'Full faith and confidence' reaffirmed in Presbyterian Coalition and Fowler The Layman Online Monday, December 23, 2002 In the wake of a presbytery's refusal to validate the ministry of the Rev. Carmen Fowler, the chief executive officer of the Presbyterian Lay Committee has reaffirmed his "full faith and confidence in the Presbyterian Coalition and its executive director." The Presbytery of Central Florida voted 112-86 on Dec. 3 to uphold the criteria by which its Committee on Ministry refused to accept as a member of the presbytery Fowler, who is the executive director of the Coalition and a member of the ministry staff of First Presbyterian Church in Orlando. On Dec. 20, the Coalition, in a statement signed by co-moderators Rev. Doug Pratt and Mrs. Peggy Hedden, wrote: "We are deeply disturbed and disappointed by the way that the Rev. Carmen Fowler, our Executive Director, has been treated by Central Florida Presbytery. We, as the Board of Directors of the Coalition, wish to express our complete and total confidence in Carmen and her work. "We also wish to reassure our friends and supporters across the country that her effective and powerful ministry will continue. We trust that God will lead fair-minded and principled individuals to provide a suitable Presbytery of membership for Carmen. In the meantime, she continues as a member of Northeast Georgia Presbytery, and the Coalition office remains headquartered at First Presbyterian Church in Orlando." Parker T. Williamson, chief executive officer of the Presbyterian Lay Committee and editor in chief of its publications, said, "Our board members were very clear in their Sept. 21 statement of support for the Presbyterian Coalition. As they said, we believe that the ministry of the Presbyterian Coalition 'conforms in every respect to the criteria for validated ministry as specified in the Book of Order G-11.0403, and cognizant of the fact that the Committee on Ministry has cited no evidence in support of its judgment to the contrary, the Presbyterian Lay Committee declares its full faith and confidence in the Presbyterian Coalition and its executive director.'" Board members went further in their statement of support, Williamson said, specifically stating that, "We stand by the Presbyterian Coalition, expressing our gratitude to God for this ministry's commitment to the Reformed faith, and commending its vigorous pursuit of constitutional integrity within the Presbyterian Church (USA)." The Dec. 3 vote by the Presbytery of Central Florida "in no way changes that statement of support for the ministry of the Presbyterian Coalition and Carmen Fowler," Williamson said. At the time of that vote, Fowler said the issue boiled down to the Presbyterian Coalition, an independent renewal ministry. "Clearly, they did not want this ministry in this presbytery," she said. The Coalition describes itself as a "movement of Christ's people committed to life and transformation in the PCUSA, exalting Jesus Christ, energizing congregations and upholding historic Biblical leadership standards." Pratt, the senior pastor of Memorial Park Presbyterian Church in Allison Park, Pa., expressed regret that the presbytery refused to validate Fowler's ministry and that the Coalition was viewed as unacceptable ministry for Fowler's work outside the bounds of the presbytery. The last two annual meetings – called Gatherings – of the Coalition have drawn hundreds of Presbyterians to First Presbyterian Church in Orlando. Pratt also expressed regret that the Committee on Ministry refused to accept repeated offers to meet with Coalition leaders so that they could explain the nature of the Coalition's ministry. "The Coalition, by its charter and its demonstrated track record through the years, is committed to the PCUSA and to its constitution," Pratt said. "We can't understand what could be objectionable about our work. Carmen is a stunningly gifted minister and leader who has, and will have, a positive impact in our denomination. It is central Florida's loss to not have her as a member." Fowler was seeking to have her membership transferred from the Presbytery of Northeast Georgia, where she was pastor of Rabun Gap Presbyterian Church before being called to serve on the staff in Orlando. The gist of the argument against her validation was that, as executive director of the Presbyterian Coalition, much of her work was outside the boundaries of the presbytery. The Committee on Ministry, in a document titled "Criteria for Validation of Ministry" that was introduced at the December presbytery meeting, said the determination of whether to validate a minister working outside the boundaries of the presbytery was an "intuitive judgment." It also proposed a presbytery policy that would have prohibited validating the ministry of any pastor who worked outside the bounds of a presbytery – but the presbytery modified that language to say that ministries beyond the bounds would "not ordinarily" be validated. At a time when some presbyteries are ordaining and affirming ministers who are openly defying the PCUSA's constitutional standards, Fowler was rejected even though she and her organization are dedicated to upholding those standards. No one in the presbytery has accused her of violating any part of the constitution. When she appeared before the Committee on Ministry, she was questioned about the Coalition's position affirming the right of local sessions to withhold or redirect per-capita apportionments that support the work of higher governing bodies. The Coalition has not endorsed sessions withholding per capita, but it has provided a detailed review of church court rulings, constitutional standards and General Assembly actions that state unequivocably that remittance of per-capita apportionments is voluntary. Nonetheless, Clifton Kirkpatrick, stated clerk of the PCUSA, declared in a letter to stated clerks of other governing bodies that any minister or elder who supported withholding per-capita payments can be charged with violating his oath of office. The Coalition, in a public letter, said Kirkpatrick was wrong. One of Kirkpatrick's deputies, Mark Tammen, weighed in on Fowler's case in support of the Committee on Ministry, saying it had the right to disapprove her request for validation and to not report its action to the presbytery. The Committee on Ministry originally rejected Fowler's request for validation privately and failed, as the Book of Order requires, to report its action to the full presbytery. The issue reached the floor of presbytery only after persistent requests from staff members at First Presbyterian Church. Presbyterians across the country were outraged by the presbytery's action. Some of them, in letters to The Layman Online, said: "The undercutting of Carmen Fowler's ministry is only another nail driven into the wrist of our Lord and Savior by unbelievers who call themselves 'Christians.'" "It seems that it is the liberals who are on the witch hunt, at least in Central Florida, where they grill a candidate (Rev. Carmen Fowler) over the issue of per capita and a special assessment of the presbytery to screen out traditional Presbyterians from ministry. And they are witch hunting after churches that do not defy the constitution, but stand up for the basic teachings of the Christian faith, such as the Sebastian session." "If anyone ever doubted that there exists a double standard in the leadership of the Presbyterian Church (USA), this action confirms it. Since when does an executive position with an organization that upholds historical Presbyterian doctrinal standards and has thousands of Presbyterian (USA) supporters not qualify as a "validated ministry," especially since an executive of an organization that does *not* uphold those standards does qualify?" A number of ministers and elders in the Presbytery of Central Florida filed a protest at the end of the December meeting, seeking a review of the decision and contending that some actions taken by the Committee on Ministry exceeded that body's constitutional authority. The protest against the presbytery's action cited a number of contentions, including: 1. The Committee on Ministry violated the constitution by ruling on Fowler's request, which is the responsibility only of the presbytery. 2. The committee failed to comply with the constitutional requirement that Fowler's request be presented to the full presbytery. The committee's rationale was that it had taken no action – therefore not registering a vote to validate Fowler's ministry – and that there was no requirement to report "no action." Tammen affirmed that reading. But the protest said the Committee on Ministry was required to report any kind of action, whether a vote for or a vote against. Furthermore, the presbytery also voted on Dec. 3 to require that, in the future, the Committee on Ministry fulfill its responsibility to report to the presbytery all requests to validate ministries together with its recommendations for presbytery action. In support of Fowler's request to have her ministry validated by the presbytery, a one-page information sheet was given to commissioners to presbytery. That document cited Book of Order requirements for ministers and Fowler's role in meeting those requirements. No one disputed that she had met those ministry requirements.

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