 
Moderator declares official news report ‘erroneous’ By Parker T. Williamson The Presbyterian Layman |
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CHARLOTTE – At a breakfast gathering sponsored by Presbyterians for Renewal, General Assembly Moderator Douglas Oldenburg disputed an inaccurate report released by the Presbyterian News Service. Reporting on a June 16 meeting of the Covenant Network of Presbyterians, the News Service said that when Oldenburg brought greetings to the group he indicated that he would “sign on” to the network’s “Call to Covenant,” a declaration that encourages defiance of the Constitution’s ordination standards. Oldenburg said that he had made no such pledge to sign the Covenant Network’s statement and that he would not sign it. Apparently assuming that the Presbyterian News Service had gotten its information from officials of the Covenant Network, Oldenburg said that he was asking the network to issue “a retraction.” “I want to be the moderator of the whole church,” said Oldenburg, who selected James Mead, the man whom he defeated in the moderator’s race, to be vice-moderator. It was an off-the-cuff announcement by Covenant Network Co-Moderator Robert Bohl that apparently caused the confusion. Bohl asked all former moderators in the room to stand. Then, after boasting that 16 former moderators had signed his covenant statement, Bohl quipped: “Now that Doug [Oldenburg] has won the election he is free to say what he believes …; so that makes 17!” That was the statement Oldenburg disputed.
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The Presbyterian Layman, July/August 1998 contents |
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