Sir, – I share the regret of the official spokespersons of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland (PCI) that the sorry conduct of some members of the Dublin and Munster Presbytery is yet again the object of the wrong kind of public interest. Nonetheless, it is difficult not to rejoice that the culture of omertà and secrecy in the PCI has been breached by the person or persons who released the documents to the press, which were the subject of the fine article by Patsy McGarry ("Presbyterian Church calls on Dublin minister to recant over appointment of gay man", News, December 12th).
As a result of these disclosures, a number of questions arise.
First, let me draw attention to the fact that Steven Smyrl was ordained an elder by a Commission of the Presbytery of Dublin and Munster in 2007, in advance of the appointment of the Rev Dr Katherine P Meyer as minister of Christ Church Sandymount, Dublin.
So, why is a fundamentalist clique in the Dublin and Munster Presbytery driving forward an investigation into the minister and church council only? What about the commission who ordained Mr Smyrl in the first place?
Second, let me remind the public, and the PCI, that there are in every Presbyterian congregation on this island people who walk humbly with their God, and who are also members of the LGBT+ community, that is, unless they have been driven away by the relentless homophobia of the fundamentalist clique that has taken control of the corridors of power in our Church over recent years.
So, what about all those churches, kirk sessions and ministers who welcome with open arms any member of the LGBT+ community whose faith is deep enough, and humanity gracious enough to tolerate the relentless homophobia of that fundamentalist clique?
Is their conduct also going to be investigated?
Apparently, in recognition of the above inconsistencies, the Presbytery of Dublin and Munster voted in early 2020 not to pursue an investigation into the leadership of Christ Church Sandymount. Nonetheless, the handful of ordained men driving the matter appealed that decision. And, to our collective astonishment, that appeal was allowed.
And now the Presbytery of Dublin and Munster’s conclusion has been upheld, namely that the minister and council of Christ Church Sandymount “demonstrate their persistent deviation from the confessional standards of the PCI”.
However, it is our Reformed conviction that our consciences are bound by Scripture alone, and not by any single interpretation of it that is presented as “the truth” and is not open to being revisited.
So, again, why the focus on Sandymount? Is it simply because an intelligent and gifted woman minister, and a small, but faithful, Dublin congregation, are seen as an easy target? Let there be no mistake here: that same fundamentalist clique also believes that women have no place in the ordained ministry of our Church. But we have yet to see a commission being set up to investigate their conduct.
And here are my last questions. Who exactly is responsible over the last few years for causing scandal in the Church and, to our shame, in the wider society? Who in fact has brought the Presbyterian Church into disrepute?
Let those who are so confident of their own purity, and who claim to be defending the peace of the church, hear the words of the prophet Amos: “Hate evil and love the good: remodel your courts into true halls of justice. Perhaps even yet the Lord God of hosts will have mercy on the people who remain” (6.15). – Yours, etc,
Prof RUTH WHELAN,
Dublin.