourage prayerful study as to whether their General Assembly per capita contribution should be redirected and/or their mission gifts restricted to ministries at home and abroad that are demonstrably faithful to the gospel.'" Whatever the reasons the task force had in calling for the invalidation of his ministry, Williamson said, "I am at peace with this, however it comes out. I believe in our ministry. I am immensely proud of our board for stepping into the breach and giving courageous leadership to this fractured denomination." The ministry of the Presbyterian Lay Committee includes the publication of The Layman, The Layman Online, theological and inspirational books, curriculum and other resources – all emphasizing a classical Reformed understanding of the Christian faith. The board members, who are elders and leaders in their local congregations, assist staff in preparing that material. The task force recommendation to invalidate Williamson's ministry is the first time formal procedures have been initiated against an individual director or employee of the Presbyterian Lay Committee. In 1995, some leaders of the pro-homosexual ordination movement, citing accusations by Robert Bohl, who was elected moderator of that year's General Assembly, attempted to have The Presbyterian Layman censured by the national legislative body. But the 1995 commissioners voted 517-20 against censuring the publication. Williamson was admitted to the Presbytery of Western North Carolina as an active member in 1971 when he was installed as the minister of First Presbyterian Church in Lenoir, N.C. His membership continued after 1989, when the Presbyterian Lay Committee called him to serve as editor of The Presbyterian Layman. Before the "Declaration of Conscience," the Presbytery of Western North Carolina validated the ministry of Steve Strickler, director of church relations for the Presbyterian Lay Committee. Taber notified Strickler in an April 23, 2003, letter that the presbytery's Committee on Ministry would recommend that the presbytery validate his ministry with the Presbyterian Lay Committee. But he added: "… the Committee on Ministry requests in light of the Book of Order requirement that a validated ministry be consistent with the mission and ministry of the presbytery, any future discussion of whether it is legal and/or right to, or not to, pay per capita or redirect funds to the presbytery or denomination be accompanied not only with the fact that per capita is not required of churches, but also continue with an explanation that such actions would also result in the curtailment of significant mission and ministry of the whole church."

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