The Case of Dr. Merriam

His congregation loves him. Removed from the pulpit at Manhattan's Broadway Presbyterian Church last month by vote of the New York Presbytery, the Rev.

Stuart Merriam, 38, attended impromptu services in the basement of the church--and his presence drew crowds twice as large as the ones that came to hear the substitute preacher upstairs. But to most of his fellow ministers. Stuart Merriam is a grave ecclesiastical embarrassment, a preacher ill-suited to his call. Last week the Presbytery of New York--an assembly of ministers and elders that governs 62 United Presbyterian churches in the city--decided, by a vote of 79 to 11, to revoke Broadway Presbyterian's call to Merriam. The presbytery also selected a nine-man judicial commission to try Merriam on charges of "untruthfulness" and "talebearing." If it finds him guilty, the ecclesiastical court could recommend Merriam's expulsion from the church.

Three Issues. The strange case of Dr. Merriam involves a number of separate, if tangled, issues. Among them: > THEOLOGY. A self-styled "evangelical" Presbyterian, Merriam was called to the Broadway church because his theological views coincided with those of his predominantly conservative congregation. In doctrine, he adheres strictly to the teachings of the Westminster Confession of Faith; his interpretations of Bible passages tend to be literal. Merriam argues that he was removed because his orthodox theology did not sit well with liberals in the presbytery who interpret Scripture and the confession more freely than he does. In answer, presbytery spokesmen say that his fellow ministers did not quarrel so much with Merriam's theology as with his "anti-intellectual" evangelism, inappropriate to a call that includes ministering to students from nearby Columbia University and Union Theological Seminary. >PERSONALITY. A flamboyant orator, Mer riam likes the unconventional gesture.

During his first worship service at Broad way Presbyterian, he introduced his Ger man shepherd dog to the congregation from the pulpit -- a gesture that delighted children in attendance, but to Merriam's enemies seemed evidence of emotional immaturity. More seriously, they accuse him of lack of judgment. The principal evidence: an incident of last August, when Merriam, on behalf of a self-exiled Iranian scholar, telephoned a State Department official, surreptitiously tape-recorded the conversation, then played the recording --which included some off-the-cuff remarks by the official about Iran's corruption -- to a reporter for a local newspaper. It is specifically for this mistake that the ecclesiastical court will try him. Merriam's critics also frown upon the downstairs services and his bypassing of constitutional appeals in favor of press-agentry. For example, Merriam's supporters called the presbytery's offer of a year's salary to Merriam a "bribe," even though this is standard practice when a pastor is removed from a church.

>AUTHORITY. Merriam's supporters argue that any presbytery must be wary of removing a preacher once he is called by his congregation, because the very nature of Presbyterianism stresses local control. His critics agree that a call from a church is rarely rescinded, but say that Merriam's unclerical behavior has forced the presby tery to take drastic action.

"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."

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