“
The li b erties
Which is to
r
m
i
n
i
s
t
e
s
of
p
o
f
h
h
th e wh ole C urc
are
threaten ed
here
.
in the E p iscopal C hurch—the courage
race to
G
v es
m
e
are tr in
as
o
d
i
y g
g
g
revai l
w ho
th
Gosp el of Christ in a troub led time an d the
loyalty an d lov e of a co n g reg ati on that sus tain s th em : or
th e power of a repudia ted v estry an d an unfriendly b ishop
to invoke can on i cal an d ci vi l leg alisms that destro y th e
interpret the
loyalti es b uilt
h
rou h
t
g
p
u
man y years?
”
W A L T E R RU S SE L L B O W I E
Uni on T heological S eminary
“
ecclesiasti cal
T he
pp
o
Thoug ht
Di ocese
f
L o ng
o
has professi o n ally lyn ched two min isters who
It is a ctually here no w
unp op ular op i n i o n s
’
’
‘
entertai n
.
.
Regi m en tati o n
ol!
co n tr
o si ti on an d cri ti cis m!
pp
co me
f th e
aratus
‘
Islan d
o
a
T he
o
f
o
n i o n!
i
p
Melish C ase
S uppressi on of
is g oin g to b e
Dreyfus Afiaire in th e E piscopal C hurch E very
E pis copalian an d ev ery Amer can stan ds i n jeopardy b e
Read this b o o klet an d w eep f or your
cause o f it
a
.
i
.
Church
and
ur
o
y
Ameri can ideals ! Then get
h
n
t
i
m
a
d
!
fig
g
”
J O S EP H F FL ET CH ER
E piscopal T heological S chool
.
“
th e
multitude of me n an d
w o men to whom Dr Melish has b ecome a sym b o l of all
that is n ob lest an d hi g hest i n the C hri stian min istry This
chu rch has ris en ab ov e custom It has b e en a ci ty s et o n a
hi ll! The p eop le of this parish hav e seen his wort h caug ht
his visi o n g iv en him a free pulpit an d free han d an d hav e
b ac ked him and w orked with him to accomp lish his g reat
eo le as well as a
eat min ister ma ke a
r
o als A g reat
g
g
p p
reat
aris h
g
p
In
Church
-
at- larg e
th ere is a
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,
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”
.
WILLI AM ScARLE T r
B ishop of Missouri
Holy T rinity Centennial Address
,
194 7
T A B L E OF CON T E N T S
Preface
AROUN D
C hapter On e
A
P R O P H E T IC M I N I S T R Y
’
LIJAH S MANT LE
C hapter Two
E
C hapter Three
T HE
Chapter
F ou r
A
!
C hapter
Fiv e
A
STUDY
C hapter S ix
E
C hapter
A
S ev en
C hap ter E ig ht
WORLD
THE
FIG H T F OR
UE S TI O N OF
IN
FI G HTI N G
THE
PEACE
P O L ICY
P RE JUDI CE
IN
N ME S HE D
15
THE
L AW
27
34
S
CO N GRE GATI O N
BAS I C I S S UE S
58
T hi s
narrati ve
is
th e
co llecti v e
w o rk
of
n earl
y
ore of
a sc
p
erso ns
H o ly Trin ity situati o n fami liar wi th the p erso na liti es
in vo lv ed an d hav in g a ccess to the leg al do cumen ts i n th e cas e They
hav e soug ht to present the b as ic facts o b jectiv ely a n d dispas si o n ately
T h eir con clusi o ns pai n staki n g ly reached are stron g an d emp hati c
T h ese they com mend to the r ead er on the b asis of in trinsi c m erit
c los e
t o th e
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PR EF ACE
WOR LD
A R OUND T H E
E OVAL
of
the Rev John Howard Melish D D LL D as rec
tor oi th e Church of the Holy Trin ity in Brooklyn New York
after forty fi ve years of distin guished serv ice i n the E piscopal Chur ch
has set in motion a chain reaction that has gone around the world
“
Dr Melish is ousted hea dl ined The Bro oklyn E ag le in two inch
type The sober New York Times and New Yo rk H era ld Tri bune gave
the story front page space as did newspapers generally a cros s th e
nati on In Sydney Australia in New ! ealand and in the Spani sh Press
in Mexico City the news was printed In E ngland the Man chester
Guardia n Weekly devoted two columns to analysis T h e editor of a
Paris daily in New York to cover the United Nati ons thought the mat
ter of suf ficient interest to his French readers to w arrant his comi ng
to Broo klyn for an interview
Hundreds of letters of shocked protest have pour ed in A Briti sh
“
clergyman writes
We are watching the ca se closely NO bishop in
E ngland has dared to go so far
A member Of Parliament sends
sympathy as does a Regent of Cambridge University From Rome
comes an in quiry from Sweden an Offer o f assistance and from Istan
bul in T urkey a typed note declaring the deep concern of th e Moham
“
medan writer who cannot Sign his name b ecause gr eat persecuti on in
my country
Th e Soviet Radio has beamed to E astern E urope and the Far E ast
“
The Case of John Melish pointing out that the arrest of certain
churchmen in the new democra cies for anti governmental acts has
been S harply criti cized by Ameri cans as an inf ringement of religi ous
liberty when in the Uni ted States a leading cler gyman an d hi s so n
are removed from their parish because of the crime of pleading
p eace and understanding betwe en West and E ast That these bro ad
casts have been widely heard can be gauged from a letter from an
American in Shanghai When I talked with Chi nese peasants and
trad e uni onists and they learned I came f rom Brooklyn they asked
me if I k new the Melishe s and I was proud to say I did
O n hi s 75th birthday th e venerable Rabbi Stephen S Wi se returned
from retirement to preach in his old pulpit in the Free Syn agogue he
T
HE R M
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7
THE MELISH CASE
had founded in New York City For the subject of what proved to be
his final sermon to his people he chose Th e Melish Case and spoke
on i ts S ignificance for American Civil liberties Forced to his bed a few
days later he passed into a final coma O pening his eyes he asked his
daughter What has happened to my friends the Meli shes?
Such are among the many indications that this is somethi ng more
than a conventi onal parish controversy It is a matter that involves
grave issues Of freedom an d d emocracy and peace By observers wi thi n
and without the country wha t has happened at Holy Trini ty is being
in terpreted as a symp tom Of certain basic changes taki ng place in
American life and psychology in a peri od when the democratic tradi
tion is being challenge d by economic pressur es resisting social change
For the religious it brings up Sharply the questi on of the Church s
“
capacity to preach the Gospel of its Lord Wh y doesn t the Chur ch
speak out?
H ere i s the answer Th e propheti c ministry is dangerous O nly the
mos t i ntelli gent imaginative co nvin ced and s elfless among th e cl ergy
will run the risks of a creative social minis try When they do they
Often find their worst en emies as j esus did not in the secular field
but wi thin the hierarchy and the lay leadershi p of their own chur ches
The situati on at Holy T rini ty tha t has prov oked th es e w orldwi de
rep ercussions is analyzed in these p ages The story i s complex but
raises many questions that a Chri s ti an Chur ch wishi ng to survive and
to W in conver ts in the c ontempor ary changin g urban and i ndustrial
world of the secon d half of th e T wentieth C entu ry will do well to
ponder
.
“
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”
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CHAPTER
A P R OP H E T I C
ONE
M I NI S T R Y
E Y EA RS A GO the Church of the Holy T rinity in Brookl yn
New York was on the lookout for a new rector This dis tin guished
parish made famous by the music of Dudley Buck had enjoyed the
Ci vi c ministry of Charles Henry Hall who whil e rector had served
On the Civil Service Commission and the intellectual preaching Of
Samuel McCo nn ell whose sermons and lectures on liberal religion had
taken him from coast to coast O n the vestry was a remarkable lay
man Mr George Foster Peab o dy who had made a fortune in invest
ment banking and now inspired by the theories of Henry George and
the social teachings Of Fran cis Greenwood Peabody and Walter
Raus chenbusch was seeking to fur th er a vital Christi anity L earning
of a young clergyman in Cincinnati who might be w ell suited to meet
Holy Trinity s requirements he journeyed west to interview him and
then p ersuaded the Brooklyn vestry to ext end a call In 1904 the Rev
o H oly T ri nity and began a mi nistr y that
ohn
Howard
Melish
came
t
j
has mad e him known thr oughout the Chur ch as a leadi ng exponent
of the s ocial application of th e Christian Go spel
“
In C in cinnati thi s red headed football player— Deacon Melish
after preparing for th e ministry had gone on the staff o f downtown
Chr is t Chur ch i n asso cia ti on wi th Frank Nelson where he had built
up a remarkable work among underprivi leged men and boys who
needed recreational and s o cial Opportunitie s Friendship with these
working boys o pened hi s eyes to certain ugly facts He found that
many were losing th eir wages on S aturday ni ghts i n gambling houses
When he protested the p olice la u ghed at h is inn o cence and disclosed
the ti e in between th e organized gambling ra cket and th e corrupt Cox
machine that ruled th e city S imil ar abus es were comi ng to light in
other municipali ties and were b eing de scribed in a brilliant seri es of
magazine articles The Shame o f the C i ties by Lincoln Stefi en s
Howard Melish invited this r o vi ng r eporter to visit C incinnati Af ter
the first few days he expr essed disapp o intm ent He had unearth ed no
“
graft A week later he declar ed This is the most corrupt city in Am
ica because the graft i s hi dden and effi cient
ORTY - F IV
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9
THE MELISH CASE
The
young mini ster described these findings in his Sunday evening
sermons More people attended than came to h ear the r ector of the
par ish in the morning There was sharp disagreement The Chr ist
Church ves trymen prominent figures in the communi ty were
distr ess ed at revelati ons that involved their friends and business as
sociates and to some degree compromised themselves The Cincinnati
“
Ti mes S tar pil loried the preacher as a muck raker and pri nted car
toons showing h im hur ling mud at the fair banner of Cincin nati The
P ost came to his defense Such a wave of civi c indignation was aroused
that a movement began to coalesce to fight the Cox ma chi ne It proved
the pre cursor of the City Charter Movement that made Cincinn ati for
years a model among American muni cipalities wi th i ts city man ager
form of government and its use of proportional representation for its
City Council Years later the University of Cincinnati which in the
Cox dominated days had virtually diso wned its star football player
and graduate was happy to honor him wi th the degree of Doctor
of Laws
Howard Melish a greed to come to Holy Trin ity on two conditions
The pew rental system must be abandoned in favor of a free chur ch
Open to all worsh ippers and the rector must have th e right to de
termine policy and not S imply be the executant of policy already
de termined T o these conditions the vestr y consented
“
Al though Th e B ro o klyn E ag le greeted the newcomer as the young
Dr Parkhurst from th e middle west b e avoided any futile attempt to
repeat his Cincinnati civic reforms and devoted his ener gies to the
creati on of a program for his ne w pari sh along i nsti t uti onal lin es O n ce
again the work with men and boys proved most successful Trini ty
Club came to have more than a thousand members and its teams
competed successful ly with the best amateur athl eti c clubs in the city
in baseball track boxi ng and handball
Next to his interest in men and boys Dr Melish gave his best tal ents
to his preachi ng These were the days when biblical studi es an d sci en
ti fi c cr iticism wer e something new He made the liberal approach to
religion the theme of hi s sermons Intellectual inquiry continued to be
a part o f the parish s lif e and outlook as it had been in Dr McConn ell s
day Drawn to Holy T rinity in consequence were men and women
from all parts of Brooklyn who wanted th e Christian religion to appeal
to their minds and consciences as well as to their emotions S upple
m en ti n g the pulpit for handling the more controversial ques ti ons a
forum was developed in the parish house where spokesmen f or many
caus es joined in brisk debate Invited to preach on Sunday wo ul d be
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10
A PR OPHETIC MINISTR Y
such socially minded men as Bishop Spalding o f Utah and Bishop
Williams of Michigan When Dr Algernon Crapsey of Rochester was
accused of heresy b e caus e of hi s unorthodox views on the V irgin B ir th
it was Holy Trinity that gave him a hearing and a me m ber of the
parish Mr E dward M Shepard who later conducted his legal de
f ense Hospitality to new ideas became a parish characteristic Th e
liberal tradition was strong the text en graved upon the pulpit— Th e
w as taken literally and in the back
Truth Shall Make Yo u Free —
ground was the generous Mr Peabody whose bulwarking o f the
budget did much to keep the parish serene From him and others like
him was to come the bulk of the endowments that since have helped
maintain this downtown church
Perhaps the most explosive religious book ever to appear in America
w as wri tte n in the p arish house unbeknown to the rector b y the
superintendent of i ts T rinity Club work Bouck White Th e Call of
the Carpenter was a pione er attempt to interpret Jesus as a social
revolutionary and to use economics as a key to the understanding
o f hi s tim es a method more recently employed by Conr ad Noel in
“
E ngland whose Life of Jesus w as inspired by Bouck White s book
Th ough Dr Melish was never a Socialist in theory or partisanship
he numbered many socialists and pacifists among his friends He wrote
an eloquent biography of the gr eat socialist bishop of Utah Frank
Spalding and a beautiful tribute to his su ccessor the pacifist bishop of
Utah Paul Jones Deeply attracted by the intellec tual and ethical
idealism of both movements he nevertheless rejected their do gmatic
formulation preferri ng S imply to call himself a Social Christian
Believin g in the rights of Labor he sat for many years on the Cen
tral Labor Union o f Brooklyn a s a representative Of the diocese of
Lo ng Island In the Steel Strike when the eight hour day and the
closed Shop were fighting issues he joined with Bishop M cC on nell
Rabbi Stephen S Wise and Dr John Haynes Holmes in public sup
port of the workers against the Steel Trust As World War I drew near
he spoke agains t the economic and imperialistic rivalr ies that were
mak ing the conflict inevitable A wave of criticism descended upon h is
head He has Often told his friends that he might have be en ousted
from his parish in that delirium o f pre war patriotism had not an ac
c iden t confined him to a hospital bed for many months and welded
around h im once again the divide d s ympathies of his parishioners
Due to the carelessness of a subcontractor the stairway of an elevated
railway platform under repair was left unguarded Coming home from
a meeting late at ni ght and running to catch an approaching train
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11
THE MELISH CA SE
he plunged through a missing step to fall eighteen feet to the pave
ment below His hip and wrist were badly shattered E ver since he
has b een lame and dep rived of such favorite recreations as tennis golf
and horseba ck riding When he was able to return to the parish the
war w as on The congregation eagerly organi zed to meet the recrea
ti o nal and social needs of the service men who were passing thr ough
the port of New York
In the ensuing years at least four major creative contributions have
been made by H oly T rinity O ut of the unity and comradeship of the
war were born the Comm unity Lenten Noonday Services which ever
since have invited not onl y E p is copalians as preachers but th e leadin g
repres enta tives of other denominations and since World War II at
least one liberal rabbi in ea ch s eason With the aid of such
promin ent medical men as Dr Luther Warren Dr Ri chard West
brook and Dr Robert L Dicki nson H oly T rinity started the Associate
Cli nic of Religion and Medicine bringing together doctor psychi a
trist and spiritu al advi ser to minister as a team to troubled mind and
body T w o brownstone houses adjoini ng the rectory were p urchased
to pr o vide a resid ence for young men and w om en coming from the
colleg es to take th eir first jobs in New York City where they might
enjoy congenial and wholesome livin g quarters on beginners incomes
In the parish house a C o mmi ttee on H ou sing was established with
an offi ce and a volunteer secretary from which stemmed the pioneer
ing studies for the public low cost housing projects that now grace
many sections of Bro okl yn All this ti me the gym nasium and the parish
hous e were constantly in use f or recr eati on among men and boys
without distinction of race cultural background or religion These
activi ti es were criti cized b ecause they brought onl y a scant handful
of recruits i nto the parish from their many members but they have
done som ething that has been more important They have given the
Church a respect and a moral standing in the whole co mmunity of
Brooklyn
In the debate on American parti cipation in the League of Nations
Dr Melish took a part preachi ng and writing in its behalf v isiting
many citi es T ogether with hi s wife he mar ched in peace parades
At H oly T rinity was formed what he has always thought to be the
first Par ish Peace Committee in the coun try For years it conti nued
to dis tribute edu cation al li teratur e to the members of the congrega
tion and to all the min is ters of Brooklyn churches in an att empt to
stimulate i nteres t i n effective internati onal cooperation
Th e influx of thousands of new residents from other cultures into
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12
A PR OPHETIC M IN I STR Y
Brooklyn created a vast problem o f assimilation Thi s became the par
ti cular fi eld of interest for Mrs Melish who f o r many years serv ed on
.
.
board of the International Institute of the
whi ch mai n
tai n ed on Brooklyn Heights a hostel to which worki ng g irls of di f ferent
cultural backgrounds might come to live
In a New York City controlled by T ammany Hall the old con cern
for clea n government was n ot forgotten With other leadi ng citizens
Dr Melish served for many years on the City Af fair s Committee When
conditi ons dur ing the term of Mayor James Walker became in toler
able he played a modest part in the formation of the fusion movement
un der Judge Samuel Seabur y th at elected Fi orello H L aGuardi a to
City Hall When Wil liam O Dwy er was in augurated Mayor it was Dr
Melish who gave the in vocation at the inducti on ceremonies
That this outreachin g social ministry w as n o arbitrary thin g but
had th e i nterest and the stamp of approval of the larger Chur ch i s
clearly indicated by the election of Dr Meli sh as a clerical deputy
f rom L o ng Island to the triennial General Convention of th e E piscopal
Church on four separate occasions : in 19 13 19 16 1931 and 1934 ; an d
b y hi s appointment as secretary of the Joi nt Commission on S ocial
Service of General Convention the pred ecessor of the pres ent So ci al
Service Dep artment of the National Council
T wi ce in his ministry at Holy Trin ity deputati ons came to see hi m
from va cant di oceses that were about to elect bishops In ea ch case
after thoughtful discussion with his in timate friends as well as his
fami ly he declin ed the nomination He loved the w ork of a p aro chi al
mini ster and cherished above all else the freedom of the pulpit whi ch
he enjoye d at Holy T rinity Although he respected the w ork of a
bishop and had seen the moral power and presti ge of the Offi ce when
held by a man of courage and intellectual convicti on h e knew the
heavy responsibili ty placed upon a bishop to finance his diocese the
constant need to solicit funds from those able to give generously and
the curtailment inevitably involved for a preacher con cerned with
contemp o rary issues He never regretted these decisions
The lif e of the parish moved along steadily O ccasionall y the re were
diffi cult moments as when an assistant min i ster the Rev Bra df ord
Young joined the Socialis t Par ty ran for the Board of Aldermen on
that ti cket and campaigned in tradi tional soap box s tyle under the
American flag on the streetcorners of Brooklyn Heights When a
serious strike broke ou t in the clothing i ndustry in Paterson New
Jersey Mr Young took part in the picket lines and spent a ni ght in
jail Later when thugs and goons were hir ed to beat up women work
th e
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13
THE
MELISH CASE
ers he involved himself in a strike at the Bro oklyn E dison Company
as a mark of public protest The president of th e company with drew
from the parish and cancel ed a s i zable annual co ntribution Th is the
two ministers made up by taking cuts in their own salaries By calm
ness and patience the rector weathered all such difli cul t moments Mr
Young worked at Holy Trini ty for thirte en years Wi nni ng th e loyalty
of the congregation and more than
the p ari sh policy of com
l
ete freedom for the consci entious mini ster to expr ess h is convicti ons
p
in word and acti on
T he concep ti on of a church that Dr M elish has i nspir ed th e co n
re ati o n at Holy T rinity to ac cept is that of a worshipping co m
g g
muni ty radiati ng its moral and Sp iritual influen ce o ut i nto the larger
world The Christian Ministry is possessed of a dual function It i s
both priestly and propheti c In worship sacramental life and preach
ing a chur ch expresses its allegiance to the Christian Gospel as the
New T estament presents it It is then incumbent upon clergy and lai ty
alike to go forth and apply this Gospel to concrete situati ons in th eir
neighborhood the larger community the n ation and the world This
they must do by the light of their individual i nsight imagination and
conscience Ar ound the altar the lectern an d the pul pit will be found
that unity whi ch flows fro m common loyalty to th e Pers o n and tea ch
ing of Christ In the concrete application there wil l inevitably be much
var iation and diff erence of Opinion that will require mutual to l erance
Complete agreement is never to be expected Indeed it is not even
an end to be desired The Objective Of a parish is to stimulate a Living
and Applied Chris ti anity reaching out into the l ife of a world crying
out f or the Gospel of Redemption and Reconciliati on This Gospel in
all its living vitality is the religious heritage that Dr Meli sh and hi s
associates are fanning i nto flame among the people of Holy Trinity
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14
C
HAPT ER
T
WO
E LIJ A H S MA NT LE
’
ER of 1989
th e
Rev Mr Young re ceived a call to b ecome
rector of Gra ce Chur ch Manchester New Hampshi re After thir teen
years at Holy Trini ty it s eemed wis e that he Shoul d accept it H is lea v
ing confronted re ctor an d vestry with a serious problem Dr Meli sh
had been ill that spring and was no longer a you ng man NO o ne
wished hi m to reti re nor at six ty fi ve did he wish to do so Yet the de
mands of the parish in th e changing Heights surroundi ngs were such
that he requir ed more competent assistan ce than that of an average
curate fr e sh from th e s eminary or an older mini ster wi lli ng to ac cept
a sub ordi nate positi o n
Af ter exh aus tive di scussion on th e initia ti ve of the vestry an
sary w as sent to Christ Chur ch Cincinnati to intervi ew the Rev Wil
liam Howard Melish the younger son of the rector Th ank s to a co n
si derab l e financial settl em ent for damages in volved i n his a ccident
Dr Melis h had been able to give his se cond boy the best edu cati on
for the mini s try a vaila ble H e was a Harvard graduate and had spent
a year at Union Theological Seminary and a summer at the Ci ncin nati
Summer S chool in S ocial Service where h e had done field work as a
pr obati on officer in the Juvenile Cour t T wo ye ars followed at Cam
bridge Uni versity in E ngland wher e he studi ed theology as an un der
graduate at Jesus Coll ege became president of its debatin g society
and rowed at Henley in th e Royal Regatta Retur ni ng to the Uni ted
States with a Master s degree h e took a four th year at the E piscopal
Th eological School in Cambridge Massachus etts doing work at
n earby H arvar d in phil os ophy un der Professor Whi tehead and in gov
ernm en t u nder Professor Ho cki ng Then li ke h i s fa ther forty ye ars
before he joined th e staff of Christ Church Cin ci nnati
In four years tim e he m oved from third assistant to the agi ng Dr
Frank Nelson to b ec ome his sole asso ciate developed co mpetency
as a pr ea cher master ed th e var ious aspe cts of th e i nstitutional church
an d di d pioneeri ng w ork i n the creati on o f communi ty council s in
Ci nci nn ati O utside the parish he b ecame the Cinci nnati chairman of
the E mergency P eace Campaign planning its program with Al fred
N T H E SU M M
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15
THE MELISH
C
ASE
Moore of the Methodist Publishing House and Rabbi Abraham Cron
bach of Hebrew Union College Their most ambitious undertakin g
was a citywide rally involving all the Ci ncinnati protestant churches
at whi ch Miss Maude Royden of E ngland was to be the S peaker That
day the Ohi o River over ran its banks in the worst flood on record
the meeting had to be canceled the city was pla ced under mar tial
law and for the next fortnight Christ Chur ch parish house beca me
the home of a hundred refugees from the river front
T wice in Cin cinnati Mr Melish came under attack for his soci al
views When he advocated an embargo on scrap iron oil and machine
tools bei ng sent to Japan for the war in China parishioners protested
whose in come came from the Cincinnati milling machi ne compani es
When he joined with other min isters in sponsoring the fir st public
me eting to be held in N orw ord an i ndependent area wi thi n Gr eater
Cincinnati where were located the assembling plants of major auto
mobile factories the local press raised an outcry Th e other clerical
members ran to cover all meeting halls were denied an d the gathering
finally took place in a private home across the Norwood Cin cinnati
line With Mr Melish in this fir st experience of s trif e in a company
dominated community was a young Wellesley College graduate Mary
Jane Dietz who later became hi s wife
T h e Washi ngton Cathedral was in process of reorgani zi ng its staff
T here was a proposal to employ four canons sharin g the services and
preach ing each assigned to a special field and poolin g experiences in
regular teachi ng assignments at the College of Preachers attached to
the Cathedr al Mr Melish was invited to become Canon Almoner
the antiqu arian title for the minis ter in charge of case work and as
signed to relate the Cathedral to Washi ngton social agencies The post
would mean wide contacts in the nati onal capital opportunity to teach
and preach the stimulus of meeting mi nisters from all parts of the
country and secur ity Of tenure
T o induce Mr Melish to come to Holy T rinity instead o f accepting
the attractive Washington canonr y the vestr y offered him simi lar
secur ity of tenure by entering a contract th at he should come to work
with hi s father as assistant minister but with the right Of succession
upon hi s father s retirement or death Thi s contr act was entered into
with the explicit knowledge and approval of the bishop of the diocese
the Rt Rev E rnest M S tires D D and followed a S im ilar pro cedure
adopted some years before by Trinity Church New York in the case
of Dr Ma nning who w as called to be the assistant to Dr Dix with
the ri ght of succession
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’
E L I JA H S
AN TL E
M
went happily The two men shared th e services and preach
ing alternatin g i n the pul pit mornin g an d evenin g Mr Melish under
too k to handle th e Church School and th e ofi ce routi nes to share in
th e ca ll i ng an d to do the co mmuni ty activities that his father had
done in earlier years Dr Meli sh concentrated on a ministry to the
older p arishi oners the sick and the shut in allowing his son to follow
up the ne w people attr acted to the parish
In additi on to parochi al duties Mr Melish began to play a con
He was elected to the
si derab l e role in the diocese of Long Island
Diocesan Coun cil served as chairman of the Department of Christian
Social Relations and disbur sed many thousands of dollars as the
treasurer of the diocesan Army and Navy Commi ssion He took an
interest in the displaced Nisei and helped establish on Brooklyn
Heights a Japanese Hostel He stimulated the merger of the parishes
of the Good Shepherd an d St Philip s that resulted in the creation of
a new p arish and community center in the rapidly expanding N egro
section of Brooklyn At Holy Trinity he interested the vestry in placi ng
the parish buil dings at the di sposal of the Brooklyn Protestant Guild
of the Deaf and for nearly five years conducted services for deaf
mutes at Holy Trinity and St Ann s Chur ch for the Deaf i n Manhattan
Servi ng on the board of th e Brooklyn Chur ch and Mission Federati on
he headed first its sub —comm ission o n E conomic and Social Justi ce
and then the sub commission on Intern ati onal Justice an d Good Wil l
attending as i ts representative the Cleveland Conference on a Just and
Durable Peace A hard worki ng man accustomed to long hour s little
time for recreation and a wide range of simultaneous i nterests he
began th e same kin d of many sided mini stry in which his father had
so long serve d the Brooklyn community
Now that the war was on Mr Melish saw that the futur e would be
very largely shaped by the post war relations between the Uni ted
States and the Sovi et Uni on With these two countries allied in a com
mon struggle there w as provided an opportunity such as might not
come again in which a contribution towards greater understandi ng
and cooperation between them might be made Here was a crucial
area in whi ch the Chr istian Church as a cr eative and redempti ve
S ociety ought to pioneer
T his conviction led Mr Melish to S pend his spare evenings helpi ng
to organize Russian War Relief chapters in Brookl yn and Manhatt an
In his leisure hours he read the best materials available on the Soviet
Union and learned to read Russian T he first talks on American Soviet
relations that he gave were so well received that other invi tati ons came
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17
THE MELISH CASE
and the fe es he donated to the relief program The Uni ted States War
D epartment asked hi m to speak at a numb er of Ar my posts i n the New
York area where he addressed thousands of service men Without in
terf erin g with his parish work or sermon preparation he averaged two
such ta lks a week over a period of four years and various arti cles
frcm his pen appeared in national publi ca ti ons
Th e basic theme of thi s speaki ng and writi ng w as the same : the
United States and Russia in spite o f their dif f erences of economic
and political system can and must learn to live peacefull y together
Neither can eli mi nate th e other by force or coercion T hey must buil d
the futur e by both of them contributing to some form of effecti ve
United Nations Organization Th e way to peace between them is to
explore the thi ngs that the two peoples hold in common as well as their
di fferences and to encourage every form of intellectual and cul tur al
exchange possible T o commend such a program to a wider public b e
joined with other prominent New Yorkers in foundi ng an organi zati on
for thi s purpose incorporated under th e L aws of th e State of New
York the National Council of American Soviet Friendship
E x cept for on e member of the vestry who came to see h im privately
and voiced an emphatic personal protest Mr Melis h exper ienced no
s erious objecti on to thi s work nor did any criticism come to the ears
of the re ctor This was an undertak ing in keeping wi th th e parish
tra diti on of practical work for peace T hese were outside activities
E xcept for two eveni ng Russian War Relief services and one eveni ng
mass mee ti ng in support of th e San Francisco Conf erence at which the
United Nati ons was founded there was n o intr usion of thi s special
i nterest into the lif e of th e parish Like all of America the parishioners
shar ed dif ferences of opinion concerning the proper a tti tude to take
towards Russia but dur ing th e war up to the death of President Roose
velt there was the same general acceptance o f this work for peace that
had marked other crea tive and exploratory Christian efforts in the
previous decades of Dr Meli sh s ministry
In the spring of 1946 Mr Corli ss Lamont resigned from the chair
manship of the National Council of American Soviet Friendshi p which
he had headed since its foundati on T h e board asked Mr Melish if he
woul d co nsent to his election Af ter talki ng the matter over with his
father he agreed and i n June succeeded Mr Lamont It proved to
be an u npropitious ti me to assume such a post Th e Truman Doctrine
was S hor tly in process of promulgati on Th e cold war w as about to
b egin in earnest A S the international S ituation degenerated the Holy
T rini ty ves try became a local barometer Storm S ignals began to reg
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18
CHAPTER
T HE
THR EE
FI G H T F OR P E A CE
Dr and Mr Melish recognized that this work for peace they
had undertaken woul d have its risks The daily in crease in war
talk an d the growin g ass um ption that war was i nevi table deeply
troubled them Th ey shared the co nvicti on that war between the
United States and the Soviet Union could be avoid ed For
years
the two nati o ns had li ved peacefully in the same world In a great war
against a common fo e they had collaborated su ccessful ly However
diffi cult the problems exi stin g betw ee n them a way to resolve them
without recour se to war must be found Certain l y there were grave
differences but there were also many things th ey held in common
Th e immedi ate task was to preserve what o n e could of th e good will
b orn of the war alliance to check the development of some S piral of
distrust and rearmament and to encourage all points where co n stru c
tive cooperati ve effort might prove p o ssible This was a task for the
Christian conscience It had to speak out now or it might forever have
to hold i ts p ea ce
The two mi nisters were not communists but they were concerned
about the meaning of commun ism and the reasons for i ts incr easing
spread Rememberi ng the long s tr uggle between religious ins titutions
and Darwi ni sm they asked if there might not be some parallel in thi s
matt er of Marxis m Here was a body of thought containing at least
sufficient truth that in the cour se of a hundred years it was win ning
a wider and wider accep tance until now it w as moti vating whole
governm ents under which consi derable se ctions of the Christian
Church must live It was not possible to dismiss these new ideas nor
coul d their impl icati ons be evaded There was the double task con
fronting the Christian Chur ch of finding a strategy to maintain worthy
religious institutions and clari fying intelle ctually th e true relati ons hi p
between the two ideological systems of thought
B oth men had noted a parallel between the current im pact of com
munism on western Chr istendom and the 16th Century im pact of
Protestantis m upon a Roman Catholicism intertwined wi th the chang
ing feudal system—a comparison pointed out to them by their friend
0 TH
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20
THE
IGHT
F
PEACE
F OR
the Ar ctic explorer Dr Vilh jalm ar Steff an so n Both periods involved
the emergence Of new ideological systems closely related to certain
funda mental economic needs Th e bitt er religious wars that resul ted
in the l 6th C entury di d n o t resolve the ideological struggle but only
laid E ur ope waste Men finally had to learn to live together on the bas is
of political compromi se and the tolerance of religious diff erence Some
thi ng Simil ar woul d pro bably prove true of the cur rent world situa
ti on The ideological confli ct between communism and Chr istianity
w as not to be lightly dis mi ss ed b ut n either co uld it be treated as S im ply
a clash of abs tract thought It was closely conn ected with economic
facts and politi cal structur es that were themselves changing It could
not b e disengaged from the s tru ggle everyw here for a better organize d
and more producti ve so cie ty cap able of meeting hum an needs and able
to rem ain at peace wi thin itself Christianity with its doctrine of man
and communis m wi th its assertion of a humanist philosophy both had
a c onsiderable s take in an ordered world With the new atomi c and
ba cteriol o gical weapons w ar was now a mena ce to both societies An
alternative mu st be found or both would tend to harden into mili tarized
uni ts at each other s thr oat
As ch air man o f the N ati onal Council of American Soviet Friendship
Mr Melish gave public expression to thi s point of V i ew He went to
Washin gton to testif y before the S enate Foreign Relati ons Committ ee
agains t the Gr eek Turki sh L oan and the T ruman Doctrine Speaking
almost immediately after Mr LaGuardi a had pleaded f or
he warned against American b y p assing of the United Nati ons and this
pla cing of reliance primarily up on arms and coercion He stressed
th e alterna tive o f a l on g r ange program Of relief reconstruction sti mu
lation o f E ast West trad e and the expansion of cult ural exchange
In June o f 1947 hi s positi on as a responsible public spokesman was
re cognized when the T own Hall o f the Air invited him to fly to Des
Moines I ow a to p arti cipate in a broadcast forum sponsored by Drake
University before a theatre audience of nearly five thousand people
and a radio au dience o f four to fiv e mil lion on the subj ect Are
Chri stiani ty and Communis m Incompatible ?
T w o months later he received an invita tion from th e Yugoslav Am
b assador in Washi ngton to join a group of protestant clergymen goi ng
to th e Federated Peoples Republic of Yugoslavia to i nvestigate th e
state of religiou s freedom an d the circumst an ces surrounding the con
v i cti on of Ar chb ish o p S tepin ac Th e gr o up consistin g of S ix cler ymen
g
and two laym en Spent two we eks Of intensive i nqt
in four of the
six republics o f Yugosl avia and vi sited the Archbishop in his prison
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21
,
THE MELISH CASE
cell at Lepoglava O n their return th e members published a factua l
report Thi s did a good deal to undermine th e anti Yugoslav campaign
that the Vati can was then conductin g around the Ar chbishop s im
prisonm ent Th e report gave th e backgroun d of collaboration with the
Nazis and the facts concerning th e Ar chbish op s post war anti govem
ment acti vi ti es that led to his convi ction and it punctured the widely
circulated misstatements about his treatm ent in prison For this honest
reporting the members of th e group were savagely attacked in the
Roman Catholic press across the country
As a result of this E uropean trip Mr Melish was i nvited in the late
fall to appear again on the T own Hall of the Air in a discussion of
“
H ow to Combat Anti American Propaganda in E urope ? In hi s
prepared address he advocated a m o difi Cati on of the American policy
o f containment and coercion a return to genui ne reliance upon the
United Nations and to the u se of its relief apparatus and its economic
commi ttees for the stim ulation of E ast West trade as the best means
o f relieving the growi ng E ur opean tension Th e other speakers advised
meeting propaganda with increased counter propaganda and urged
“
greater appropriations by Congress f or the Voice o f America broad
casts the dissemination of printed materials in E urope and the step
“
ping up of under cover activiti es appropriate to a cold war
O ne week before the program went on the air the Attorney General
of the Uni ted States Mr T o m Clark i ssued the first o f hi s i nf amous
“
lists Of so called subversive organizati ons O n it w as in cluded the N a
ti o n al Coun cil of Am erican Sovi et Friendship No reason for i ts li sting
was given and all attempts to obtain a hearing on S pecific charges were
refused by the government While this list techni cally applied solely
to the screening of employees in the federal service its existence
swif tly permeated into th e whole of Am erican life The T own H all of
the Air did n ot wish to present a listed person on its nati onwi de
facilities yet having announced Mr Melis h as a speaker opposite
Senator Lodge of Massachusetts Representa tive Case of South Dakota
and Major General William Donovan head of the wartim e O ffice
o f Strategi c Services it did not wi sh to ask him to withdraw lest its
reputation as a genui n e forum for the discuss i on of major issues be
compromised Major General Donovan wh o w as al so the chairman
of the board o f the T own Hall of the Air resolved the problem by
converti ng the discussion i nto a personal attack upon Mr Melish ao
o f h i s chairmanship of the
of
being
a
communist
because
h
i
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cu sin
g
Nati onal Coun cil and his interest in other organizations concerned
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22
,
T HE
F
IGHT
with
FOR
PEACE
ci vil ri ghts and colonial peoples It was the conjuncti on of the
“
by the Attorn ey General and thi s attack by Wild B ill Dono
van o u the radio that froze the atti tude of th e ves try of Holy T rinity
aga inst the assistant mini ster
At the pr evi ous ves tr y meeti ng in November there had been criti cism
o f th e Yugoslav tr ip but when Mr Meli sh had explained hi s reason for
going and had pointed o ut the Roman Catholic origin of the atta cks
upon the group every vestrym an had shaken his hand at th e clos e o f
the meeting At the December vestry meeti ng however there was
cold and implacable hostility It made no impression upon the ves try
men when Dr Melish expressed hi s convicti on that the Attorn ey Gen
er al s list w a s utterly illegal and unconstitutional when applied to any
area outside the federal service and th at every Ameri can concerned
about tra di tional civi l liberti es had to disregard such utter misus e of
it and Oppose Such meth ods o f public intim idation Were he hi mself
a younger man he continued he would do the same work for peace
his so n was attempting America was clearly caught in a wave of
hysteria He rem ember ed only to o well what happened after the First
World War wi th i ts Palmer Raids an d Deportation Delirium It was
his belief th at th is current frenzy was deliberately manuf actured and
woul d prove temporary Th e time would c ome when all who suc
cumb e d to it would l o ok back wi th dismay chagr i n and sham e His
words fell on deaf ears A week later an emissary of the vestry came
to Mr Melish in the rectory and advi sed him qui etly to resi gn This
he decli ned to do
Th e two m ini st ers realized that they w er e up against a h i ghl y
volatile situation complicated by this external atmosphere of hysteria
and war psych o sis T o compli cate the sit uati on wi thi n the p ari sh the
month Of January i n 194 8 saw a bitter cold w ave and de ep sno w
Chur ch att endance fell Off badly th e next f ew Sundays which the
vestry instantly attributed to the assistant mi ni ster O ver the protest
of the rector they passed a resoluti on aski ng him to resign
B oth mini sters began an intensive round of pari sh call s and activated
members of th e E very Member Canvass to help them They found
among the vast majority of the par ishi oners a state of perplexity but
not hostil ity The people k new and trusted their ministers All that
w as required in most visits w as some patient explanati on of what the
“
listing m eant and di d not mean Attendance at service s b egan to pick
up with the better weather and by E aster Monday th e chairman of the
E very Member Canvass reported the lar gest number of contributors
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23
MELISH CA SE
THE
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to the pledge system in the parish s history T 0 reduce Opportunity for
f urther criticism Mr Melish gave up nearly all outside speaki ng but
found that o n e speech now dr ew ten times the publicity
Though he was confining his energies almost exclusively to the
parish the National Council was campaigni ng against the decision of
the motion picture industry un der pressure of th e Un American Com
mi ttee Of Congress to produce a series Of anti Soviet films From the
advance studio releas es it was clear that these pictures were designed
to inflame hatred and t o fan th e war psychology of the country When
Th e Iron Curtain — the first o f these fi lms— w as S hown in New York
the Council cooperated with other groups in throwi ng a picket line
around the Roxy Theatr e This pattern of protest was Copied in other
cities and w as repeated in many Latin American and E ur opean
capitals Box office receipts were disappointing In spite of some h e
lated Legion of Decency and Catholic War V eteran propaganda in
support of the film th e public stayed away and the schedule of S imilar
productions was sharply cur tailed As chairman of the Nati onal Coun
cil Mr M elish w as attacked by Mr E ric Johnston o f the Movie In
dustry and blas ted in such periodicals as Ti me Newsweek and Life
Though he had never referred to the Council from the pulpit he
“
thought it wise now to do so and preached a sermon on The Church
and Peace in which he stated the problem confronting Chr isti ans
concern ed wi th contributin g to peace in a time when organized
groups were deliberately fanning the flames of suspicion and ill will
O n the strength of thi s parish calling the response to the appeal for
pledges and the r eaction to this sermon the ministers expressed to the
vestrymen their conviction that the s trongest element of dissension i n
the parish centered in th e vestry itself and that they were certain these
issues could be worke d out with patience within th e family The
mi nisters were wil lin g to consider all aspects of the problem but the
vestry must unders tand that from the ministers V iewp oint th ere were
major eth ical principles involved It was not possible to retr eat from
thi s issue of war and p ea ce with out compromising the spir it of Chris
ti an ity and th e tradi ti on o f th e p arish Nor could one in good consci ence
allow one s self to b e i ntimidated by th e Un American Committee and
Mr T om Clark H owever said the ministers if it became obvious
th at th e pari sh coul d not s tan d the stra i n imp os ed upon it by the
publi ci ty s urroun din g the chairmanship of the N ational C ouncil Mr
M eli sh would s eriou sly co nsider relinquishi ng it provided that time
were grante d hi m to work the ma tter o ut in such a way that the or
ani zati o n would not b e injur ed that he had helped to found and in
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24
.
TH E
F
IGHT
PEACE
F OR
whos e work both ministers conti nued to believe Thi s step coul d be
taken at the end o f his normal term of Office as chair man in April
T he vestry responded to this plea f or tim e by producing a letter to
“
be sent to the p ar ishioners asking whether they considered the outside
“
acti vities of the assistant minister detrimental to the parish citi ng
specifically th e chairmanship of the Council and pointing out that
“
it had b een listed as subversive by the Attorney General
A group o f parishioners who had gather ed som ethi ng of the ten
S ion that was marking these ves try meetings came privately to the
rector and aske d if they migh t contest the re electi on o f the w arden
and three vestrymen whose terms of Offi ce were to expir e o n E aster
Monday Havi ng been through many pr evious cris es in the p arish in
hi s forty four years the rector advis ed against thi s He did not wish
any invasion of the Holy Week services by divi sive electioneerin g and
believed that an ir enic atti tIIde on his part could keep th e s ituation
in hand Th e issue was n o t raised a t the Annual Meeting either by the
ves trym en or the ministers Ne vertheless for the first time in parish
history tw o nominations were mad e fro m the floor and the two ves try
men thus challenged were re el e cted by less than four votes each A
resolution was passed requiring that a Nominating Committe e be
established before future Annual M eetings so that ves try nominati ons
might be more adequately considered by the congregation
Th e next morning the vestrymen mailed out the ir questionnair e and
the wif e of o n e of them called a press co nf erence to which she invited
all the metropolitan newspap ers What had been an I ssue with in the
confines of the vestry room up to this point was now n o t only thrown
o ut to th e entire p arish but deliberately broken to the press and
blazoned from coast to coast She said that Mr Melish was not a com
“
m un i st but a h alf baked follower of a half baked Henry Wallace
The text of the questio nnaire was released Since this mentioned the
National Council of American S oviet Friendship and made the chair
manship the Spe cific i ssue the Meli shes felt that thi s nationwide pub
K
li city took away from the assis tant min i ster the option of qui etly c
ou
r
l
eti n
g his term of office an d wi th dra wi ng fr o m so exposed a p osi ti on
p
Now he could only resign the chairmanship with loss of principle and
real damage to the Coun cil
!
It was at the May meeti ng of the vestry followi ng this news break
that the ves trymen took the formal step of referri ng the i ss e b etween
u
them an d their ministers to the bishop Of the diocese The resolution
was carried by a vote of nine to two Dr Melish at once wrote to the
bishop informing him of this resolution and asked tha t he and hi s son
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25
.
THE
CASE
M E LISH
permitted to come o ut to Garden City an d talk the whole matter
ou t N0 reply cam e T w o m o n th s l ate r Dr M eli sh r e ceived a l aco n ic
n ote statin g su mm ar ily th at the bishop h ad turn ed the ve stry s letter
over to the chan cellor of the dioce se
Th e summer of 1948 saw the ope n in g of a presiden tial camp aign
wi th American foreign policy a major i ssu e Ther e was mu ch a gita
ti o n f or a Thir d P ar ty amo n g tho se who felt di ssatisfi ed with the po si
tion of both the old p artie s The Meli shes foun d them selves in sym
p athy with this m ovem en t When the call f or a Foun din g Conv en tion
came alon g w ith other Episcop al clergy Mr Meli sh wen t to Phil a
delphia as a delegate In th e latter p art of th e summer hi s father
delivered the in voca tion at the mamm oth rally held by the Pro gressive
Party in the Yan kee Stadium before
people The Meli shes did
n o t in ject th eir pers o n al political pr eferen ce s i n to th e l ife of the p ari sh
As ele cti on day app ro a ched they simply ur ged their p ari shion ers to
re gi ster an d vote as r e spo n sible citi ze ns
What tou ched off the fi n al tempe st w as Dr Meli sh s in vitation to the
Very Reveren d Hew lett John son D D De an o f C an terb ury C athedral
to preach in Holy Trini ty He h ad both a person al an d a public re ason
f or e xte n din g this i n vit ation When Dr j ohn son w as De an of Man
ch ester C athe dr al he h ad e n tert ain ed Dr Melish wh o w as the n to ur
i n g E n gl an d as an e x ch an ge pre acher an d speaki n g in the major
ca thedr al s an d abb ey chur che s Thi s w as the fi rst Opportu n ity to return
the court esy More th an thi s he w i shed to dem on strate by su ch an
invi tation th at the Christian conscien ce i s con cern ed abou t th e m ain
ten an ce of full ex ch an ge of in form ati o n an d the di scu ssion of ideas
It w as a mem orable occasion A qu eue of waitin g people ext en ded
w er e
four deep ar oun d the block The police e sti mated that
in side th e chur ch when the doors w ere closed an d th at more than
500 were turn ed aw ay At the rect or s in vitation the ve strym en u she red
an d at th e clo se o f th e se rvice m o st of th em cam e to the sacri sty to
m eet th e De an But ten d ays l ater a form al docum en t c am e to Dr
Melish from the bishop In strictly legal l anguage composed by the
chan cellor it in formed him th at the bishop would make a form al
vi sitation o f the p ari sh f or the p u rpo se of ex amin in g th e state o f the
cong regation an d in spectin g the behavi or of th e cler gy
be
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26
THE MELISH CASE
you n ger m an Th at they w ould n ot w ait an d turn ed again st their
r ecto r i n spi te o f h i s for ty fi v e ye ar s o f se rvice i n dicate s th at they w er e
determ in ed to take into their o wn han ds the en ti re formul ation of
p ar ish poli cy
Holy Trin ity stan d s in the old section of Brooklyn call ed The
Heights When built a hu n d red an d tw o ye ars ago as on e of the
creation s o f The Am eri can G o thic Revival its edifi ce graced an at
tr a ctive r e siden ti al n eighborhood Dr awn in to its co n greg atio n w er e
privileged fam ili es own in g their o wn home s o n the bluff overlookin g
New Yor k H arbor Their in com e s w ere derived from in ve stme n t b an k
i n g tex til e s im po rtin g an d shippin g
To day th e n eighb orh ood has chan ged Skyscrapers sm all bu sin e sse s
hotel s r e stauran ts an d bars surr oun d the chur ch The old b rown st on e
fr o n ts have yielded to ap artm en t ho use s or have bee n r em odele d in to
an d
r oo m f lat s or h ave beco m e m u lti ple r oo min g ho u se s The
o l d familie s are van i sh in g I n to their pl ace s are m ovin g th e m or e su c
c e ssf ul de s ce n d an t s o f the E ur ope an im m igratio n th at pr eceded the
First World War The complexi on of all Brooklyn in cludin g the
Heights i s in cr easin gly Iewi sh an d Roman C atholic Prote stan ti sm
i s o n the declin e an d th e defe n sive
Were Holy Trini ty the only Episcop al p arish o n Br o oklyn Heights
it might still attract suffi cien t Episcopalian s from the remain in g o lder
familie s an d An glo S ax on stock to keep itself alive B ut there are four
other Episcop al chur ches all co mpeti n g f or the same dwin dli n g c on
sti tu en c
n der the le a dership of th e Mel i sh es Holy Trin ity h as bee n
U
y
a dj u stin g to the se b asic fa cts of li fe Loc ated at the tran sportatio n h ub
o f B r ooklyn it h as bee n follo w i n g four p rin ci l es
p
Fir st the pari sh w elcomes all w ho w ill join the co n gregati o n ir re
s e cti v e o f s oci al ra ci al politic al or r eligi o u s b a ckgr o un d o r pl a ce of
p
re siden ce
Secon d the Epis cop al Prayer Book services are con ducted i n the
liberal an d evan gelical tradition so as to app eal to a wide variety of
peopl e w h o fi n d themselve s respon sive to ordered worship an d in tel
li g en t preachin g
Third Len ten n oon day service s brin g to gether pr omin en t m in isters
from other protestan t den omin ation s in additi on to Episcop al cler gy
an d e ach Len t o n e lib eral r abbi i s in cl u ded The p ari sh see ks t o c o
operate with the Pr otestan t Coun cil an d to serve as on e of the spiritual
rall i n g
n ts i n the Boro u gh f or n o n Roman Ch ri sti an ity
oi
y
p
Four th the p ar ish buil di n gs are put to commun ity u se w ithou t
religio u s te st an d the m i n i sters delib er ately e n g a ge i n a w ide r ou n d
th e
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28
A
of
!
UE S TION
OF
P
OLICY
ctivities that w ill m ake th e p arish kn own to p eople an d attract
n e w co m ers to m e mbership
O ver the years a steady stream o f n ew face s has en tered the doors
o f thi s worshipfu l chur ch S tran gers have bee n made w elco me withou t
th e pre se n tatio n of pr ior cr e de n ti al s the ope n co mmun io n h as bee n
practiced an d e ach ye ar there have been affilia ti ons by letter of
tran sfer b ap tism an d confi rmation Thou gh there has been a persisten t
stati stics o f
an n u al decli n e i n th e total m e m be rship
all B r ooklyn
pro te stan t chur ch e s in dicate that Holy Trin ity i s m ain taini n g i ts po si
tio n better th an m o st
Withi n the co n gregati on f our tr en ds are discerni ble In dividuals of
mode st in com e h ave b ee n displacin g th e m or e soci all y privileged of
form er years The p arish li st o n ce solid w ith prepon deran tl y E n glish
n am es i s n o w ge n er o u sl
spotted w i th th o se o f Co n tin en ta l o rigi n
y
Racially the open do or policy has attracted a n umber of Negro familie s
who n o w cons ti tu te so m e 15 % o f th e con greg atio n Th ere are several
famili es of American I n dian stock Th is p ast ye ar th e Hospitality C om
m i ttee mad e up o f wom e n w h o gr eet stran gers at the door an d th e
Usherin g Comm ittee have con sisted of volun teers drawn from the
en tir e membership with out discrim in ation When Dr Meli sh first cam e
to B r ooklyn the suppor t of the p ari sh c am e fro m pew ren tal s an d th e
defi cits w ere m et o ut of the pocke ts of th e vestry Tod ay the b ackbon e
of th e b u dget ap art fr o m th e in co m e fr om e n dowm e n ts an d th e E aster
O fferin g i s th e r egu lar pledgin g of s om e four hun dr ed p ari shio n ers
thr ou gh an en velope system Th e Meli shes an ticip atin g an i n cre asin gly
diffi cult future f or the p arish i n the face of chan gin g local con diti on s
have advocated this dem ocratizati on as the best g uaran tee of i ts sur
a
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When on e keep s in min d the self perpetuatin g character of the
ve stry an d the su cce ssfu l pro f e ssion al an d s ocial status of i ts mem bers
i t i s n ot diffi cu l t to see th at qu ietly over the l ast dec ade a cle ava ge h as
been developin g between a static ve stry an d a chan gin g con gregation
Th is cam e to the surfa ce f or the fi rst ti m e in the win ter of 1947 w hen
Holy Trin ity w as prep arin g to ob serve i ts Par ish Cen tenn i al Three
committee s w er e created o u t o f th e en tir e m embership to prep ar e a
R ep o rt o n the P ast a Rep ort o n the Presen t an d a Rep ort o n the
Future The chairman ship o f the se thr ee com mitt ee s w as e n trusted to
two m embers of th e ve stry an d a clo se per son al frie n d The se thr ee
men to a l ar ge degree spe arhe aded the sub sequ e n t m ove s to get ri d
o f th e Mel i sh es In th e com m ittee s e ssio n s critici sm w as dir ecte d by the
chair men at the soci al aspects o f p arish policy an d th e ran ge o f in ter
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29
THE
MELISH
CASE
e sts of th e m in isters Wh en th e R ep ort on the Past was b ein g edited
they i n sisted tha t all r e f er e n ce s to the o u tsi de activitie s o f the min i sters
be deleted an d that a p aragraph appr ovi n g th e con tin ui ty of policy
thr o ugh the su cce ssi o n o f th e min isters be ex un ged The R e ort o n
p
p
the Future expr e ssed th e h ope that po st w ar ap artm en t co nstr u c tio n
an d re zon i n g w o u ld bri n g in to th e Heigh ts a n ew co n stituen cy Thr ee
ap artme n ts have go n e u
b
ut ther e i s n o g uaran tee that the ir re side n ts
p
w ill sw ell the an cie n t stock Ever y p r ob ability is that they will reflect
th e cul tural tre n d s of B rooklyn
Th ere i s re as on to believe that th e offi cial ar gumen ts u sed again st
th e two m in isters—n am ely th eir associ atio n w ith or gan ization s li sted
by the Attorn ey Gen eral their subversive view s o n peace with Ru s
si a an d the p u blicity sur r o u n di n g their
outside a cti viti es —w ere n o t
the sole m otivati on of the n in e vestrym en They petition ed the bishop
f or the di ss olu tion of the p astoral r el atio n w ith their rector becau se
they w i sh ed to get con trol of the policy m akin g power in the p ari sh
What they de sired w as the re o rien tation of the life of the con grega
tio n in to m or e con ve n tio n al ch an n el s an d th e re e stabli shm e n t of the
socia l ch ara cter the p ari sh h a d e n joyed in form er ye ars A t the ve stry
m eetin g at whi ch th e petition to the bi shop w as fi n all y adop ted o n e
o f th e n in e ve strym en tur n ed o n Dr Melis h an d declared : I speak
n o t o nl y f or myse lf b ut f o r at le ast tw o o thers i n thi s r oom The real
b asis f or our objection i s y ou sir an d your ob stin ate in si sten ce upon
your policie s I w ould even keep Mr Meli sh o n as the assistan t pro
v i de d
y ou were o u t an d a n ew rector w as elected who w oul d chan ge
th e policy
It did n o t m oderate the ir attitu de to be r e m in ded that
th e br o ad char acter of the p ari sh lon g an tedated the rector s c o mi n g
an d th e estab li sh emen t o f h i s policy o r th at the e n dowm e n t fu n d s o n
w hich they w er e draw in g e a ch ye ar as a s o ur ce of in com e h ad bee n
given f or the explicit perpe tuation of a liberal an d socially alive p arish
To the n in e ve strym en th e m embers of the con gregation wer e le ss
an d le ss th e fam ili ar kin d o f Heigh ts people wi th w hom the v e str ym en
felt at hom e The soci al hom oge n eity that seem ed to them essen ti al
to a su cce ssful Epi scop al p ari sh w as givi n g w ay to a diver sity th at
th ey con sidered tr an sien t an d unr eliable In spite of the m ost su c
c essf ul Every Me mber C an vass n um erically i n th e hi story of th e p ari sh
an d a gr e ater p articip atio n i n i ts or gani zed life by i ts m em bers the
vestr ym en re fu sed to believe that the ran k an d fi le car ed about the
Episcop al Chur ch an d w oul d sa crifi ce to fi n an ce i ts bu dget They
ar gu ed th at th e p ar i sh policie s w o uld o n ly f urther alie n ate th o se am o n
g
their fr ie n d s who h ad the m e ans to meet the i n cr e asin g co sts of o pera
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30
'
A
!
UESTION
P O
OF
LICY
tion To their min ds there was on ly o n e solution : p eti tion to remove
Dr Melish fire Mr Melish e stabli sh a n ew p ar ish policy get an
e n ergetic youn g rector who w ould follow their dir ectives an d reb uil d
Holy Trini ty a s a f ashi on able e n terpr ise appealin g f or i ts fi nan cial
con tro
support to other Epi s cop ali an s like them selve s who foun d
versial i ssues di stasteful
The in tention of the vestrym en was crudely exp r essed by the wife
of on e of them in the in terview she gave the m etropolitan p apers S ai d
A Repub lican con gregation i s e n ti tled to a R ep ublican r ector
she
Political cons ideration s have never en tered i n to th e selecti on of
vestr ymen at Holy Trin ity This statemen t how ever brou ght to light
the fact that all eleven ve strymen were of thi s on e political persuasion
The mi nisters o n the o ther han d wer e kn own to be in terested i n the
Pr ogr essive Party A s f or the con gregation n o o n e kn ows i ts political
vi ews b ut it i s probably safe to infer that the p arish run s the en tire
The
spectrum o f political all egi an ce to be fo un d i n the co m mun it
y
Heights retain s a Republican tin ge b ut Brooklyn gen erally is Dem o
cratic an d h as always had a con siderable Liberal and Progre ssive
min ority A ce n tral down town chur ch ou ght to brin g within i ts l ife a
cr oss section of political v iewpoin ts If i ts le adership is to be restricted
to on e position as th e wife of this ve strym an su gge sted the fu ture of
the p arish will b e dep en den t upon the political we ather This is b ad
str ategy an d i n cr edible Chr i sti ani ty A p ari sh sho ul d have n o te s t f or
m embership an d le adership other than an in ter e st i n an d a lo yalty to
the te achin g an d applicati on of the Christi an Faith in the light o f the
in dividual con scien ce an d in sight
This qu e stion of the fun dam en tal policy of th e p arish was an ex
ceedin gly serious matter It could m ake or bre ak Holy Trin ity : Con
re ati o ns c an be lo st overn ight b ut they cann o t be cre ated overn ight
g g
especially i n a community li ke Brooklyn w here the n ormal con stituen cy
To the
attracted to the Epi s cop al Chur ch i s o n a drastic ebb tide
min isters the chan ge th e ve strym e n wan ted while em oti on ally an d
soci all y u n derstan d able was i n reality an an a chro n ism If on ly this
policy issue coul d be deferr ed un til the annual m eetin g of the p arish
it co uld be fran kly faced The co n gr egation could expre ss i ts views
This is the reason the m ini sters sou ght to defer the en tir e issue un til
the ann ual m eetin g an d stated i n p ublic that they woul d willi n gly
offer to resign if their policies were n o t supported If the con gregation
did support the m as they believed it woul d it w ould then be po ssible
to obtain a m ore repre sen tative ve stry They kn ew that two of the
vestrymen were abou t to retir e profe ssio n ally an d would b e shortly
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81
THE MELISH CASE
le avin g the community altogeth er With deferm ent of the is su e i t
w oul d n o t be di ffi cul t f or the p ari sh to secur e a ve s try reflectin g i ts
tru e w i sh e s an d th e w ho le proble m wo uld blow over But the v estr y
m en re alizin g that an y su ch de f erm e n t wo uld prob ably re sul t in the
r epla ce m e n t of s o m e of their m e m ber s so u ght to for ce th e i ssu e i n
That i s w hy they appe aled to th e
a dvan ce o f th e a nn u al m e etin g
bish op
Un fortun ately f or both mini ster s an d con gr egation the bishop w as a
m an un likely to be symp athe tic tow ard s the policie s of the p ari sh No t
in accur ately he has been de scribed by a promin e n t An glo C atholic
ch ur chman a s a conve n tion al C atholic culti st Hi s emphasis sin ce
co min g in to th e diocese has been up o n chur chman sh ip the sacrame n ts
doctrin al formalism an d cen tralized au thority Ther e were m an y thi n gs
abo u t Holy Tri ni ty that he w as bo un d to fi n d di stasteful— the p ari sh s
d e m ocrati c orien tation i ts i n terde n o m in atio n al toleran ce i ts i n terfaith
sym p athy i ts liberal app r o a ch to theology i ts ope nn e ss to pr ogr e ssive
so ci al vie w s i ts e x pe rim e n ta lism an d i n tellectual ho spita lity to n ew
ideas
Ever Si n ce the e arlie st New Te stam e n t d ays there h as been a ten
den cy tow ard s mi su n derstan di n g an d an tago n i sm between the pr ie stly
r 0 h eti c o u tlook In thi s hi storic se n se the bi shop of Lo n g
an d th e
p p
I slan d m ay be said to belon g to the prie stly school ; the Meli sh es stan d
i n th e pr oph etic lin e It i s pr ob able that o n th e eccle si astical i ssu e
alo n e the bi shop w ou ld n o t h ave i n terve n ed i n th e in tern al aff air s of
so i m portan t a liberal p arish as Holy Tri ni ty Co upled however w i th
a political i ssu e o n w hi ch the bis h op h ad stro n g vie w s th e eccle si astical
issu e could scarcely fail to influ en ce h is decision Here w as an o pp or
tun i ty to ri d th e dioce se of a di scor dan t typ e of chur chm anship an d
tw o tr ouble so me m in i ster s O n ly thi s co n clu sio n can be dr awn f r om
th e u n wil lin gn e ss o f the bi sho p to m ee t w ith either Dr or Mr Meli sh
person ally durin g the discu ssion w ith the ve strym e n w hen th e decision
to ask the Meli sh es r esign ati on w as bein g re ached It did n o t w eigh
with the bishop that as p astor pastoru m he might have som e obl iga
tio n to p ro tect h i s cler gy fr om l ay in tru sio n i n to th e con d u c t of their
prie stly an d pr0 ph etic offi ce o r th at the con gregation might have som e
As
rights i n determin in g the ch ara cter o f th e li f e of the ir p ari sh
bishop s are pron e to do h e a ccepted the information of pr om in en t
vestrym en on i ts face val u e When they told him that the p arish could
o n ly sur v ive an d be fi n an ced if the M e li sh es w er e rem oved he pl a ced
th e qu e stion of th e m e thod o f the ir r e m oval in the h an ds o f h i s
chan cellor
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32
A
T
O
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E
S
I
N
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P O
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LICY
This w as n o t a good om e n f or the chan cellor an d Dr Melisl h ad
crossed sw ord s on man y a soci al issu e o n the floor of dioce san co n ven
ti o n s f or tw o dec ade s C o lo n el J ackso n A Dy km an an d th e bisho p ar e
i n timate perso n al frie n ds S O str on g is th e chan cellor s i nfl ue n ce o n the
bishop that man y have called him th e bishop s super ego Well
versed in C an on Law — f or he i s al so legal adviser to the pre sidin g
bishop — the Colon el take s a strictly hierarchical view of the stru ctur e
of the Epi scop al Chur ch He i s i n the o r y an d by i n sti n ct a
bi sh o p s
man A corporation l aw yer he thin ks i n corp oration term s The righ ts
of a con gregation i n th e m ai n ten an ce Of a liberal an d de m ocratic
p arish to which they have been accustom ed are unlikely to con cern the
chan cellor very gre atly I n deed in Cour t h e w as to take th e po sition
th at i n th e Epi sc o p al Chur ch it i s the ve stry an d o n ly the ve stry that
determ in e s th e ch aracter an d policy Of a p ari sh It i s n o t a con grega
ti o n al chur ch— i s hi s co n te n tio n — an d the o nly specifi c righ t a co n gre
ati on h as in h i s opin ion i s th e electi o n of th e m e mbers o f the ve stry
g
at th e an n u al m eetin g
Thi s i s to miss the spirit that has m ade the Episco p al Chur ch a livin g
r eli gio u s or g ani sm Th is spirit i s e x p r e ss ed i n th e mai n te n an ce of a n
equ itable relation ship be twee n con gregatio n ve stry mini sters an d
bishop The life o f the people i n the pew s i s the foun dation ston e of th e
en tire stru cture the p astoral rel ation i s its cen tral bon d an d the
episcop acy i s the cap ston e that provide s th e sym b o l an d the agen t of
the whole body s organic co n tin uity Wh e n thi s sub tle equ ity o f rela
ti on sh ips i s lost o r de n ied th e historic chara cter o f th e Epi scop al
Ch ur ch go es
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CHAP TER
FIVE
A S T U DY I N P R E J UD I CE
fr om the bishop that he w as p ayin g a f ormal visitation
to the p ari sh m ade i t imperative that the Meli sh es have legal ad
vice They sou ght a lawyer Person after person they approached
tur n ed them do w n Ther e w er e exp r e ssion s of per so n al sym p athy b u t
th e fa cts wer e simple The i ssu e s sin ce they h ad to do w i th Russia
A fter a lo n g se ar ch a m eet
an d th e A tt orn ey Ge n er al s li st w er e h ot
in g w as arr an ged w ith Mr Willi an M ason S mi th Sr A con tempo rary
Of Dr Meli sh this chur chman an d lawyer h ad been a p artn er Of Mr
Edward M Shep ar d who had defen de d Dr Crapsey in the famou s
Roche ster heresy tri al an d a frien d o f Mr Pe abody who had brou ght
Dr Melish to Br ooklyn He i s a m e mber of the Comm ittee on C an on s
o f the Dioce s e o f New York an d a ve strym an of S t An dr ew s o n St ate n
I slan d H is son h ad gon e to sch ool w ith th e youn ger Mr Melis h Mr
S mith Sr accepted the defe n se an d Mr S mith Jr u n dertook to assist
his f ather
J
The advice Of coun sel w as th at th e bisho p shoul d be received with
cour te sy b ut that every effort shoul d be made to get the con gregation
r epr e se n ted
P arishion ers telephon ed the bish op b u t w ere inf orm ed
th at the ve stry was the on ly legal body w ith which he coul d m eet
It was suggested how ever th at a written statemen t m ight be placed
i n the r ector s han d s f or pr e sen tati o n to the bi shop at the visitation
S u ch a statem en t w as pr ep ared by th e ch air m an of the Every Member
C anvass detailin g the p articip ation of th e p arishion ers an d the return s
as L i n g n um eric ally the highe st i n the p ari sh s hi story
The visitation took place in th e chur ch offi ce on Dece mber 9 1948
Pr esen t w ere the bishop the chan cellor th e rector an d the eleven
vestrym en A lthou gh n early all of what tran spir ed circled aro un d th e
a ctivitie s an d the view s of th e a ssi stan t m in ister he w as n o t in vit ed
by the bishop to be pre sen t Th i s w as a Gran d Jury pr oceedin g with
th e accused i n ab se n ti a a fur ther su pport to th e co n te n tio n that th e
Objective w as n o t so mu ch an in qu ir y in to hi s positio n an d motivation
a s it w as the alteratio n o f the ch ara ct er O f th e p ari sh w hich i n v o lved
primarily th e rector an d h is p o licie s Neverth ele ss in th e course of th e
T
HE
N OTICE
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34
,
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THE MELISH CASE
Street At this m eeti n g th e bishop read him the re solution Of the stan d
i n g co m m ittee b ut haste n ed to ad d This i s n o t my j u dgmen t I w as n o t
person ally p re sen t wh en the vo te was taken and am n o p arty to it
Th e n ex t nigh t at th e ve str y m eetin g the w hole gr oun d of the co n
tro v ersy w as go n e o ver f or th e l ast tim e On e v estryman who later
r efr ain ed fr om votin g begged tha t the i ssu e be defe rred to t he p ari sh
m ee tin g i n A pril w h e n t he co n gr egation could hav e a chan ce to say
s o meth in g abou t the m att e r Thi s r eco mm e n d ati o n w as voted dow n
T h e rect or stated tha t i n hi s Opin io n th e propo sed re solu tio n w o uld
be un can on ical an d ill egal ; it w ould be un ethical i n that it violated
a con tra ct bet w ee n the a ssistan t min i ste r an d the p ari sh ; it w as n u
charitable inasmu ch as th ey h ad lm o wn him sin ce he w as a boy ; and
i t w as u nr epr e se n tative o f the p ar i sh w hich w o ul d sur ely rep u di ate
th e e n tir e ve stry if the Opport un ity w er e ever give n it to do so The
tre asur er Of th e p arish Mr Al len M Taylor w h o was th e o n e Op
pon en t of the re solution th en stated his position : I am v oti n g agai ns t
thi s re solu tion n o t becau se I agre e w ith th e mi n i sters b ut b ecause
I still believe the prin ciple of liber ty i s of su ch im portan ce that it must
be upheld An y damage that h as bee n don e this p arish by th e assistan t
m in i ster is as n othin g comp ar ed w i th that w hich will be don e by the
passage Of this resolu tion Yo u gen tlemen have n o con ception of the
o u wi l l bri n g do w n upo n yo ur he ad s
i
storm of p r ote st that
H
s words
y
w ere gree ted w ith sto n y sile n ce The vote w as take n nin e in the af
fir mative o n e ab ste n tion an d on e in the n egative to w hich the rector
a dded hi s—9 to 2 The r e solu tion w as a dop ted pe tition i n g the bishop
to dissolv e the p astoral relation betwee n the Chur ch of the Holy
Tri ni ty an d the Reveren d John Howard Melis h D D LL D i ts re ctor
f or forty fi ve ye ars
In the m idst of the m eetin g w hil e th e discu ssion w as sti ll goin g on
to the surp ri se o f all pr e sen t the so un d of m ili tan t hymn s began to
r everberate thr ou gh the p ari sh ho u se Whe n the r e solu tion had bee n
p assed the sober min isters emer ged fr om the rector s study to fi n d
s eve n ty fi ve m e mber s Of th e p ari sh g ather ed in the ki n der garten r oom
S u spectin g that a crisis w as at han d they h ad com e to show their sup
port of their m in isters When the n ews Of w h at h ad actually happen ed
w as told the m th er e w as an o u tb ur st Of an gry r e sen tme n t Then an d
there w as form ed The Committee to Retain the Rector
Thi s Committee began a can vass of all the f am ilie s in the p arish
an d in a few d ays
tim e ob tain ed 32 1 sign atur es to th e follow in g
s tatem e n t :
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86
We
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IN
S T UDY
A
P
R E JU D I C E
memb ers of H o ly Trin ity parish are
co m letel
o
osed to the acti on of th e v estry i n as kin g f o r
p
y pp
the resi gnation of our rector Dr Jo hn H ow ard Melish
the un dersig ned
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We
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have the utmost aff ecti o n f o r D r Melish an d appr ov e
th e policy he has consisten tly fo llow ed f or the 45 years of
his rectorship We state that the v estry in this action i n no
way represents o ur sentimen ts
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Sin ce the n umber Of eligible voters i n th e p arish w as 446 thi s repre
se n ted an e x pr e ssio n of som e 70 % o f the leg al m e mbership This i n
formation w as immediately tr an sm itted to the ve stry an d to the bi shop
in the h0 pe that actio n might be deferred un til the p ari sh meetin g
It made n o impre ssion Th e ve strymen proceeded to fi le their petition
with the bishop and he a ckn owledged i ts r e ceipt by orderin g a hearin g
before the stan din g committee of th e dioce se o n Febru ar y 15 1949
in th e C athedral Hou se at G ar den City
The bish op telephon ed Mr Melish to m ee t him at o n ce in the
dioce san hou se He told him that as a fath er with s on s he could un der
stan d Dr Mel i sh s de sire to st an d by h i s b o
he
W
n he h ad talke d with
y
Dr Melish at Chri st Church Clin ton S treet an d r e ad h im th e r e s olu
tio n of th e stan din g co mm ittee he h ad n oticed a w istful look in hi s
eye as if he w ere ple adin g Would th at my boy would relieve m e
“
of thi s b urden ! If you will o n ly Of fer to re sign con tin u ed the bi sho p
“
I thi n k I can persu ade the ve str y to w ithdraw their petition Tha t
w ill per m it your f ather to co n tin u e f o r the pr e sen t as r ector Sin ce h e
i s physically in cap able of c arryi n g on w itho u t help w e can su pply him
temporaril y w ith an assistan t The n w hen thi s u n happy affair h as
blown Over he m ay retir e n orm ally w ith all the hon ors due h im f or hi s
lo n g service an d the p ar ish may m ove ahe ad
Mr Melish attempted to get i n a f ew words abou t the character o f
the p arish an d w hat it had stood f or askin g Doe sn t the con gregation
“
have so m e rights in the determin ation of this m atter? I thin k n o t
r eplied the bi shop
I can n ot f or a m omen t believe th at su ch upright
an d o u tstan di n g m en as are On your ve str y do n o t kn ow wh at i s be st
f or the p arish I am re ady to take th eir word I thi n k both y o u an d
your fath er h ave been misg uided in what y ou have don e The prim ar y
fun ction o f the Chur ch i s to provide pe ople w ith a pl ace to w orship
an d r eceive th e sacram e n ts To m e your b asic err or i s n o t so m u ch
your politica l views or even th e chairmans hip o f the C o un cil as it i s
th at y o u an d your father as well h ave compromised the Christian
prie sthood By all ki n ds of activitie s w hich are con tr oversial i n charac
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37
THE
CASE
MELISH
ave ma de it d iffi cult f or loyal chur chm e n co n scie n tio u sly to
h
y
com e to chur ch and to receive the sacramen ts It is this violation Of
your priesthood that I hold again st you
Whe n Mr Melish reported this conversation to h is fathe r they
prepar ed a brief letter in dicati n g Mr Mel i sh s un will in gn ess to re sign
o n an
su ch b asis an d sta tin g th at th ey h ad re ach ed th i s join t decision
y
“
f or the good o f the Chur ch Dr Meli sh took the letter an d dr ove to
“
Gar de n City He said to the bishop We ar e both i n the han d s o f
lawyers This situ ation can not b e r es olved by recour se to l aw A s an
Older man ven tur in g to sp eak o ut of a lifeti m e of experie n ce in the
min istry I have see n two of the fi n e st p ari she s i n th e Epi scop al
Church smashed by th e m ishan dlin g o f just su ch an i ssue as this The
o u let thi s be
sam e can e asily h appe n at Holy Trin ity I ask th at
y
w orked o u t w ithin the p ari sh He han ded th e bishop the letter
It w as b ad e n ou gh to kn ow that the propo sed hearin g w ould take
place before a stan din g committee that had alr e ady committ ed its elf
to aski n g f or the re signation o f both min isters T o make th e situation
even more u nfavorable on th e S un day before th e he arin g Bishop
Dewolfe ordered that prayers f or C ardin al Min dszen ty be said in th e
p arishes an d m ission s Of the diocese an d that a p astoral letter be re ad
i n all service s This letter ex toll ed th e C ar din al as a mar tyr a Chri stian
“
martyr a m ar tyr of the whole h uman race ; it r eferr ed to th e tru mped
ch
u
ar ge s a gain st Ar chbi shop Stepin a c ; an d it e m ployed thi s m ilitan t
p
lan gu age about commun ism :
ter
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ci i
bc
C i i
C
g
ommun i sm i s an ti -reli i ous It
T he day o f de s on is at h an d
e au se
e au se i t den es Go d It i s an t - hr sti an
is an ti - hristi an
hr st an do tr n e o f m an —hi s di n t hi s ree w ll , his
i t den es th e
ecause i t rul es
sou l, th at he i s a son of G o d It i s ant - hr st an
hr ist rul es throu h lo e It i s dia oli al e ause i t is
ear, wh ereas
en efi ts ,
an t Go d an d an t - m an Non e o f i ts m ou th e d so ial m ater al
w ere a ts n ste ad of rom ses , oul d om ensate
e en th ou h th e
f or th e den al of hum an erson ali t
“
A ll m en e er wh ere must r s e up an d wi ths tan d i ts insi di ous
'
er
human t s sa e We mer ans ossess olit al
en etr at on , f or
an d e on om
lessin s th at ar e th e en
of th e worl d; b u t we m u st
an erin
er
awa e to th e
worm amon
u s , lest i t rot th ose
less n s B ut
hrist ans h a e a e uliar O li at on to t w ist Com
muni sm It threatens not onl
n tel e tu al in te r t
h
an d
si al
y
’
r ee dom ; it n um s m en s sou ls It i s
omm un sm w hi h is th e o ium
o f th e
hrist ani t It sa s, in e e t, Gi e us our ree
eo le , n ot
’
dom a d w e will mak e y ou o ds
n stead, i t has made i ts
ollowers
i
C
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i
c i
v
i
p
C
-
,
g
i
c
k
b i g
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i
g
i
y
fc i
p
ic b
g
c k g
C
i
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f
p p
n
s lav es
b
iy
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i
k
v
i
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vy
g
p c
y i
c
C
y
y
g
I
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C
by
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v y
v y
bc
g i
f
i
iC i i y
v
b c b c
c
i b
p i
c
c p
y
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f
iC i
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A
ic
p
b g i
gi
i
c
ff c
v
‘
p
ic
v y
p y c
p
y f
f
.
NO
the dioce se could have the slightest doubt as to wher e the
bishop stood He had accepted o n its face valu e the Vatican state m e n ts
on e
in
.
38
A S TUDY I N
P
R E JU D I C E
Min dszen ty an d Stepin ac without any qualifi cation i n spite of
thorou ghly authen ti cated facts that ou ght to h ave given h im som e
hesitation and he w as adopti n g the extr eme position o n comm un ism
in defi an ce of the cau tiou s an d di scrimin ati n g state m e n ts issu ed by
hi s own Communi on at the L am b eth Con fere n ce of An glican Bishop s
at which h e was n o t pre se n t b e cau se of illn e ss Nor w as he heedin g
the warni n g of the meetin g Of the Hou se o f Bi shop s in Win sto n S alem
agai ns t th e spr e ad of the curre n t hyste ri a an d i ts att en d an t persecutio n
of in di vi duals
Thi s was the atm osphere in which th e hear in g at Garden City
Op en ed w ith all the members of the stan din g committee fully aware
that th e bishop had committed hi mself an d the dioce se to the posi
ti on that a holy w ar was on in which n o qu arter w as admi ssible
The position of th e Meli sh e s re sted o n th e con ten tion that this could
n o t b e safely or i n tellige n tly tr e ated as an all o ut h o ly w ar b u t requir ed
re strain t an d p atien ce to si f t o ut the w he at fr om th e ch aff i n th e ten
sio ns an d co nfli ct s i n v olved The st an din g comm ittee w a s c au ght in
an im po ssible po sition If it symp ath i zed w ith the M eli sh es it sl apped
the bishop If it sided with the bishop it removed two sin cere min i sters
de alin g with a fun dam en tal issu e It is n ot surpri sin g that the m ood
aro
un d th e he ar in g tabl e w as o n e o f glum sile n ce o n th e p art of the
clerical m embers with the chan cellor an d the lay members takin g the
lead Unfortun ately f or the Meli shes th e advan ta ge of bein g o n the
popul ar b an dw agon lay with th e bishop Th ey were in the un popular
min ority po sition Which of th e men —th e bishop or the mi ni sters—w as
closer to the spir it of the Sermon on the Moun t an d the Beatitude s
of Christ readers Of the New Te stamen t will ju dge Un der th e pro
“
cedut e bein g followed it w as this bishop who would be the fi n al
ju dge and arbiter o f th e vestry men s appe al
The hearin g w as con du cted behin d closed doors with th e press ex
cluded Judge Bromley pre sen ted the case f o r the n in e vestry m e n
There were two charge s : fi rst that the rector w as 73 h is health im
pair ed an d his physical con diti on such that in th e Opin ion o f the ve str y
he was n o lon ger able to fulfi l the du tie s of his offi ce ; an d secon d that
disse n sion had broken out i n the p ari sh b ecause of hi s refusal to dis
char ge his son an d assistan t w hose ou tside activitie s were detrim en ta l
to th e parish Mr William M ason S mith Sr represen ted the rector an d
ut i n evid en ce a statem e n t by Dr Mel i sh s physici an th at h i s h ealth
p
was ex celle n t an d th e sign ed state m en ts o f the 32 1 p arishion ers re
the
action of the n in e ve strym en The b asic ar gum e n t o f the
udi ati n
p
g
defense w as that th e bishop had n o can on ical jur isdiction in this matter
on
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39
,
T H E
ME LISH CASE
i ce th e clear m ean in g of Lon g I sl an d C an on 2 7 ! an d Gen eral C an on
4 6 ) w as th at a di sp ute m u st exi st betwee n a p arish an d i ts recto r to
be adjudi cab l e by the bishop N O su ch dispute exi sted betw een the
p ari sh an d i ts rector b ut on ly a sh arp diff er en ce o f Opin io n betw een the
ve str y an d the mi ni sters
Sixty m embers of The Comm ittee to Retain the Rector w er e pre s
e n t an d som e do ze n te stifi ed to th e he althy state of th e p ari sh th e
a tte n d an ce at s ervice s fi n an ci al givi n g an d o r g an i zat ion al life i n di cat
i n g that co n dition s w er e o n a p ar w ith the be st in th e l ast ten ye ar s
The Rev Walter Ru ssell Bow ie D D De an Of Un i o n Theological
Semin ary w as called to the stan d an d a le tter from the Rt Rev Wil
li am Scarlett D D Bishop of Missouri w as r ead in eviden ce an d a
list w as pr ese n ted in dicatin g n um erous other cler gym en an d laym en
w h o wer e r e ady to give corr oborative t e stim o n y as to the ch ar a cter Of
the Melish es an d th at w h at th ey w ere accu sed of w as n o t a su bject
o f dioce san di sciplin e The limi tation s o f the hearin g h ave been de
s cr ibed in th e Ch ur ch Pr e ss by th e S ufl ra an B ishop o f Newar k the
g
R t Rev Theodor e R Lu dlow D D :
s n
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e ded the two day he arin g given by the stan din g committee
of th e dioce se of Lon g I slan d at th e C athe dr al Hou se in G arden City
to the com pl ain t o f the ve stry of Holy Trin ity Chur ch in B r ooklyn
a gai n st the r ector of th at p ari sh D r Joh n How ar d Meli sh con cern in g
th e o utside a ctivitie s of hi s so n an d assistan t th e Rev Willi am How ar d
Meli sh
A s o n e w h o w as l ar gely i nflu e n ced by Dr Meli sh in e n terin g th e
m in i stry m y i n ter e st w as m or e th an a c adem ic I sat t hr ou gh the pro
c ee di n s w i th a se n se of i n credul o u s sh am e th at an y o n e cl aim in g to
g
be a Chr istian an d kn owin g H o w ard Meli sh even slightly could brin g
ch ar ges of an y ki n d again st h im That tin ge Of r egr etful sham e w as
r eflected i n the at titu de of the st an din g comm ittee an d in the te stim on y
o f co mpl ai n an t s an d r e spon de n ts alike It s oon becam e evide n t th at it
w as n ot H o w ar d Melish b ut the fellow ship of th e Chr isti an Chur ch
wh ich w as o n tri al Som e ther e w er e who wer e n ot w illin g to r e main
i n fellowship with o n e who se politic al an d eco n om ic ide as as expr e ssed
thr ou gh th e so n outside the Chur ch w er e n ot in a greemen t with
their own Ther e w as n o char ge o f her e sy or of i mm orality or Of di s
loyalty to prie stly vows b ut simply in comp atibility o f temperamen t
clo aked by th e w ord di ssen sion The other ch arge that of b e in g over
a e w as de ni ed by th e ce rtifi cate o f Dr Mel i sh s physici an an d the
g
m att er w as qui e tly dr opp ed even by the compl ainan ts Eve n the w ord
di ssension ten ded to becom e difl er en ce of Opin ion as th e evi den ce
d eveloped B ut of cour se there w ill always b e dif feren ces o f o pin ion
I
att n
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‘
’
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‘
,
’
,
40
IN
S T UDY
A
P
R E JU D I C E
con cern in g the gospel I cam e n ot to sen d pe ace b ut a sword Woe
u n to y o u whe n all me n shall sp eak w ell o f y o u ! For so did their father s
to the fal se pr ophets
An imm edi ate reflection con cern i n g th e he ar in g w as the l arge p art
taken by l aym e n even if one could n ot alw ays approve o f the w ay they
pl ayed their p art A t le ast they were ther e The he arin g w as n o t co n
d u cted by a m ember o f the hierar chy n or by a gov ern me n tal mini ster
o f religi o n We can be th an kful th at i n o ur Chur ch e a ch b ran ch of th e
fellowship h as an equal r e spon sibility f or the w ell bein g of th e wh ole
fellow ship A s lon g as that i s tru e w e w ill avoid the pitfall s of cleri
cal i sm I h ave said ea ch b ran ch of the fellow ship h as an equ al resp o n
rec oll e c
sib i li t
an d yet the aston i shin g fact i s th at accordin g to m
y
y
tion n ot a clerical member of th e stan din g committee asked a qu e stion
or f na de a co mm e n t d uri n g the tw o d ays of the he arin g The o n e e x
c e ti o n w as th e ch ai rm an an d hi s r e m arks wer e i n th e cour s e of hi s
p
job as pr e sidin g Offi cer W ere they so u nhappy abou t the situ ation o f a
f ellow priest that they could n ot say an ythin g? On e hope s that w as
th e r e ason f or th eir sile n ce One wo u ld h ate to thi n k it w as b e c au se
th ey were wil lin g or a ccustom ed to hav in g big l aymen m an age their
af fairs f or th em
While the word Commun i sm w as u sed in the he arin g it was u sed
as i s to o wi d ely the c a se tod ay as an epithet an d n o t as a term h avi n g
an un der stood an d defi n ed me an i n g The re w as ab s olu tely n o atte mp t
to d efi n e C o mmun i sm i n the hearin g It w as taken f o r gran ted that i t
w o u ld be un derstood by everyo n e pr esen t as som ethin g viciou s an d
tre ason able to th e n ation This to o in spite Of the report prep ar ed
after c ar eful co n sideratio n by a Sub comm ittee at th e L ambe th C o n
feren ce last sum mer which attempted to avoid su ch an u n in telligen t
an d hysteric al u se o f the wor d A s s ecr e tar y o f th at sub com m itt ee I
spe ak w i th so m e kn owledge of wh at the co n fer e n ce h ad i n m in d
B u t bett er th an any perso n al r ecollection are the r e solutio n s o f the
con fere n ce itself adopted by th e 32 9 bishop s who wer e gathered from
all o ver th e w orld m o st of th em fr o m f ar beyo n d th e
ri
of hysteri a
g
th at n ow agitate s our co un try R esolution 2 5 and 2 6 rea
as follows :
2 5 Th e C onfere nce holds that whi le a state must take the precau
ti o ns it regards as n ecessar to rotect ood order an d eace from all
y
p
g
p
su b v ersiv e m ov ements it is the s eci al dut
of the church to o
ose
p
y
pp
’
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‘
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,
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-
,
-
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,
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“
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“
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,
the challeng e of th e
Marxian theory of
communism
b y sound teaching
and the exam le of a b etter wa , and that the church at all times an d
p
y
in all pla ces should b e a f earless witness against p olitical socia l and
eco n omic in ustice
j
,
,
,
.
“
2 6 The C onferen ce b eli eves that commun i sm presents a chal len e
g
C hris tian people to study and understand its theo ry an d practi ce,
that th ey m
ay b e well instructed as to whi ch elem en ts in it are in
.
to
so
41
THE MELISH CASE
n
t
i
w
t
h
h
e
h
r
i
s
t
i
a
c
i
t
C
fl
co n
which elements
and eco n omic order
sisted, and
n and mus t therefo re b e re
m
a
f
true judgme nt on the exi stin g so cia l
v iew o
are a
.
“
lo ng term po licy to win the workers f or the Kin g do m of C hri st
o li c
b
as ed on materialism churchmen mus t
and to wi n them from a
p
y
b egin by enteri ng in to the de spair as well as the hope that has inspired
mo dern communism They must proclaim human rig hts wi tho ut
e uiv o catio n T hey must practi ce corp orately what they preach and
q
so cleanse the ho us eh o ld of fai th that th e sp irit o f G o d is ab le to work
throug h it with power
“
S econd ly they must do full justice to the truth in communism both
its cri tical i nsig hts into his tory an d i ts desire to help the oppressed
The church oug ht no t to allow i tself to b e i dentified with socia l reac
tio n Its m em b ers shou ld b e ready f or so cial an d econ omi c chan ge
ui ck to w elco me i nto the co un ci ls of th e church men and w o me n
and
q
w ith the w orkers exp eri en ce of li vi n g con diti o ns
“
Thirdly they must realize that those who accept an econ om i c
theory of co mmunism as di stin ct fro m Marxian ath eism do n ot thereb
y
h
emselves outsid e th e fello wshi
t
t
of C hri st s church E x eri m en ts
u
p
p
p
in co mmunal livin g have always b een a feature of the life of the
church and i n o u r ti m es i ts life an d w i tn ess are b ei n
ren then ed
s
t
g
g
”
by fresh v en tures of this kin d
In
a
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’
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,
’
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,
.
Lamb eth
Confer n c
e
e,
po
194 8 R e
,
rt on
th e
Church
an
d the Mo dern
World
.
THE MELISH CASE
barrier to the calli n g of a m e eti n g to remove a body that wfll n ot assist
in i ts o wn removal On Feb ru ary 26 1949 th e rector re ad to th e co n
re ati o n a de m an d fr o m the p ari shio n ers th at su ch a m eeti n g be
g g
called an d set M ar ch 7 1949 as th e date f or a special meetin g to h ear
charges again st the ni n e vestrymen an d to vote o n th eir rem oval It
w as fully appreciated that thi s action woul d p rob ably p recipitate the
bishop s Judgmen t
The Len ten se aso n began on M arch 2 n d with the Ope ni n g of the
Co mmu n ity Len ten Noon d ay Service s at Holy Trin ity The suf fragan
bishop of the diocese w as the Open in g pre acher After the service h e
w as lun chin g with Dr Meli sh i n the r ectory w hen the doorbell r an g
Th e suflragan hastily ex cused him self Two em issarie s fro m Garde n
City delivered a p ackage contain in g the bishop s Judgmen t di ssolvin g
the p astoral relation between Dr Melish an d the p arish an d establish
in g h i s p en sio n rights Th e p ari sh w as to m atch hi s stipen d fr om th e
Chur ch Pen sion Fun d with an equal am oun t A ttache d to th e Ju dg
m en t w as a Me m oran dum an d th e Report of the st an din g com mitt ee
These thr ee documen ts were simultan eously released to the m etro
politan press
It w as Ash Wedn e sday in deed at H oly Trin ity The mini sters were
gen erally prep ared f or th e deci sion b ut did n ot an ticip ate its delivery
u n til a fter A sh Wed n e sd ay w as p ast For thi s in dece n t h aste th e bi shop
h ad a re aso n Un der the C an o n the di ssolutio n could n o t take pl ace
f or thir ty d ays an d it w as v ital to the e x ecu tion o f the plan that it
precede the an n ual m eetin g of the p ari sh o n E aster Mon day The
p astoral r elation w ould be termin ated on April 4 th a good two weeks
i n advan ce of the p ari sh me etin g This w o uld r em ove the r ector The
old ve str y w ould stil l be i n the saddle an d w ou ld then fi re the assistan t
m in ister The bi shop w ould be asked to sen d i n a clergym an to con du ct
th e Holy Week an d E aster service s It might n o t be n ece ssary to hold
an an nu al p arish m eetin g sin ce th ere would be n o r ector to c all it
b ut if it h ad to be h eld the co n gregation would be faced with an
a ccompli shed fact an d th e v e str y would be sustain ed
Dr Melish
w oul d be m ore th an adequ ately cared f or in h i s old age ! tho u gh how
th e p ari sh w as goin g to raise thi s additio n al tax w as app ar e n tly n ever
calculated ) an d the youn ger Mr Melish woul d n o t have hi s clerical
s tatu s i mp aired b ut wo uld b e safely o ut On the street
Holy Trini ty
w o ul d b ecome a conv e n tio n al an d politically saf e p ar ish i n the heart
o f B r ookl n
y
The three published docu ments th e bishop s Judgmen t th e Memo
ran dum an d the Report of th e stan din g co mmittee— de serve a detailed
.
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44
E NMESHED IN
THE
L A
W
dy They are extrem ely in teresti n g The Report rejects the first
coun t that Dr Melish is too Ol d b ut sustain s th e secon d char ge that
there i s seriou s dissen sion in the pari sh because h e has n ot removed
h i s assi stan t Violati n g a fun d ame n tal prin ciple in j uri spru de n ce it
ass erts th at by failin g to t ake th e s tan d i n their o wn d efe nse the two
mini sters co n cede th e tru th of all the state me n ts con tain ed in the n e w s
“
p aper eviden ce submitted Then the stan din g co mmi tte e states the
r e al r e aso n f or i ts decisio n The Report qu ote s this stat em e n t b y Mr
Geor ge F Kenn an chi ef m oulder of American State Departmen t
policy towards Russia :
stu
.
.
.
,
,
.
,
”
.
.
.
.
,
“
biti ons of in decision di sunity an d ih
t
disin tegration wi thi n this coun try h ave an e hi laratin g eff ect
o n the w hole C omm uni st m o v em en t A t each evi den c e of th ose t en
den ci es a thrilli n g hop e an d e citem en t goes throu gh the Communi st
w o l d; a n ew jaun tin ess can b e n oted in the Mos cow tren d; n ew
grou s of foreign supp orters climb on what th ey can only
the
an dwag on of in tern ation al p o li ti cs ; an d Russian pressur e i n
creases all alon g the lin e in in ternation al affairs
th e
B
me
sa
ken
to
,
exh i
,
x
.
x
,
r
”
.
The stan di n g committee then
make s
hi s fun d amen tal
t
mission :
ad
We therefore approach the questi on b efore us upon the
b as is first that C ommun ism is incomp ati b le with the C hris
tian F ai th and second that there must b e no exhi bi tio n of
“
,
,
i n decisi on, disun ity
i
n the
y
cou n tr
in terna l disi ntegration wi thin this
dispositi on to b e mad e of the question b e
fore us
“
We further find
or
.
Min ister
that the
ac tivi ti es
f
o
the Assist ant
man of the National C oun cil of Am eri can
S ov iet Friendship ha ve b een most detrimen tal to the wel
fare not on ly of the Parish b ut also the Church in the
diocese and nation
“
A pri est of th e Church w hose activities leave do ubt as
to his att it ude toward Co mm un ism mus t inev i tab l
caus e
y
dissensi on in his Parish and b ring scandal to the C hurch
as chai r
.
”
.
e n quir y w as m ade in to wh at Mr Meli sh s real attitu de was n or
“
as Bi shop L u dlow h as i n dicated w a s the term
comm un ism so mu ch
as defi n ed The r e al sub stan ce o f the stan din g com mittee s co n clu sio n
boils down to this : a war i s on an d an yon e who doe s n ot accept the
offi cial govern m en tal position b ut criticize s it in an y way p uts himself
i n the position of bein g an e n em y an d subverter of the State For a
Chr istian to speak out f or Peace i s su bversive Ther e is n ot the slighte st
r ecogn itio n that th e State Dep ar tm e n t might be wr o n g i n s o me j u dg
m e n t or that administration policy m ight po ssibly be ill in formed or
NO
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45
,
THE M E LIS H C A S E
mi sguided
that the Ch ur ch migh t h ave the fun ction even in a
to proclaim the ethical ide al of human
n ega tive politic al si tuation
C ae sar h as spoken The
rel ation ship s as Chr i st h as tau gh t the m
Chur ch must ren der un to C ae sar th e thin gs that are C ae sar s There i s
o w e to God
n o m e n ti o n o f w ha t the C h ur ch m a
y
In the Report which the bish op l ater te sti fi e d was wr itte n by the
chan cellor some extraordin ary ch ar ge s are levelled again st Mr Melish
detrim e n tal outside activitie s He w r ote an ar ticle
as sam ple s of his
i n The Churchma n o n the state of r eligion i n the S o vi e t Un io n It di d
n o t m e n tion that the m ateri al p aralleled the r eport b r ou gh t b a ck fr o m
Mo scow by the Ar ch bi sh o p of York Dr Cyril Garbett He wro te an
ar ticl e f or Th e S un da y Wo rker It did n o t m e n tion th at thi s article w as
r equ e sted by thi s p aper so that i ts r e ader s migh t kn o w th e f a c ts
ab o u t Dr G arb ett s Ru ssi an mi ssio n an d th at the m ater i al u sed i n i ts
prep arati on w as supplied by 28 1 Four th A ven u e—the Episcopal he ad
quarters after Mr Meli sh h ad con sul ted with their publicity dep art
m e n t as to the de sir ability Of p ublishin g an e ssen ti ally r eligiou s ar ti cle
i n a comm uni st weekly an d h ad bee n assured i t co u ld o nl y be helpful
In 1946 b e chair ed a din n er f or th e Br ooklyn Divi sio n Of Ru ssi an War
Rel ief The Report con veni en tly omi tted that the chairman of the
Brooklyn Divi sion w as Mr Hun ter L Delato ur an d two members o f
the ex ecutive boar d w ere Colon el J ackson A Dykm an an d the H on
Edw ar d A Ri chards—all three m embers o f the v ery stan din g co mmit
tee that co mpiled the Report It o m itted to say t hat S uflr agan Bi sh o p
Larn ed o f the di oce se h ad delivered the invocation at o n e Of the se
rall ie s an d that the dioce san Dep ar tm e n t o f Chr i sti an Soci al Rela tio n s
had spo n sor ed the local Ru ssi an Relief pr ogram U n der o ath i n th e
S upreme C o ur t Mr Meli sh later te stifi ed that Bish op Dewolf e him self
h ad phon ed him at L ake Geor ge i n the m id st of hi s summ er va cati on
an d aske d hi m to co m e tw o hun dred m ile s to th e city to repr e s e n t th e
bish op at a city wide meetin g o f Ru ssian War Reli ef whi ch at gr e at
person al in con venien ce he had gladl y don e Yet su ch di ocesan ap
pr oved activitie s w ere n ow bein g thr own in hi s face as char ges
S u ch are the depths of hypocri sy to w hich laym en an d even a bishop
“
can d esce n d u n der th e im p a ct o f a cold war an d a hy steri a ru n rio t
whe n m em ories con venien tly forget
The Memoran dum attached to the bishop s Ju dgm en t cri ticized the
comp an y that Mr Melish h ad kept in h i s a ctivitie s f or pea ce Ign orin g
the comm on rule s o f gramm ar it stated that he associated w ith
“
Commu n ists agitators of w orld r evolu tion totalitari an ism
atheists
an d al mo st ever y article which de n ie s the Chri sti an doctr in e Of m an
,
or
,
,
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46
ENM ESHED
IN
T HE
LA
W
horren dou s examples of the se dr e adf ul people the Report h ad liste d
Dr Corliss L am on t a human i st tea cher of philosophy at Columbia
University whom Mr Melish had su cceeded as chairman of the Na
ti on al Co u n cil an d who se father had j ust give n a half mi llion doll ars
to the rebui ldin g of C an terbury C athedral an d its S ch ools; Mr Leo
Lin der an att orn ey who is the co chairman of th e Progressive Par ty
i n Br ooklyn an d an authority On Federal He alth Legislation ; an d Mr
Joseph Keh oe secretary tr easur er of the A merican Comm uni cation s
A ssociation f or whose progressive un i on Mr Meli sh three ye ars run
n in g ha d bee n asked to Ope n n atio n al co n ve n tion s w ith prayer
No be tter an swer w as given to the bishop s M em oran dum than a
column i n a New York af tern oon p aper by i ts Washin gton political
comm en tator Mr I F Ston e :
As
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BISHOP
IMAGINARY
T h e Rev Dr
.
.
T i ity Ch ch
ur
r n
erred
,
John Howard Melish
k yn
B ro o l
years
f or 4 5
,
years
is 7 4
Ol d
.
H e h as
year s
In the la tter
.
b
een r e
of
his
cto Of Holy
ministry he
r
,
.
Wh at
which got him in to trou bl e was loyalty to
hi s son ,
al so hi s assistan t r ec tor
Wh at was th e son s error? He was
“
accus e d o f ass o ciatin g wi th
repu ted ath ei sts ,
o mm un i sts , a gita tors
w ere his
who was
err ors?
T he
error
’
.
C
c
o
0
Dr Melis h refu sed to discharg e hi s son Dr Melis h s bishop has therefore re
m ov e d him as rector an d rem o v ed hi m efore Dr Melis h s own chur ch m em ers
cou ld make their opinion felt at the an n u al parish elections in pri l can im agin e
a
sh op wh o woul d h av e acted di fferen tly
i
“
I do n ot approve the activities of Dr Melish s son “ can h ear this bishop
tell a de le gation com e to ask f or the re ctor s r em ov al,
cann ot say that
B ut
resp ec t a m an less f or dec li ni n g to a an don hi s son i n th e fac e of p op u lar clam or
“
Many p eo ple feel th at the asso ciati on of the son with ommuni sts an d pro
S ovi et or g an izatio ns h as hur t the h ur ch
am in clin e d to thin k
woul d b e doin
th e
hur c h greater harm if
w er e to remov e a ven era le pri est un der the ci r
cum sta n ces
“
L et us supp ose that Dr Melish i s wh olly in error
fter so m any years of ser
vice, does he n ot merit a little hristian forgi ven ess? Sh ould we n ot b e in greater
error if w e di d n ot ext en d i t?
’
.
.
.
b
,
b
’
.
A
b
.
I
.
’
”
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,
I
’
b
C
C
I
I
.
C
I
.
I
,
I
b
.
.
.
C
I
A
bishop fall silent g et u an d walk to look ou t upon his lawn I
c an see him turn ag ai n wi th a wr
y smi lb
I do n ot def en d youn g Melish s associations the bishop con tin ues I do not
myself associate with repu t d ath eists C omm un ists agitators P erhap s I would
b e a better C hristian if I di d
I make n o comp arisons b u t I think we might remem ber that th ese were th e
descrip tions appli e d to the First Followers Our faith was born amon g the despised
an d th e ou tcast Mayb e i t can only b e revi talized fr om th e sam e sourc es P erhaps
thi s i s the inn er m eanin g of Blessed are the P ersecu ted
can see th e
,
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47
THE MELISH CASE
“
C
i y
er ta n l
stan dar d,
th e
th e tes t
of
man
a
Melishes do
faith
’
s
come
n ot
i
i s what h e is w lli n
ou t
po orly
to o
g
to
ik
r s
f or i t By th at
.
.
chairman of the National Coun ci l of Am erican S ovi et Fri en d
ship I hold n o bri ef f or thi s org ani z ti on I kn o w li ttl e ab ou t i t B u t I do kn ow
th er e i s a deb ate un derway ov er the is su es o f w ar an d p eac e
Th ere are f ew—too f ew—voices raised on th e side o f p eac e Th es e f ew m ay
b e mis gui ded b u t I h av e too mu ch f ith in free di scussion to b eli ev e i t will
“
Y ou n
g
Meli sh
is
-
a
.
.
.
.
“
.
a
hear them
“
I w oul d n ot have it app ear that m hurch hel ed to stifle some of those f ew
I would not w ant it sai d a road that t e war fever ad risen so hi gh in my coun try
th at two min isters wh o fav or ed Am eric an S o vi et fri en ds hip w ere r emo v e d fr om
th eir p osts I w o u l d n o t hav e i t sai d th at th e Chur ch w orshi p s the P rin c e o f P ea c e
but p uni sh es th ose who tr y to app ly his te ach in gs in practic e
hur t
us to
.
C
h
b
.
-
.
”
.
0
T o o b ad f or th e
chur ch
,
min e
th at
0
o
i
i s th e m a
gin ary bi
ho p
s
.
By a strikin g coin ciden ce on M arch 15 1949 there app eared in all
the New York p apers a story from E n glan d qu otin g a statem en t by
th e Ar chbishop of C an terb ur y the Mo st Rev er e n d an d Ri ght Hon or
n o t r em o ve the
F
r an cis Fi sher D D
he
did
as to wh
able G e o fl re
y
y
De an o f Can terbury Dr Hewlett John son from hi s post S aid the
Ar chbishop :
,
,
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,
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,
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,
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,
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,
“
S i n c e i t i s f r e q u en tl y a sk e d wh y t h e De a n i s n o t r e
m o ve d f r o m h i s o ffi ce b e ca u s e o f h i s o p i n i o n s , I m u st
s a y , fi r s t , th a t f o r r e m o va l f r o m O ffi c e th e l a w r e q u i r e s
tr i al a n d co n v i c ti o n i n s o m e ci vi l o r e ccl e s i as ti cal co u r t ,
,
D e an h a s
en d e r e d h i m s elf l i ab l e to a
ei th er c o u r t S e c o n dl y i n th i s co u n tr y we
ch a r g e i n
g r e a tl y va l u e th e r i g h t t o f r e e d o m o f s p ee ch a n d th e l aw
i s sl o w t o c ur ta il i t e v en w h e n i t p r o ve s i n co n ve n i e n t
i r k s o m e o r h u r tf u l It s s u pp r e s s i o n i s o n e O f th e g r a ve
c h a r g e s ag a in st th o s e t o t al i ta r i a n an d p o li ce s t at e s wh i ch
en j o y t h e Dean s co n fi d e n ce
an d
th a t t h e
n ot r
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“
How cur iou s that Mr I F Ston e s I magin ary Bishop shoul d
u
i
n E n gl an d in an e stabli shed Chur ch an d n o t i n an in depe n de n t
p
Chri sti an Com mun ion in the L an d of the Free an d th e Home of the
Brave !
The publication of th e bishop s Ju dgm en t did n ot deter the co n gre
gatton fro m proceedin g w ith th e special m eetin g 350 p ari shio n ers
atte n ded wi th almo st th e e n tir e m etropolit an p r e ss w at chi n g the
gatherin g Formal char ges w ere laid again st the ni n e vestrymen
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48
E N M E S HE
THE
IN
D
L A
W
eviden ce was sub mitted i n support o f th e ch arge s opp ortun ity w as
given f or rebuttal an d di scu ssio n an d the n a vo te w as taken 2 6 1
vo ted to rem ove the nin e ve strym e n 2 7 voted f or their re ten tion This
10—
to 1 tally is e specially n otable becau se it constituted n o t onl y a re
u di ati on of the n in e ve str ym e n b u t a dir ect r ejecti o n of the bi shop s
p
in terfer en ce in the life of th e p arish By th i s action the con gregation
w as stan di n g o n i ts rights an d d e m an din g th at they be r e specte d
Havin g rem oved the n in e ve strym e n the co n gregation con fr on ted
the rector wi th the Religious Corporation s A ct which says that when
n o q u orum o f the ve stry ex i st s th e r ecto r sh all c all a speci al m eetin g
to fi ll the vacan cie s On S un day M arch 13 1949 n o tice w as re ad at
divin e service that a speci al m ee tin g w as c alle d f or M ar ch 14 th f or
the pur po se o f fi llin g th e un expired term s Of the n in e ve strym en wh o
h ad bee n re m oved
An ticip ati n g th at thi s m ight be th e n ex t m ove Of th e con gr egatio n
the n in e ves trym en had th e p aper s p rep ared to seek a Court in ju n ction
a g ain st the m in i sters an d the c o mm i ttee o f th e co n greg ati o n
The mo
m e n t the n otice of the speci al m ee tin g w as re a d o n S u n day the ve stry
m en w e n t in to Co ur t o n Mon d ay m orn i n g an d fi led th e p aper s Mr
Theo dore Ki en dl a pr om in en t attorn ey w as re tain ed to repre sen t
them The Cour t gran te d a re str ain in g order preve n tin g th e h ol din g
of th e special election an d set th e day f or a h e arin g o n the pe tition of
th e ve strym en f or a perm an e n t in j u n cti o n The n in e ve str ym e n asked
to be rein stated an d th at their right to fun cti o n as ve strymen be
By brin gin g in th e bi sho p as a p arty de f en d an t they als o
su stain ed
asked the Co ur t to e nf o r ce th e bi sh o p s orde r Of d i sso l u tio n It is i m
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ortan t
p
the law
to
n o te
th at it was th e
m
en wh o
y
n i n e v estr
h
t
g
so u
recours e
to
.
The he arin g took place before Ju dge Alfr ed Norto n i n a cr ow ded
cour troom After a pre sen tati o n of th e po sition s of the four p artie s to
the action th e Ju dge issu ed a tem porary in jun cti o n hol di n g all thi n gs
i n s tat u q u o pe n din g th e r en der in g of a co ur t decisio n an d set E aster
Mon day April 18 1949 ! th e d ate o f the ann ual p arish meetin g ) as th e
d ate Of the tri al In o ther w or ds th e con gregation h ad w o n th e righ t
to hold i ts ann u al m eetin g an d th e rector could be in th e chair —the
very thin g the o l d ve stry had been seekin g to av o id an d the datin g of
the bisho p s Ju dgme n t h ad been so car eful to precl u de The con gr ega
tio n h ad g ain ed the fi rst e sse n ti al Objective i n i ts fi ght to retain i ts
m in ister s b u t n ow un for tun ately by this actio n Of the ve stry both
min isters an d people f ou n d the mselve s e n m e shed in th e L aw
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49
CHAP TER
SEVEN
A F I GH T I NG CONGR E GA T I ON
grim tens ion i n the atm o sphere of Holy Tri ni ty The
Holy Week service s were o f a kin d n ot soon to be for gotten On
M aun dy Thur sday it has been th e custom to hold an evenin g celebra
tion to comm em orate the I n sti tution of the Lord s S upper an d to
distribu te a whi te rose to e ach communican t Dr Meli sh k n owin g that
it mi ght be hi s last occasion to speak to hi s flock i n th e in tim acy of the
family circle in a few simple words thanked them f or their loyalty to
the spirit of Christ In th e darken ed ch ur ch as the p arishion ers m an y
with tear—fi lled eye s moved forw ard in to the ligh t ar oun d the altar
where the two min isters moved alon g th e commu nion rail f ollowed by
th e v e sted youn g m en di strib u tin g th e r o se s the org ani st beg an to
i mprovise softly on th e Negr o spir it ual W ere You Th ere When They
Cru cifi ed My Lord ?
T h e Three Ho ur Service o n Good Frid ay w as sh ared by the tw o
min isters as they h ad don e f or ye ar s alte rn atin g the addr esse s o n the
S even Words There w as n o re f eren ce to what was taki n g place in th e
p arish b ut th e Old story of man s inh um ani ty to man un f olded w ith
dr e adf ul s olem n ity Few le f t th e ch ur ch u n til the fi n al sin gin g o f In
Th e Cr o ss O f Chri st I Glory
On E aster S un day f or th e fir st tim e si n ce he came to Holy Trin ity
Mr Melish pre ached th e m ain E aster serm o n to a co n gr egation half
ag ain lar ger th an th at of th e p r e viou s ye ar He took as h is tex t the
gre at p assage from Secon d E sdras :
T
W AS
HE RE
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p aradise Op en ed th e tr e of lif is plan ted th e
time to c om e is p r p ar e d p l en teous n ess i s m ade
a dy
a ci ty is
builded an d rest is allow ed yea p e fe ct g oodn ess an d wi sdom
s orrows are p ass ed an d i n th e en d i s sh ow d th e tr easur e o f im
m ortality
Fo r
un to
y ou i s
e
,
e
e
re
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r
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:
e
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”
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He e n ded th e sermon w ith a prayer that he had been asked to write
man y ye ars before by the Br ooklyn Chur ch an d Missio n Federation f or
i ts ann u al meetin g :
“
y Wo
d h ast taugh t us th at th e fi gur e Of
c
y ol of th e life to com e an d h ast sh ewn us
on ds of sen tim en t
etok en th e E tern al V irtu es ; Gran t
0 Go d, wh o in thy H ol
th e
t is our l ear es t s m
ci y
that th e fi n er
b
b
r
b
50
,
MELISH CASE
T HE
to rem ov e them T o prove thi s con tention Mr Weissman asked
permi ssion to put all 32 1 sign atories o n the stan d He began to ask
them each i n turn two que sti ons : Did y ou sign the statement repu
di atin g the a ction o f the v e stry ? an d : Do you ref use to Ob ey the Judg
m e n t of the bish op ? After a d o zen h ad so te stifi ed in the face of sever e
cross ex ami nation the Cour t to sav e time admitted into th e record
th at ther e w ere 8 2 1 p ari shio n ers at Holy Trini ty who were Oppose d
to the ve stry s action an d r e ady to ref use to obey the bi shop s J udg
me n t The Court adjour n ed the first d ay s session in the late aftern oon
The ann u al p arish m eeti n g occurred that same even in g in the
chur ch Thi s time there w as n o hesitan cy o n the p art of the vestrym en
abou t app ear in g o r camp aign in g f or their re el e ction
On e warde n
an d thr ee ve strym e n had their t erms of Ofli ce e x ire an d th ere w as a
p
fif th vacan cy owi n g to a re sign ation of a vestrym an f or r eason of ill
he alth The Comm ittee to Retain the Rector put up a slate of fi ve
n ame s of m e mber s pledg ed to work f o r the r ete n tio n of th e mi n isters
and the mai n te n an ce o f the p ari sh poli cie s Frie n ds o f the Old vestry
m en put their n am e s i n n omin ation an d f or the fif th vacan cy the nam e
o f a l awye r frie n dl y to th eir po sitio n After di s cussio n f ro m the fl oor
tellers were elected repre sen tin g both gr oup s the b allot b ox was
open ed and th e b allots cast Th e vote w as 234 f o r the n ew slate again st
8 3 f or the form er me mbers of the ve stry The m e etin g w as con cl ud ed
w ith the p assage of a re s ol u tion in stru ctin g the n ew ve stry to pe t itio n
the bishop to w ithdraw hi s Judgm en t
The se even ts w ere reported to the Cour t the n ex t day as th e trial
proceeded Pla ced on the stan d an d subjected to in ten se cr o ss examina
tio n Mr Meli sh ex pl ain d hi s rel atio n ship to the N atio n al Co un cil
e
of Am erican Soviet Frien dship n amed man y bishop s an d clergy wh o
h ad supported i ts w ork an d in dic ated th at three other pr omin e n t
Episcop alians had been elected to the curren t bo ard of dir ectors : Dr
M ary v an Kleeck former resear ch director of the Ru ssell S age Foun
dation ; Rev Willi am B Spofl ord Sr m ana gin g editor of The Witness;
r eti r ed bi shop of Utah
an d the Rt Rev Ar th ur W Moulto n D D
He fil ed w ith the Court a len gth y afli davi t :
I am n ot an d n ever have b een a Commun ist or a m ember of the
Communi st Par ty an d the N ati onal Cou n cil of American Soviet
Frien ds hip of w hich prior to M arch 16 1949 I w as chairm an i s
n o t or g an iz ed to pr omote o r e nga ged in p rom otin g co mmun i sm Its
p urpose i s to pr om ote pe ace rather th an w ar betw een Russia an d the
Un ited S tate s My term as Chairm an of th e N ation al Coun cil of Ameri
can S o viet Fr ie n d ship e n ded o n M ar ch 16 1949
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52
.
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FIGHTING
A
CONGRE GATION
“
November 1942 I atten ded a week en d Con gress of Am erican
Soviet Frien dship held at the Hotel New Yorker with the assistan ce Of
seve ral Dep ar tm e n ts o f th e Federal Gove rn m e n t an d brin gi n g to gethe r
leaders of man y profe ssion al an d cultural fi elds to discuss American
Sovi et relation s in the light of the n eeds of the war effort A s a re sult
o f the thin ki n g of this Con gr e ss i n Februar y 1943 a perm an e n t o r
an izati on w as form ed an d i n corporat ed un d er th e l aws o f the S tate
g
o f Ne w York—the N ation al Co un cil of Am erican Soviet Frie n d ship
In c Believin g th at this work w as a service to the n ati o n al w ar effort
an d kn o wi n g th at it h ad the co Op eratio n Of the F ede ral Gover n me n t
I went on the Bo ar d of Dir ectors; an d on Jun e 12 1946 con sen ted to
b ecome its chairman It was n ot until Novemb er 24 1947 that the At
torn ey Ge n e ral p ubli sh ed a list q uestio ni ng the ch aracter of the or
an i zati o n an d i n dicatin g th a t associ atio n w ith it could be u sed i n
g
conn ection w i th the Loyalty Bo ard reviews i n determin in g suitability
f or employm e n t in the Federal Service
I have con tin u ed as chairman thr ou gh my third term o f Ofli ce
w hich exp ir ed M arch 16 194 9 bec ause I beli eve the work of th e C ou n
cil to be i n the in terests o f w orld peace an d to be e ntir ely comp ati ble
with my obligation s as a Chr i sti an mi n i ste r to do all th at lies in m y
power to repre sen t On e wh o w as c all ed Th e Prin ce of Pe ace The
Coun cil has n ever advocated the Russian system of govern m e n t or
econ omics n or h as i t supported a poli cy Of appe asem en t It h as ex
pressed the conviction shared by m an y promin en t an d in formed Amer
i can s that w orld pe ace d epen d s upon the character o f th e rel atio n s
betw een the Un ited State s an d the Soviet Union an d that gre ater
kn ow ledge on the art of e a ch coun try with re spect to the other i s
in dispe n sabl e ; an d at it i s w ise to explore the thin gs w e hold in com
m on as w ell as the thin gs abou t w hich we difl er ; an d that pe acef ul
n egotiatio n b etw ee n th e two gove rn me n ts an d syste m s m u st r epl a ce
an
reli an ce upo n co n t ai nm e n t arm am e n ts an d divi sio n i n to sep arate
y
camp s I con sider my association with the Coun cil as legitim ate work
f o r pe ace e n tirely in keepin g w ith my pr ofe ssion as a Chr i sti an
Min ister
Nor do I hold th at this w ork even thou gh it h as offen ded certain
m embers of the Vestry has acted to the detrim en t o f the p ari sh o f th e
Church of the Holy Trinity The state of the m embership the n umber
the
o f in dividual s C oop erati n g i n p ari sh com mi ttee s an d fun ctio n s
atte n d an ce at service s an d the mo n eys con trib u te d
are o n as high
i
m
e in th e p eri od th at 1 h ave b ee n at Holy Trin ity
t
a lev el as at an
y
In terest in the p ari sh is keen and i s growin g It is my m easur ed b elief
th at there would have b ee n n o situation in th e p ari sh of the kin d
that h as d evelop ed had n ot the Vestry assum ed i ts preju dices to be
rep re se n tative of th e co n gregatio n an d to h ave for ced an i ssu e which
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53
T H E
ME LISH
CASE
part from their in iti ative w ould have bee n e asily an d qu ietly m et
I declin ed to re sign my offi ce as Assi stan t Rector o n the requ est o f
the Bi shop because h e placed the reque st o n th e gr oun d th at my
a ctivitie s as Chair m an o f the N atio n al Co un cil o f A me rican Soviet
Frien dship In c an d m y similar activities were harmfu l to the Chur ch
which in my Opin ion was n o t true I thou ght the Bish op w as n ot
correctly inform ed as to the facts I kn ew that th e p ari sh w as as pro s
ero u s n um erically fi n an cially an d i n th e work it w as a ccom pli shin g
p
in the co mmun ity as it had ever bee n I kn ew th at the w ork o f th e
Pari sh w as n ot bein g n eglected b u t w as bein g carried o n as w ell as i t
had ever bee n I felt that the Bishop s requ e st w as u nr e aso n able an d
n o t b ased o n an accurate kn owledge o f the fa cts an d th at he sh o u ld
n o t h ave mad e it an d with the Re cto r s app roval
I therefor e de
cli n ed to co mply with it
“
At the he ari n g before the Stan din g Comm ittee it w as proved th at
the con diti on of the Parish w as as above stated Th e Stan din g C om
mitt ee made n o fi n di n g— an d o n the evide n ce it co uld m ake n o fi n din g
—th at th e work of the Parish h ad suff ered or th at th e m e m bers of the
con gregation o r their fi n an cial support h ad dimi n i shed It con ten ted
itself with fi n din g th at there was dissen sion i n th e Parish cau sed by
my a ctivities w ithou t defi nin g dissen sion
B u t i n every gr ou p of
human bein gs there i s always dissen sion Diss en sion m e an s disagree
m e n t an d disagreem e n t i s n o t h af m f ul unl e ss harmful r e sults flow
from it The Stan din g Committee did n ot fi n d that an y harm h ad
sul ted to th e Pari sh The b asis o f the Bishop s alleged j u dgmen t i s th at
a prie st i n good stan din g c an n ot m ix wi th pers o n s h avin g soci al an d
political view s u n acceptable to the m ajority Of th e commun ity an d
that a Re ctor who doe s n o t dischar ge hi s Assistan t Rector f or so
doin g can himself be removed fr om th e Parish again st i ts w ill in
spite of h i s 45 ye ars of devoted service I sub mi t th at th e Bi shop s r ea
son in g i s u n so un d an d h i s p rete n ded ju dgm en t b ased o n it in effectu al
u n der th e C an on s o f the Pr ote stan t Epi scop al Chur ch
The Bishop then to ok i h e stan d an d w as examin ed an d cross ex am
i ned f o r n e ar ly t wo hour s He admitted th at the decisio n to r em ove the
Mel ish es h ad been r eached by the stan din g committe e prior to th e
hearin g at Garden City w hich in so f ar as h e was co n cern ed h ad
simply confi rm ed th e op in ion Of them all th at the m in i sters sh ou ld
be rem oved He al so admitted that he had seen n either o f the min i s
ters in volved ex cept f or the formal visitation of th e p ari sh un til the
day befor e the ve stry m eeti n g when he h ad read to Dr Melish the
stan di n g co mm i ttee s r e sol ution He in si st ed th at i n h i s o pin ion eve ry
There
step h ad bee n taken i n lin e with s trict c an on ic al p roced ur e
w as n o is su e o f theology or moral s i nvolved Th er e w as dissen sion in
th e p arish an d he took the word Of su ch p rom in e n t m en as th e ve stry
a
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54
A
FIGHTING
CONGRE GATION
men
that it was serious; in his Opin ion n othin g i n the te stimon y b efore
the stan din g committee had con tradicted their statem en ts When
aske d if o ther p ari she s h ad dif f e re n ces of Op in io n regardin g their mi n
isters h e replied ther e wer e m an y E x amin ed as to w hy he h ad n ot
taken simil ar action he an swer ed that n o other vestry had peti tion ed
him Asked if he would act if some other ve str y did so petition he
replied that he wo uld b e obliged to co n sider an
su ch pe ti t ion
y
Th e last W itne ss w as Dr Meli sh w ho w as treated with gre at cour te sy
by the Ju dge who referred at len gth to Ol d civic association s He was
giv en Opportunity to Speak about th e history o f the p ari sh and the
fi n e l aym e n wh o had supported its policie s i n the p ast an d whose
gen erosity had built up the en dowm en t fun d to maintain a p arish
of thi s character He in dicated that th e kin d of min istry th at the bishop
appr oved wo uld be i ts spiritu al de ath
There w as close atten tion
thr ou ghou t hi s testi mon y an d man y sign s of public symp athy as h e
cam e slowly down from th e stan d can e i n han d
Ju dge Stein brin k the n ext m orn in g took an hour an d fi ftee n m inute s
to deliver the deci sion He m ade n o r efer e n ce to the issu e s raised by
the coun sel f or th e defen se as to th e m e an in g of th e C an on on the
Ve str y or the C an on o n th e Di ssolu tion of the P astoral Rel ation He
sim ply said th at the re w as di s se n sio n i n th e p ari sh an d th at the v e str y
men and the bishop had take n the step s required by the C an on Th e se
step s h e rehe arsed i n a superfi ci al run n i n g a cco un t Th e special m eet
in g to rem ove th e n in e ve str ym e n h ad b een ill eg ally c alled the con
re ati o n h ad acted in a m o st un see mly mann er in atte mpti n g to
g g
uns e at su ch ho n or able an d rep u table m e mbers of the co mm u n ity
an d th e Co ur t wou ld m ake n o co mm en t on th e co n gregation s de fi an ce
Of the bishop He therefore declared the rector rem oved as of April
4 th Th en citin g vario u s case s i n volvin g the sep ar ation of Chur ch an d
State—a fun damen tal prin ciple that mu st be meticulou sly sustain ed
—w ith cur iou s logic he turn ed ar oun d an d sl apped a perman e n t in jun e
tio n upo n the defen d an ts re strain in g them from atte mpti n g to rem ove
th e n in e ve strymen duri n g their elected terms of offi ce or in terferin g
with the ex erci se of their authority an d enforcin g th e bishop s Judg
me n t Th e decision could no t have bee n m ore sweepin g or severe
Th e n turn in g to th e p ar ishion ers crow din g the ben che s the Ju dge
delivered a pious serm on ette on the them e of the Passover an d E aster
Resurrection su gge stin g to the people o f Holy Trin ity that n ow that
the ston e w as r ol led away they shoul d go forward to a n ew era
Comin g down from the ben ch the Judge con sulted with the lawyers
With all
an d th en pr opo s ed a p riv ate co n sul tatio n i n h i s ch am bers
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55
THE
M
ELISH CASE
the
par ti es gathered around the table he sugges ted a compromi se
prop o sal : that Mr Meli sh should res i gn th e b i shop s Judgm ent shoul d
b e wi thdr awn th e court deci s i on shoul d n ot be entered th e new
ves try should be confi r med i n offi ce and Dr Meli sh continue f or such
ti me as he could as rector Mr Meli sh inf ormed th e Judge th at thi s
was subs tantially th e proposal that th e b i shop had made to him pri or
to th e hear i ng before the s tanding commi tt ee and that he and h i s
father had rejected it on pri nciple The Judge asked that he recon
s i der i t and turnin g to th e lawyers urged that i t b e formul ated in
wri ti ng If accepted by the mi ni s ters and th e ves try he wo uld under
tak e to urge i t upon the b i shop After th ree days of consta nt consul
tati o n th i s prOp o sal was rejecte d and Dr Meli sh releas ed a publ i c
s tatement whi ch said i n part :
“
I have been Rector for 4 5 years During this long peri od I have
sought to es tabli sh certai n Spiritual and moral values wi th th e ai d of
my many associ a tes It i s these values whi ch have given Holy Trinity
i ts s trength and usefulness
“
After th e mos t careful cons i dera ti on i nvolvin g consultati ons with
many members of our par i sh and many of our fri ends in th e Church
at large my son and I n o t unmi ndful o f th e personal har dships that
may accrue to us are rejecting th is proposal We b eli eve that it com
,
’
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-
,
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,
m
ses
i
p
ri hts of
g
b asi c prin cip les of d emo cracy w ithin the C hurch the
the con g reg ation th e freedom o f th e pulpit and freedom
h
ri n ci les m ust b e unswervi n g l
of consci en ce and s eech
T
ese
p
p
y
p
main tain ed at all tim es b ut esp ecially i n su ch a p eri od as this wh en so
man y are acceptin g the i n evitab i li ty of an other w ar S u ch a compro
mise b etrays the traditi on s of thi s P ari sh an d a b ov e all en dan g ers
ri estl
clerg ym en ev er wh ere i n th e exercise of thei r
ro h eti c a n d
y
y
p p
p
mi n istry Un less these rig hts are sustai n ed n o m in ister i s free
“
The newly elected members o f th e Ves try who speak for more
than thr ee quarters o f the voti ng members o f th e P ari sh as well as
th e C ommittee to Re ta i n the Rector wholehear tedly concur i n thi s
ro
th e
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,
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-
,
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deci si on
I have advi sed my Attorneys to i nform Judge S te i nbrink that the
proposal i s rejected and that no proposal wi ll be accep table tha t i n
volves th e s ilencing of a Chr i s ti an mini s ter i n th e cons ci enti ous perfor
mance of his duti es
“
An appeal from the Lower C ourt s deci s i on wil l be tak en promptly
P ending an appli cati on for a s tay i n th e Appellate D ivi s i on I shall n ot
reach
at Holy Trin i ty I have as k ed th e V estry to see to i t that d i vi n e
p
servi ces ar e maintai ned i n th e Chur ch My family an d I will a ttend
th e servi ces as members of the P ari sh Toge ther wi th the o ther p arish
i on ers we shall conti nue to work an d pray for the preserva tion of th e
.
“
,
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’
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56
A
F
IGHTIN G C O N GR E G ATIO N
long traditi on of th e Church of th e Holy Tri nity and the bas i c free
doms of our country
Th e appeal of th e Lower C our t s deci s i on will be heard i n the O cto
ber term of the Appellate Divi si on and if necess ary wi ll be further
appealed to the C our t of Appeals in Al b any In the meanwhile the new
v es try i s i nvi tin g ou ts i de clergy to mai nta in the Sunday servi ces i ts
accredited representatives have been seated in the di ocesan conv en
ti on and i t i s conducting p ari sh busi ness S i nce it i s th e rector who
has been removed by the b i shop s acti on Mr Melish i s s till techni cally
in th e employ of th e pari sh b ut i s refra i ni ng fr o m taking part i n th e
servi ces until the s ituati on is further clarifi ed The congregati on i s
organi zing to maintai n the continui ty of i ts pari sh life
Th e long s trai n o f many months of tens i on cul mina ting i n th e ser
vi ces of Holy Week and Eas ter the parish meetin g on Easter Monday
th e tri al and i ts crushi ng deci s i on proved to o mu ch for Dr Mel i sh i n
his 74th year A phys i cal condi ti on that norm ally coul d have been
handled at lei sure was aggravated by the s tr ain an d became acute
He was taken to th e hospital where an operati on was requir ed Now
h e i s co nvalescin g an d regaini ng hi s s trength Hi s forti tude dur ing th i s
b itter experi ence has further dr awn hi s pari shi oners around him A s
o n e o f the d i oces an clergy
ut i t
Dr
Mel
i
sh
has
exper
i
enced
i
h
s
p
G oo d Friday; n ow h e deserv es hi s Eas ter
”
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“
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”
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57
CHAP TER E IGHT
T H E B A S I C I S S UE S
can read thi s record of th e situati on at the Church of th e
Holy Tri ni ty in Brooklyn Wi thout realizi ng that thi s is a mos t
unusual complex and i mport ant case Th ese two mi ni sters are n ot
ordinary routine practi ti oners o f the Chri stian Fa ith b ut con scien
ti ous exponents of i ts fun damental redempti ve spirit seeki ng to reach
o u t creati vely i nto the p i oneering fronti ers of contemporaneous li fe
It i s easy to cri ti cize the Meli sh es f or ven turin g to i nfl uence nati onal
publi c Opini on from the li mited base of a modes t pari sh B ut to s tate
the crit ici sm i s to rai se a deeper questi on : Is n o t thi s preci sely o n e o f
th e f un cti ons of the ethi cal wi tness o f the Chr i sti an Church ?
That they put a s trai n upon the p arochi al and di ocesan s tructure
of the i nstituti onal Church by the publi c debate aroused around them
is clear O n the other hand they have caught th e a tt enti on o f men
and women from Main e to C al iforni a from England to Aus trali a
from Turkey to Russi a an d to China They have given express i on to
somethi ng that mul titudes o f de cent people want the whole world
round—freedom from th e fear o f another war
That they were close to so mething b as i c to th e insti ncts of humanity
can b e gathered from the sense o f shock and profound di smay that
their removal has caus ed Y oun g men in th e semi nari es have m et to
di scus s their case For th e soci ally consci ous and the propheti cally
i ncli ned i t i s a sober warni ng and a seri ous de terrent from enteri ng
the Chr i s tian M ini s try Innumerable queri es have poured i n ask ing
how people can help O n every s i de i s a s ense that somethin g sym pto
mati c of th e tim es and i ndi cative o f the state of health of th e Chri sti an
Church is i nvolved
For the Ep i scopal Church the problem i s mos t acute Four bas i c
i ssues have been ra i sed They are by no means li mited to th e Ep i scopal
Church They have their counterpart i n other C ommuni ons Although
th ey are s tated in th e way they i nvolve th e E p i scopal Church i t w ill
be seen at once that they have meani ng also for th e Wi der Chr i s ti an
fellowship an d f or the Synago gue and i ts f reedoms as well
N
0
ON E
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58
THE
M
ELISH CASE
normal democr ati c acti on P erhaps a few members would have been
dis gruntled at th e outcome and have withdrawn from th e pari sh
P erhaps a few vestrymen would have been replaced by other con
Had the poli cy of th e
sci en ti o u s laymen o n a s trai ght poli cy i ssue
mi ni s ters b een repud iated they were committed to res i gn Such a
pro cedure would have been normal an d would have in volved no
fundamental vi olati on of An gli can pri nciples or publi c scandal What
has now taken place is of a very diff erent and far more seri ous char
acter An outstanding clergyman in the Ep i scopal Church has been
forci bly retired aga ins t his will an d the expressed wi sh o f hi s people
A younger man o f undoubte d si ncerity and ab ili ty has had hi s pro
fes si onal usefulness to th e Chur ch thr own i nto jeopardy An entire
congregati on that des ires to support its d i ocese and its b i shop fi nds
i ts elf now in a pos i ti on where i t mus t fi ght for i ts ri ghts aga i ns t th e
i ntrus i on of th e ep i scopal authori ty i nto a s ituati on th e real na ture
o f whi ch was i ncorrectly esti ma ted and th e full gravi ty o f whi ch was
certainly n ot correctly apprai s ed Thi s action of the bi shop s trik es
at the fundamenta l bas i s o f
Angli can C hurch L ife— th e pas toral
rel ati on
.
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,
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1
The
S tatus of the Vestry The General C anons of th e Epi scopal
Chur ch defi ne th e vestry as the agent and the representati ve o f the
pari sh The language i s unambi guous and th e meanin g clear The
vestry meets regularly and acts i n behalf o f th e congrega tion It i s
answerable to th e congregati on and i ts members are held accountable
f or thei r stewardship i n th e sense that they mus t stand peri od i cally f or
t e ele cti on
The C anon on the Dissoluti on of th e P astoral Relati on recogni zes
that s i tuati ons may ari se in whi ch a di sagreement between th e p ari sh
an d th e m ini s ter may be of such gravi ty as to r equi re th e arb i tra ti on
“
o f th e b i shop
The Canon specifi cally puts th e word pari sh fi rst
It i s a di sagreement be tween the par i sh an d i ts mi ni s ter The C anon
assumes that the vestry will act as the agent and representati ve of the
pari sh in peti ti oning f or the arb itral judgment o f the b ishop There
i s no thi ng in the C anon that gi ves th e vestry the ri ght to act upon
i ts own i ni ti ati ve in such a s ituati o n as exis ted at Holy Tri nity where
i t had reason to k now that th e parish di d n ot wi sh it so to act There
i s no i ssu e of grea ter gravi ty i n th e l ife o f a pari sh than th e d issoluti on
o f the p as toral relati o n especi ally o ne i nvolvi ng many years o f ser
.
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-
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”
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60
THE
ASIC IS SU E S
B
vi ce If there i s th e sli ghtes t doubt about the feeli ngs of th e p arish
i o n er s th e v es try h as a moral obli ga ti on to consult wi th the p ari sh
A t Holy Tri ni ty the ves try assumed that i t represente d th e p ari sh
It was warned by the mi ni s ters that i t di d n ot It mad e no s eri ous
effort to tes t i ts own Op ini on aga inst that o f the pari s hioners Inde ed
i t pro ceeded to pe ti ti on f or the separ ati on i n the face o f s i gne d state
ments by 70% of the congregati on repudi ati ng i ts propos ed acti on
The congregati on at Holy Trini ty had good grounds for removi ng such
i rrespons i ble ves trymen More than tha t at the Garden Ci ty heari ng
before the standi ng commi tte e the spokesman f or the ni ne v estrymen
went so far as to s tate that th e pari sh meeting could not p ass on an
i ssue of thi s i mportance Here i s a clear case of arrogance of author
i ty by a vestry
That the ves try was encour aged by th e chancellor of the di oces e
to beli eve tha t i t had th i s ri ght onl y m akes th e m atter that mu ch th e
more seri ous C olonel Dykman asserted i n C our t that th e vestry i s
th e corpor ati on in an Ep i scopal p ari sh and that the only spe cifi c
canoni cal ri ght belongi ng to the congregati on i s the ri ght to elect
the v es try If the chancellor i s confi rmed in thi s outrageous i nter
r etati o n
one
Sh
i
pler
of
can only a gree wi th Dr
T
h
e Churchman
p
that th e Epi scopal C hurch ought at once to change i ts na me to the
Ve stri sc0 p al Church
The fa ct that Colonel Dykman i s the legal
advi ser to th e Pr es idi ng Bishop and a memb er of the Nati onal Coun
cil o f th e Ep i scopal C hur ch ought to con cern every pri es t an d ev ery
co ngregati on in the entir e Chur ch who cares for tradi tional Angli can
democracy and th e ri ghts of the congregati on
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”
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4
2
Freedom of
the
Min i stry The most i mportant i ssue
.
in thi s
case
is
preservati on of the fre edom of the Chri sti an M ini stry to carry
o ut i ts pri es tly and
rO h eti c functi on in th e l i ght o f th e Chri s ti an
p p
consci ence wi thout undue ves try interference epi scopal in terventi on
o r external publi c pressure The Mel i sh C ase i s peculi arly i nterestin g
because i t represents a con flatio n of all three factors
There were tremendous external pressures beari ng down upon
these two m in i sters The bus i ness communi ty wi th i ts fear of Russ i a
i ts rel i ance upon government spendi ng on armaments to make j obs
and profi ts and its res is tance to all manifes tati ons of soci al change
does n o t make i t e asy for i ndependent voi ces concerned wi th co nstr uc
ti ve criti ci sm and soci al analys i s The war mongeri ng groups — the pro
th e
,
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61
THE
M
EL ISH CASE
’
f essi on al demagogues ve terans organiz ati ons super patri oteers
s trik e at hones t voi ces counseling reason and restrai nt Increas in g in
th e Uni ted S ta tes are Roman C atholi c pressur es that may n o t always
represent th e bes t or th e mos t di s interes ted publi c pos iti ons and that
may requir e to be withs tood All these were clearly present i n th e
case of th e Meli sh es as was admitted at the Garden Ci ty heari ng by
one ves tryman who sa i d that they had become s i ck and ti red of hear
i n g the cri ti ci sm o f their bus i ness and profess i onal associ ates as k i ng
them why they di d no thi ng abou t th e s tands their mi ni s ters were tak
in g Th ere can be no real secur i ty for th e clergy i n thei r pre aching
or their community acti vi ti es if they are subject to removal by a
group of laymen an d a bishop on so precari ous a charge as tha t rai s ed
In any cri ti cal peri od be i t a tim e o f
at Holy Tri ni ty— di ssens i on
like the pres ent or a s tretch of rapi dly i ncreasing un em
cold war
ployment or some development of a local i ssue on whi ch men s mi nds
sharply di vi de outspokenness means difference of opini on If thi s is
defi ned as di ssensi on all tenur e and freedom f or the mini s try vani shes
Di ssens i on wi thout some qui te specifi c charge i s a dangerous ground
for the dissoluti on of the pastoral rela ti on What pari sh is there in
whi ch some degree of di ssens i on cannot be claimed to be present?
If that i s all that needs to b e proven to remove a mi ni s ter th e clergy
are at th e mercy of any vocal group wi thi n their pari sh
Nothing coul d b e essenti ally more dramati c than th e exchange that
took place o n th e floor of the Long Island di ocesan conventi on after
th e Meli sh di ssoluti on when the ques ti on of amendi ng th e di ocesan
Canon came up C olonel Dykman proposed putti ng addi tional teeth
i n to i t an d ci ted th e we ak ness of th e C anon i n th e Chur ch of Eng
land where as he put it It is i mpossible to remove square pegs from
round holes H e menti oned one notori ous case ! an obvi ous refer
enc e to the Dean o f C anterbury ) and s ai d the Ameri can Church
must be reli eved of any such canoni cal res tri cti on Mr Meli sh repli ed
tha t whi l e there was a need for a C anon to deal wi th mi sfi ts an d
tragi c si tuati ons h e had re cei v ed mos t o f hi s trai ni ng for the mi n
istry in England and knew someth i ng of th e se cur i ty and th e free
dom of utterance given to th e pari sh pri est by the Engli sh C anon
In a ti me of profound soci al change i t i s i mpera tiv e to retai n this pro
tecti on to th e clergy If th e Ameri can Canon remains as th e di ocese
of Long Island has now i nterpre ted i t and as the chancellor would
like to apply it to th e General Church every clergym an had bett er
s ti ck to hi s p ari sh knitting and forget that the Chris ti an Faith has
red emp ti ve bus i ness i n the modern world
an
y
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62
THE
B
ASIC ISSUES
P owers of a B isho p B ishop D ewolfe and his s tandi ng co m
mi ttee have i ndi cated a poli ti cal posi ti on whi ch th e di oce san clergy
mus t respect or be di scipl ined The politi cal posi ti on whi ch they have
“
I
n a peri o d of
cold
w
ar
w
i
th
ada ted has seri ous im pli cati ons
p
Russi a no cri ti ci sm of th e government is admi ssi ble nor any publi c
s ta tement o r associ ati on or acti on that can be cons trued as givi ng aid
“
the enemy
The i mpli cati o ns o f this are f ri ghten
an d comfort t o
in g The essence of to tali taria ni sm is that the government i s above
cri ti ci sm Th e i ns tant that th e Ameri can people yi eld th e ri ght t o cri ti
cize their government and admi t that poli ci es are sacr os anct totali
tari ani sm is on the way to bei ng ens hr i ned
There i s s omethi ng ter ri fying when churchmen an d leadin g laymen
in th e Uni ted States do j us t the oppos i te o f their heroi c C hri s tian
counterparts in Europe There they fought the fascis t mani festati ons
o f th e State
Here they are supporti ng th e sanctity of the S ta te in
the supposed i nteres ts of the Chur ch Moreo ver Bi shop D ewolf e has
joined hims elf in the acti on of the vestrymen in th e C ourts in such a
fashi on that h e can tak e advantage o f the C our ts enf orcement of hi s
e ccles iasti cal judgment Th e sam e reli gi ous leader who cri tici zes o ther
nati ons for i nterferi ng in th e af fairs of the Church i ndi re ctly turns to
the Sta te to enforce hi s eccles iasti cal deci s i on Is not this close to a
vi olati on of the basi c prin ciple of th e separati on of Chur ch and State
on whi ch Am eri can Demo cracy res ts ?
Thes e are among the cons i derati ons that make th e acti on of the
s tanding commi ttee and th e bi shop so grave a backward step in th e
fi ght to ma intai n n ot only demo cracy wi thi n the p aro chi al lif e of th e
Church b u t wi thi n the nati onal lif e as well B i shop D ewolfe has
usurped powers that have never belonge d to Angli can bishops N0
Chur ch in democrati c Am eri ca dares permi t th e bi shop of a di oces e
to de termin e th e poli ti cal soci al or e conomi c thought s of i ts cl ergy
n or can i t af ford to grant hi m th e ri ght to penalize an d d epose thos e
whose Opini ons and a cti vi ti es are not in accord wi th hi s arbi trar y
opi ni ons and acti vi ti es Thi s is Thought C ontrol It is what th e Euro
pe an knows as C leri cal Fas ci sm
The
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I
“
Al though
thi s was i n practi cal fa ct a poli ti cal her esy trial the
pro cedur e adopted did n ot aff ord th e defendants the protecti on s
”
,
63
granted by th e C anons in O rdinary eccles i as ti cal trial s where a case
i s h earcl before one s cleri cal peers and there i s a ri gh t of app eal to
—
i
e
s
h
e
M
e
l
s
t
h
prov
nc
i
a
l
cou
r
t
Th
i
s
an d the c o n gre gati o n h ave
i
th e
b een deni ed It i s a par adox that h ad they b een accus ed an d con
i mmorali ty or n eglect of duty th ey
v i cted of theo l ogi cal heres y
would have h ad the ri ght of app ea l outs ide the di oces e Yet in thi s
matter whi ch involves the pos ition of the G eneral Chur ch on a bas i c
i ssue an d affects the tenure an d fre edom of all th e cl ergy they hav e
been res tri cted to the limitati ons of the di ocesan authori ty It ought
,
’
,
-
.
.
,
,
.
,
,
,
.
to
the
c o n cern
f
C ano ns
n atio n al
Church that
me p ro vi si on b e ma de i n the
so
h
i
e
i
s
e
d
sa
c
i
o
n
t
at
n
oc
d
f
and lai t
cler
y
gy
or the revi ew o
a
b ody of th e
are th e bas i c i ssues
th e entire
g
so
rav el
y
co n cern s
.
These
They are complex b ut they are funda
mental The Ep is copal Chur ch mus t fa ce them if i t wi shes to retai n
the loyalty of congregati ons that expe ct to be represented by their
ves tries and to be accorded the type of pari sh i n whi ch they believe ;
i f i t wi shes to i n teres t i n tell i gent and soci all y al ert young men i n the
C hri s ti an M ini s try ; and if i t wi shes to mak e th e sl i ghtes t i ndentati on
i n the ranks o f mul ti t udes of worki ng peopl e for whom th e C hur ch i s
fas t becoming an anachroni sm and an encumbrance
The ves try of Holy Tri nity the s tandin g committ ee and th e bi shop
of Long Island have done the cause of th e Ep i scopal Church and the
cause of Chri s ti anity a grav e di sservi ce
.
.
,
-
.
,
,
.
,
It i s e s se n ti al th at t h e G e n er a l Co n ven ti o n o f th e E pi s co p a l
Ch u r ch r evi s e th e Can o n s s o as t o m a k e th i s k i n d o f p r o ce du r e
i m p o s si bl e , a n d i n d i c a t e t o th e Co u r t s th a t thi s de ci si o n i n th e
Me li sh Ca s e i s co n tr ar y to th e s p i r i t an d th e i n te n ti o n o f th e p r e s
e n t Can o n
.
It i s e s s e n ti a l th at ever y e ff o r t b e m a de t o h a ve t h e
’
Ci vi l Co u r t s r e ve r s e J u d ge S te i n b r i nk s d e ci s i o n
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