By its very nature, any heresy trial is an extremely painful process for all persons involved and for the whole Presbyterian family. But if an accusation of heresy is very cleverly timed, it can be made utterly devastating, not only for the accused and his family, but for two Presbyterian congregations and their respective presbyteries.
Consider the timing of the case. On May 11, the congregation of Warren Wilson church voted, with many tears, to concur in our pastor’s request to dissolve the pastoral relationship between us, in order that he might accept the call from First church, Palo Alto, Calif. On May 12 (!), Jensen filed his complaint with Bill Taber, executive presbyter of Western North Carolina Presbytery. In an accompanying letter, Jensen took pains to point out to Taber that the Book of Order (D-10.0105) prohibits a presbytery from transferring a minister’s membership “while an enquiry or charges are pending.”
In its report on these matters, the Presbyterian Layman Online commented that “the complaint could keep Martin’s career in limbo until the issue is resolved.” Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary begins its definition of “limbo” as follows: “In some Christian theologies, a region bordering on Hell ….” As a Reformed theologian I personally reject the doctrine of limbo as heretical, but I must say Webster’s definition describes our pastor’s situation remarkably well.
Rob and his wife Doreen have two children, Calli and Bobby; super kids. Calli was expecting to go off to college in the fall and Bobby is still in high school. The Martins had already sold their home and made all the preparations for the big move to California when the bombshell of this accusation blew up in their faces. Now they are “in limbo” until the issue is resolved.
Mark well that no court of the church has convicted Rob Martin of any wrong-doing or irregularity whatsoever. The Martins are in this near-hellish limbo solely because a person in another state, one who has not first-hand personal experience of Rob Martin, has chosen to file this hearsay complaint against him. And timing is everything, as this case makes clear.
Choose the time of your target’s maximum vulnerability. Make your accusation when it will inflict maximum distress on the pastor, his family and two Presbyterian congregations. This will enable you to punish your target in a comprehensive and devastating way before his case ever comes to trial or a word in his defense can be spoken. How like the tactics of the late Senator Joseph McCarthy, or of the former Soviet KGB, or of the Taliban in Afghanistan! And how utterly alien to the Spirit of Jesus Christ our Lord!
The Constitution of the United States of America provides that no person “shall be deprived of life, liberty or property without due process of law.” By no stretch of the legal imagination can a bare accusation be described as “due process of law,” even when it has been legally filed. This cleverly timed accusation against Rob Martin has not deprived him of his life, but it has deprived him of his livelihood for an indefinite period of time. It has not deprived him of liberty, but is has deprived him of the freedom to practice his profession. It has not deprived him of property, but it has deprived him of a home.
The rank injustice of this oh-so-cleverly timed accusation cries out to Heaven. Have we Presbyterians plunged so deeply into partisan politics that our behavior sinks below the level of common human decency? God forbid! In the words of the Apostle Paul, “For the whole law is summed up in a single commandment. ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ If, however, you bite and devour one another, take care that you are not consumed by one another” (Galatians 5:14, 15). And let the people say, Amen.
James A. Wharton is an honorably retired minister member of Grace Presbytery.
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