Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, July 16, 1990 TAG: 9007160261
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A-3 EDITION: EVENING
SOURCE: CODY LOWE RELIGION WRITER
DATELINE: FINCASTLE LENGTH: Medium
The announcement comes 14 months after Goldsmith was arrested in a demonstration in support of miners striking the Pittston Coal Group.
The congregation was divided in its reaction to the arrest. Goldsmith was asked to explain his actions to the church's governing board, the vestry, the day after the arrest in May 1989.
Some church members complained at the time that by being identified with St. Mark's, Goldsmith's action may have implied that he was representing the will of the congregation. Goldsmith said he was acting as an individual and a priest, not as a representative of his parish, when he was arrested for blocking a coal truck. The charge was never prosecuted.
The controversy around Goldsmith's action carried over into the following week when an invitation to be the speaker at the Lord Botetourt High School baccalaureate service was rescinded by the school's principal.
Parishioners' conflicts with the rector continued during the next year, eventually resulting in a letter to the editor of the Fincastle newspaper in which more than a dozen members complained that the friction between priest and congregation had become intolerable.
Diocesan Bishop A. Heath Light participated in parish meetings to try to resolve the differences, but eventually he reportedly advised Goldsmith to seek another job in the church and resign the Fincastle pulpit.
Sometimes apparently struggling to hold back tears, Goldsmith told the congregation Sunday that he wanted to "underscore how much I love you and am grateful to you" for his five years in the parish.
He said his last Sunday with them would be Aug. 5, but that he would be participating in the town's community Bible school through Aug. 9. He will take some leave time after that until the official date of his resignation, according to junior warden Drew Hodges.
Hodges was chairman of the meeting last Thursday at which Goldsmith announced his resignation, which the vestry accepted.
Goldsmith invited the congregation to an open house at his home July 28 so that his family could "share our thanks with you."
He said he has had several job offers but has not yet made a decision which one to accept.
The only comment on the announcement during the service came from member Lomax Breckinridge, who quoted at length from a Billy Graham newspaper column in which the evangelist admonished a member of a divided church to love his fellow members, be faithful, and remember that God has used disagreement to take the Gospel to new areas.
Breckinridge then decried the public nature of the controversy at St. Mark's. He said he believed a "vocal minority" was the cause of the trouble and that a "silent majority" still supported Goldsmith.
Breckinridge's remarks received a standing ovation from a large segment of those attending.
Again fighting tears, Goldsmith urged members of the congregation "to find a way to be together" and "to walk in love" as they prepared to partake of a "sacrament of our unity" in the Eucharist.
by CNB