AFTER THE `TEMPEST', COMES THE WESLEY INQUIRY

Robed in white and speaking beneath the high vaulted ceiling of Wesley
Chapel, Reverend Peter Gador-Whyte said he was preaching on Trinity
Sunday, the week after the "tempest of Pentecost". It was, he hinted,
an apt description of the "turmoil" that has hit the century-old church.

Speaking just metres from the $500,000 heroin injecting room that
sparked the crisis, he indicated that the storm over salaries and
secrecy that has engulfed Wesley Central Mission, prompting
intervention by the Uniting Church, had damaged the church and ran the
risk of destroying "wholesomeness".

As some 70 worshippers and a bust of Methodism's founder, John Wesley,
looked on yesterday morning, he said talk of "scandal",
"disappointment", "judging" and "withdrawing support", had "the
potential to destroy what is wholesome within us".

"But it can also strengthen us," Mr Gador-Whyte said, adding, "the way
we understand this crisis is essential to our belief."

Church officials yesterday announced the terms of reference for an
investigation into the mission following revelations that its
superintendent, Reverend Tim Langley, is on a package of $160,000 a
year, and had agreed to pay his managing director, Judy Leitch,
$178,000 a year. The committee will also probe costs and
"decision-making and reporting processes" associated with the
injecting room.

Mr Langley and Ms Leitch, who have refused to speak to The Age,have
been criticised - not so much for trying to open the room - but for
the "secrecy" surrounding their handling of it.

A senior Wesley board member, Dr Neil Williams, who attended the
service yesterday, has expressed disquiet about the high pay deals,
and threatened to halt donations to the mission if Mr Langley went
ahead and paid Ms Leitch more than $135,000.

The secretary of the church elders, Mr Neil Champion, who was also at
the service, says the mission board acted contrary to church law in
giving the go-ahead to the injecting room without first getting
approval of the ruling church council and its congregation. "The past
week has divided us," he said, citing the "accusation and
counter-accusation" as private divisions had become public.

Mr Gador-Whyte, who has disagreed with Mr Langley over the handling of
the injecting room bid, called for prayers for Mr Leitch, mission
staff, and other church figures.

Mr Langley is about to take leave. Attempts to cut his salary back to
the church norm of around $40,000 are on hold, possibly until the
investigation reports on September1.

Former Uniting Church moderator Reverend Alan Crawford, who has taken
over chairing the Wesley board from Mr Langley, said yesterday the
board was concerned about matters raised in the media.

"Currently, media reports of the mission's activities have raised
concerns," he said. He said board members welcomed the review into
accountability, management and remuneration issues, and would
cooperate fully.

"Governance of the mission has become increasingly challenging," he
said, "especially as it struggles, along with the wider community, to
find an appropriate response to the increase in injecting drug use in
the city. Ways of addressing such issues are not always safe and
comfortable. They require a good amount of Christian courage."

Mr Crawford said he knew of "quite reasonable explanations" for some
concerns.

"But in a few more days I'm sure I will better understand the complex
issues in play," he said.

Mr Champion, who is also on the Wesley church council, said he thought
the review committee had the depth and experience to tackle the
issues. But he was worried that, because it was more forward-looking
than retrospective, it might not grapple with key issues of Mr
Langley's more than two years as superintendent.

"It needs to look back in order to be able to understand what went
wrong, and then move forward," he said. He said he had made a
submission to Uniting Church moderator Pam Kerr, urging past
arrangements be high on the review agenda, but it had arrived too
late, and was not considered. He also feared that because the review
team was voluntary, they may not have the funding to fully explore all
issues regarding Wesley management.

In a letter to board members before Tuesday's meeting, Mr Champion
described the crisis as a "scandal". "The scandal is about the board,
through its non-accountable executive, subverting the settlement
process, and paying in any case an exorbitant salary with conditions
on top. The scandal is about the exorbitant salary of the managing
director, and the probable conflict of interest over the way it was
negotiated. The scandal is that the board has failed to haul in these
excesses immediately it was found out."