(2 of 2)
"You Have Judged Hastily." At the long afternoon meeting last week in Manhattan's Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church, Merriam's scattered handful of supporters were given little chance to speak. A motion to withhold further action until the delegates had more time to study the report was voted down. In an impassioned speech that brought tears to the eyes of women parishioners sitting in the gallery, Merriam accused the presbytery of taking unjust and ill-considered action against him. "Fathers and brethren," he cried, "you have judged us hastily, and you have judged us wrongly.'' The presbytery was unimpressed; the vote for rescinding the call got a larger majority than last month's ballot to remove Merriam from the pulpit.
Still buoyant and confident of ultimate vindication, Merriam plans to appeal the presbytery's action to the synod of New York State, and, if necessary, to the church's General Assembly as well. His chances of success are small. Thanks to Merriam's outspoken behavior since the ouster, more ministers than ever are convinced that he was the wrong man to handle so sensitive a call as the Broadway church; and they believe that under Presbyterian law they were fully justified in removing him. "Our presbytery," says Dr. Henry Barraclough, a retired Associate Stated Clerk and an expert on Presbyterian law, "is the most powerful bishop on earth."