Jensen said he has filed heresy charges in Western North Carolina Presbytery against W. Robert “Rob” Martin III, who has been pastor of the Warren Wilson church in Swannanoa, N.C., and recently was called by First Church in Palo Alto, Calif., to be its pastor.
Jensen’s complaint against Martin involves Martin’s examination by San Jose Presbytery, which on April 5 considered his request to transfer his membership to that presbytery. According to an e-mail from Jensen announcing he’d filed the complaint, Jensen claims that Martin said during that examination “that he did not believe in the bodily resurrection and ascension into Heaven of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
Jensen, a lawyer who belongs to St. Andrews church, Newport Beach, Calif., but has been living in northern Virginia, was not present at the presbytery meeting on April 5, according to John Lococo, stated clerk of San Jose Presbytery. Lococo said Martin was questioned for about 10 minutes, which he said is typical for a transfer; a motion was made to arrest, or halt, his examination; after discussion, a motion was made to recall him for more examination, which failed; and the presbytery voted by secret ballot to approve his transfer, by a margin of about 2 to 1.
Lococo said he could not discuss the details of what Martin was asked, or the answers that he gave. “The presbytery considers Rob Martin to be a competent and devoted Christian and a member of the denomination in good standing, and certainly hopes he will be exonerated of these charges,” Lococo said.
Martin could not be reached for comment. Bill Taber, executive presbyter and stated clerk of Western North Carolina Presbytery, said, in an e-mail interview, that Martin is a member in good standing in his presbytery, and that he’s not allowed under the PC(USA) Constitution to publicly disclose if an allegation has been filed against a particular individual or to discuss the nature of any alleged offense.
Jensen’s filing of the heresy charges is not an unexpected strategy. For the past several years, some evangelicals have been clear that it’s their intention to aggressively question candidates for ordination or pastors seeking transfers, if they suspect that the person’s theology does not match what they consider acceptable Presbyterian views. At the Presbyterian Coalition’s national gathering in October 2000 in Indianapolis, for example, a workshop was held to discuss strategies for theological probing — by asking candidates such questions as “What other way is there to be saved than through Jesus Christ?”
Some have expressed reluctance to use such tactics. But others argue it’s the responsibility of faithful Presbyterians to make sure that what the denomination’s pastors are preaching and teaching matches what the confessions of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) actually say.
That strategy leads to other questions, however, because the PC(USA) — unlike some other denominations — historically has not been a denomination that’s been willing to lay out a detailed list of essential tenets to which people are required to subscribe. Jensen argues in his complaint that “a belief in the bodily resurrection of our Savior is central to compliance” with the PC(USA)’s ordination vows.
But in the 1910s and 1920s, Presbyterians fought fiercely over theology — including the question of whether five doctrines (among them, the inerrancy of Scripture, the virgin birth, and the literal bodily resurrection of Jesus) were considered “essential and necessary” in the Presbyterian church. Ultimately, after much discussion and voting and the creation of a special commission to consider the matter, the commission determined that allegiance to those particular beliefs should not be required.
There remain, however, deep disagreements in the PC(USA) over what constitutes solid and faithful doctrine — what should be accepted and what should not. And debate about what constitutes “heresy” and how much theological latitude will be tolerated certainly isn’t limited to the Presbyterian church.
Earlier this year, a United Methodist bishop from the Chicago area, C. Joseph Sprague, was cleared of heresy charges related in part to statements he made about Jesus’ resurrection in a speech and a book. Sprague had stated that the “myth” of the virgin birth was not historical fact, and that he did not believe that Jesus resurrection “involved the resuscitation of his physical body . . .”
A supervisory response team dismissed the charges against Sprague, but also asked him to release a public statement clarifying and reaffirming his adherence to the doctrinal standards of the United Methodist Church. The response team said its review showed “that Bishop Sprague knows Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, has faith in Christ’s saving and transforming power, and is obedient to Christ’s teachings.”
It also is not clear from Jensen’s complaint what Martin’s theology about Jesus’ resurrection actually is — something, presumably, that he may have a chance to explain in more detail to his presbytery as the investigation of Jensen’s complaint proceeds.
According to a statement from First church, Palo Alto, Jensen’s complaint likely will at least delay Martin’s move to California. Martin had been scheduled to start work there this summer, and his family has already sold their home in North Carolina.
San Jose Presbytery voted April 5 to accept Martin’s transfer and Western North Carolina voted on April 29 to approve the transfer, according to Jensen’s compliant. But the approval wasn’t to become effective until July 1, and if a complaint is filed during the interim, the transfer can’t be completed until the investigation of the complaint is completed, Jensen contends — so Martin can’t be installed in Palo Alto until the disciplinary complaint is resolved.
The Palo Alto congregation released a statement expressing dismay over Jensen’s actions.
“We regret that certain minority factions of the PC(USA) continue to sow division through their ongoing campaign of litigation against Presbyterians who don’t conform to certain 19th-century conceptions of orthodoxy,” Nan Swanson, the congregation’s interim senior pastor, said in the statement. “When dozens of PC(USA) churches are forced to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars and countless hours responding to legal action, the true work of the Church — feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, preaching the gospel — gets put on hold.”
But Jensen clearly thinks otherwise. He plans to attend the General Assembly meeting in Denver this month — and has made it clear that it’s his intent to persevere.
