wfn.org | Panel Appointed to Review College Women's Group

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22-September-1998 
98311 
 
REVISED 
 
    Panel Appointed to Review College Women's Group 
 
    by Jerry L. Van Marter 
 
LOUISVILLE, Ky.-General Assembly Council (GAC) chair the Rev. Cathy 
Chisholm has announced her appointment of the seven-member work group that 
will review the National Network of Presbyterian College Women (NNPCW). 
 
    The five-year-old network came under fire at this year's General 
Assembly in Charlotte. Commissioners first defunded it and then, after a 
brief demonstration on the floor of the Assembly on its last evening, 
reinstated funding for one year but called for a review of the network. 
 
    NNPCW, which claims 250 participants on 80 campuses around the country, 
received $50,000 from the denomination in 1998. 
 
    General Assembly vice moderator the Rev. James E. Mead led the appeal 
that convinced the Assembly to continue funding while the review takes 
place.  The Assembly directed that Mead and General Assembly moderator the 
Rev. Douglas W. Oldenburg serve on the review panel. 
 
    Other members, appointed by Chisholm and announced to the GAC Executive 
Committee Sept. 22, are Lynda Ardan (chair) of Clarks Summit, Pa., who just 
completed a term as vice moderator of the GAC; Beverly Barr of Lietchfield, 
Minn., a former high school and junior college teacher who has also worked 
for an educational research center; the Rev. Jeffrey Bridgeman, pastor of 
Santa Ynez Valley Presbyterian Church in Solvang, Calif., and a member of 
the GAC; Miriam Pride, president of PC(USA)-related Blackburn College in 
Carlinville, Ill.; and Dianne Wright, an educator on the staff of New 
Harmony Presbytery in Florence, S.C. 
 
    "I was looking for thoughtful, open-minded people who are not afraid to 
ask hard questions," Chisholm told the Presbyterian News Service in an 
interview shortly after her announcement.  "I want a committee that will 
work hard and fairly." 
 
    Asked about the absence of college-aged women on the panel, Chisholm 
said she attempted to find young women to serve "but all of those who were 
suggested were too deeply involved in this issue on one side or the other - 
I didn't want bias one way or the other." 
 
    She said a number of those appointed "would call themselves 
apolitical."  All appointees were made aware of how politically charged the 
debate over NNPCW has become, she said, "and they agreed to serve anyway." 
 
    At least two of the panel members - Mead and Bridgeman - are clearly 
known as conservative-evangelical Presbyterians. 
 
    Critics of NNPCW charged that some of the group's resources are 
contrary to scripture, are in violation of the "Book of Order" and promote 
lesbianism as an acceptable Christian lifestyle.  In its September/October 
issue, "The Presbyterian Layman" also charged, based upon a series of 
computer links that it traced from the now defunct NNPCW home page on the 
World Wide Web, that the group promotes pornography. 
 
    Barry Creech, coordinator for churchwide communication services for the 
GAC's Office of Communication, told the Presbyterian News Service that the 
issue of World Wide Web links is complicated.  "How far down the electronic 
chain of links should a group monitor to make sure its links don't lead to 
an inappropriate place.  Some say NNPCW should have gone further or issued 
a disclaimer because the fact is, after the first link away from the 
PC(USA) site, you no longer have  control over content." 
 
    Critics such as Williamson said NNPCW should have been more careful in 
establishing its links to external sites. 
 
    Chisholm said she expects the panel to meet with both supporters and 
critics of NNPCW, including members of the group's board of directors and 
the Rev. Parker Williamson, editor of "The Presbyterian Layman." 
Williamson, she said, has sent her by certified mail a lengthy report 
detailing his charges against the group.  She said she has not spoken with 
him directly about his report, even though he quoted her extensively in his 
"Layman" article. 
 
    The review panel's charge from the Assembly is "to evaluate the 
resources, publications and program of the National Network of Presbyterian 
College Women to ensure consistency with scripture and the constitution and 
to submit a complete report, including recommendations for future funding, 
to the 211th General Assembly (1999)." 
 
    Chisholm said the panel has not scheduled its first meeting yet. 

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