March 30, 2002
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Letters March 30, 2002 |
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Re: Article "Raising the stakes" by Alexa Smith, Presbyterian News Service, to which we linked yesterday To the editor: As Presbyweb for Good Friday announces, an unholy season of prosecution is upon us, with one individual having filed more than a dozen disciplinary cases around the country. I do not know Paul Rolf Jensen, nor do I have any information about his faithfulness as a member of a California church while residing in Virginia, but I do know he has caused a major problem.The Book of Order gives the stated clerk of each presbytery to which Mr. Jensen's prosecutorial zeal is directed no choice but to refer his accusations to an investigating committee of three to five members. Each such committee needs to be trained in the proper way to carry out its duties. Full due process rights must be accorded, and the presbytery must bear the cost of an attorney for the accused person if requested. This comes at a time when it is difficult to find people willing to serve at the presbytery level, and when some are withholding per capita funds which will might otherwise be used to pay the cost of these prosecutions. Presbyteries may be forced to reallocate mission dollars or draw down endowment. Someone needs to explain how this serves the church. Meanwhile, I hope those on the other side of the ordination battle do not respond by filing charges of their own, even though such charges may be richly merited. The practices called sin by our Confessions (G-6.0106b) are many. A complete listing may be found at http://home.earthlink.net/~valewis/sins.html. If I were interested in pursuing any such thing, which I am not, it seems that Mr. Jensen's conduct violates a number of the principles set forth in our Confessions. Frank B. Baldwin Stated Clerk, Presbytery of Philadelphia Send
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