Author of liberal takeover strategy criticizes Layman The Layman Online Friday, July 9,1999 Nearly two months after The Presbyterian Layman reported that the Covenant Network was disseminating a strategy for a liberal takeover of the Presbyterian Church (USA), the author of that strategy has responded with strong criticism through a July 5 posting on the Network's web site. Barbara Wheeler, president of Auburn Theological Seminary and a member of the Covenant Network's executive committee, called The Layman's May-June account "a fanciful reconstruction, and at several points a gross misrepresentation, of my essay," which is titled "The Auburn Affirmation: Reflections for a 75th Anniversary." Wheeler's objections Wheeler had three principal objections to The Layman account: That her essay did not advise anyone to lie. That she was "falsely accused" of branding those with whom she disagreed as fundamentalists and urging others to use name-calling to accomplish their purposes. That her essay was not a policy statement of the Covenant Network. In her response to Executive Editor Parker T. Williamson's article about the takeover strategy, Wheeler said that no where in the essay does she advise anyone to lie to accomplish the goals of a liberal takeover. But in referring to Presbyterians like herself who do not support the PCUSA constitution, Wheeler states the following options: "whether to defy the policies openly, a step that could well lead to disciplinary charges and removal from the ministry; or to acknowledge the force of these policies as church law while working to change them and perhaps quietly subverting them, tactics that weigh heavily on the conscience because they require--at least for the time being--countenancing actions that are wrong and possibly also making statements that are untrue." Obedience is not recommended She does not propose truth and obedience as an option for the dilemma. She does not advise readers to submit to the biblical and confessional reasons for the ordination standard and discontinue - without "countenancing actions that are wrong … and making statements that are untrue" - their assault on the PCUSA's constitutional ordination standard. Wheeler contends that The Layman article "falsely accuses me of 'branding' those with whom I disagree 'fundamentalists' and of urging the tactic of 'name calling' on others." Williamson's article does state that Wheeler's "methodology for winning such support involves branding Presbyterians who insist on upholding the constitution as 'fundamentalists,' then offering 'moderately conservative allies' who fear being called fundamentalists a way to escape the label." Strategy: Isolate and denigrate Wheeler's "Reflections" do not employ the label "fundamentalists," but she does use a fundamentalist/moderate-conservative division in 1923 as a model for today's liberal Presbyterians for taking control of the denomination. Her strategy is to isolate and denigrate those on the conservative end of the spectrum. Wheeler says her "essay is not a policy statement of the Covenant Network." Williamson's article did not suggest that her essay was a policy statement for the Network. However, he did point out that the Network was widely disseminating "Reflections" - without disclaimer - through its web site and an abbreviated version through its newsletter. Also, Williamson said that in light of the Covenant Network's involvement in judicial cases intended to overthrow the PCUSA "fidelity/chastity" ordination standard and the Network's continued support of other efforts to dismantle the constitutional policy, the Network was actively implementing some of the strategies she recommended. "Although the Covenant Network has not publicly declared Wheeler's strategy to be its own, there is a striking parallel between her takeover suggestions and recent actions by its leaders," Williamson wrote. Abridged version in newsletter The Covenant Network's abbreviated account of "Reflections" that was published in its newsletter did not include the comment about "countenancing actions that are wrong … and making statements that are untrue." Wheeler states the premise of her essay in the first paragraph. It is a political strategy for Presbyterians who believe the denomination's "fidelity/chastity" ordination requirement is "unfaithful to the Gospel of Jesus Christ and therefore theologically false and damaging to the mission of God in the contemporary world." Wheeler suggests that people read her essay rather than accept The Layman's account. Since publishing its story about Wheeler's takeover strategy, the Presbyterian Lay Committee has offered to send a copy of her "Reflections" to all readers who request one.

Respond to this article

News From the PCUSA · News Home · Archives · The Presbyterian Layman History of the Lay Committee ·Feedback Online Reviews · Resources · Links