wfn.org | UMNS# 197-Indiana pastor will undergo church trial May 19

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Indiana pastor will undergo church trial May 19

Apr. 5, 2005

By Daniel R. Gangler*

INDIANAPOLIS (UMNS)-A United Methodist clergyman in Indiana faces a
church trial as a result of an investigative committee's decision.

The Rev. Larry Martin, pastor of Wesley United Methodist Church,
Jeffersonville, Ind. has been charged with "immorality and sexual
harassment," chargeable offenses for ordained ministers.

Indiana Area Bishop Michael J. Coyner announced in mid-March that
Martin's clergy trial has been set for May 19-21 at Trinity United
Methodist Church in New Albany, Ind.

Martin was ordained an elder in the United Methodist Louisiana
Conference in 1991. He served churches in Louisiana before transferring
to the South Indiana Conference in October 1997. At that time, he was
appointed to serve Wesley United Methodist Church in Jeffersonville. He
was suspended from the Wesley church in March because he'd been charged
with immorality and sexual harassment.

According to the 2004 Book of Discipline, immorality includes but is not
limited to "not being celibate in singleness or not faithful in a
heterosexual marriage."  Sexual harassment is described by the
churchwide Commission on the Status and Role of Women as "a continuum of
behaviors that intimidate, demean, humiliate or coerce. "The definition
is also noted in the church's resolution "Sexual Abuse Within
Ministerial Relationships," which was revised and readopted in 2004 for
the Book of Resolutions.

The Rev. C. Michael Biggs, New Albany District superintendent, told the
Wesley congregation on March 6 that Martin, their pastor, had been
suspended because of the charges brought against him.

"The serious nature of the charges requires that we proceed (to trial)
with sensitivity and care," he said. "The Bishop and the Cabinet's
prayers are that truth will be made known to us in whom the Church has
placed the awesome responsibility of oversight and care of pastors and
parishoners. Please join us in praying that truth will be revealed,
accountability rendered, and that hurting hearts and spirits will know
healing."

Retired Bishop Joe E. Pennel Jr., of Franklin, Tenn., has been chosen to
preside over the trial.

The South Indiana Conference Board of Ordained Ministry voted to suspend
Martin upon recommendation of the cabinet after the two charges against
Martin were forwarded by the conference's committee on investigation.
The committee's decision followed hearings that it conducted into the
complaints against Martin.

Then-Bishop Woodie W. White referred the complaints to the South Indiana
Conference Committee on Investigation in August 2004 after efforts in
the supervisory response phase failed to achieve reconciliation.

"We are not going to make any public statements," Mark Dicken, counsel
for Martin, told United Methodist News Service. "We look forward to the
trial. We will be requesting an open trial."

In a United Methodist church trial, an individual responds to a charge
or charges of having violated denominational law as set forth in the
church's Book of Discipline. A trial is described as a "last resort" in
the Book of Discipline. When a complaint is filed against someone, the
matter is first addressed in a supervisory process and usually resolved.
If resolution doesn't occur, the complaint may be forwarded to the
conference committee on investigation, which conducts hearings and
decides whether grounds exist for converting the complaint to a charge
for trial.

A jury or "trial court" of 13 clergy members from the respondent's
annual conference-the South Indiana Conference-will hear the case. Nine
votes are necessary to convict. If convicted, the respondent has 30 days
to appeal the conviction giving written grounds of the appeal.

According to the Book of Discipline, the deliberations of the trial
court (such as the selection of the jury) are closed. Other parts of the
trial are also closed, unless the respondent requests an open trial in
writing to the presiding bishop by counsel. Then, parts of the trial are
open to the public.

*Gangler is the director of communications for the Indiana Area of the
United Methodist Church.

News media contact: Linda Green, (615) 742-5470 or newsdesk@umcom.org.

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United Methodist News Service
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