wfn.org | [PCUSANEWS] Presbytery declines to file charges; Martin

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Note #8021 from PCUSA NEWS to PRESBYNEWS:

Presbytery declines to file charges
03504
November 21, 2003

Presbytery declines to file charges; Martin installed at First, Palo Alto

by John Sniffen
The Presbyterian Outlook
Reprinted with permission

RICHMOND, VA - No longer facing the prospect of a hearing on charges of
heresy and violating his ordination vows, the Rev. W. Robert "Rob" Martin III
was installed in September as pastor of First Presbyterian Church of Palo
Alto, CA.

	An investigating committee of Western North Carolina (WNC) Presbytery
declined to bring charges against Martin, whose move to California was put on
hold over the summer while the heresy complaint - made by attorney Paul Rolf
Jensen - were investigated. In the middle of the process, Martin asked the
presbytery for vindication.

	While the investigating committee found no basis for bringing charges
against Martin, neither did it completely vindicate him. In fact, the
committee found a bit of blame for all concerned, including the Presbyterian
news media.

	By the time the presbytery received the report on the vindication
request on Oct. 25, Martin had already been installed as pastor of the Palo
Alto church. The investigating committee told WNC Executive Presbyter Bill
Taber in September that it would not be recommending charges against Martin,
and he signed the transfer which had been approved earlier by the presbytery.

	In his first remarks to the Palo Alto congregation in late September,
Martin said, "If the radical right in our denomination today thought that
their accusations would reel me in somehow, then they are deeply mistaken -
for their actions have made me even more radical in working for a church
where God's unconditional love is not defended but displayed, where it is not
litigated but lived out, where it is not condemned but conveyed to all who
desperately need to hear about grace and good news."

	In its report, the WNC investigating committee noted that "Mr.
Martin's sometimes intemperate language in sermons errs by including
derogatory comments that do not further the peace, unity and purity of the
church."

	Jensen has filed an appeal of the investigating committee report with
the presbytery's permanent judicial commission, according to Taber.

	Jensen's complaint involved Martin's April 5 examination by San Jose
Presbytery. Jensen claimed that during that examination Martin said "that he
did not believe in the bodily resurrection and ascension into Heaven of our
Lord Jesus Christ."

	After interviewing numerous participants in the April 5 meeting, the
investigating committee said that the Rev. David Rodriguez, a member of the
presbytery, asked Martin about his belief in the resurrection and ascension
of Jesus Christ. "Martin testified (to the investigating committee) that he
heard the question as, 'Do you believe in the literal, physical, bodily
resurrection and ascension of Jesus Christ?'"

	Martin's first response to the presbytery was, "No, but " and he
then attempted to explain himself. "There was a significant amount of
distracting talk among persons present, and inattention to Mr. Martin's
further statements," reported the committee. "There is very little agreement
by some witnesses as to what he said at all. Much uncertainty exists as to
exactly what question was asked and what answer Mr. Martin gave."

	The investigating committee reported that Martin, under oath, told
them that "he believes in the bodily resurrection and ascension of Jesus
Christ. He especially connects the resurrection with the church, and our
experience of the resurrection with Christ as members of his body."

	The committee concluded that "the allegation of heresy in the
complaint cannot be reasonably proved, nor is there probable cause to believe
that the offense charged was committed."

	It also said that four other charges that Martin violated his
ordination vows "could not reasonably be proved."

	The committee's response to Martin's request for vindication
continued in the same vein. It agreed that Jensen's charges could not be
sustained, but said Martin was somewhat responsible for the situation.

	"The committee finds that Mr. Martin contributed to the controversy
by failing to articulate clearly his understanding of an important Christian
doctrine. Complete vindication of Mr. Martin is not possible His public
statements on the resurrection of Jesus Christ could an should have reflected
the full witness of Scripture and the confessions. They do not, however,
place him outside of the Reformed tradition and he cannot properly be called
a heretic."

	In its concluding remarks the committee said all Presbyterians should
heed the admonition of Book of Order D-1.0102:

	The power that Jesus Christ has vested in his church, a power
manifested in the exercise of church discipline, is one for building up the
body of Christ, not for destroying it. For redeeming, not for punishing. It
should be exercised as	dispensation of mercy and not of wrath so that the
Great Ends of the Church may be achieved, that all children of God may be
presented faultless in the day of Christ."

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