Overture 04

On Amending D-10.0102, Accusation of Another—From the Presbytery of Santa Fe.

The Presbytery of Santa Fe overtures the 217th General Assembly (2006) to direct the Stated Clerk to send the following proposed amendment to the presbyteries for their affirmative or negative vote:

Shall D-10.0102 be amended as follows: [Text to be deleted is shown with a strike-through; text to be added or inserted is shown in italics.]

“The written statement may be submitted by

“a. a person under jurisdiction of a governing body of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), who alleges having been personally harmed by an alleged offense, making an accusation against another;

“b. a member of a governing body receiving information from any source about a member under jurisdiction of that same governing body who may have committed an offense that the member receiving the information thinks that an offense may have occurred which should be investigated for the purpose of discipline; or

“c. a person under jurisdiction of a governing body of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) coming forward in self-accusation.”

Rationale

Under the current Book of Order, any Presbyterian wherever located may accuse any other Presbyterian of committing an offense as defined in D-2.0203b. If the accusation is in writing and submitted according to D-10.0101*, the accusation automatically requires the appointment of an investigating committee by the presbytery or session receiving the accusation and makes other requirements of them (D-10.0103 and following).

This procedure can be abused if any single Presbyterian chooses to accuse numerous other Presbyterians of offenses. This has happened in recent years, resulting in much unnecessary judicial action costing both the church and individuals time and money.

At present, no appropriate limits are in place to control those who can make accusations against individuals in disciplinary matters although such limits do exist in remedial cases that involve governing bodies.

The proposed overture seeks to correct this problem while protecting the right of any individual who has been personally harmed to seek church discipline. If the person who claims personal harm is Presbyterian, he or she has direct access under subsection “a.” If the person is not Presbyterian, any member of the proper governing body may act on that person’s behalf under subsection “b,” but is not automatically required to do so.

In addition, any member of the proper governing body continues to be able to submit a written statement from any source that an offence may have occurred without regard to whether any personal harm occurred.

This proposed overture arose out of necessity to protect our church’s disciplinary system from abuse while continuing to provide access to those seeking justice through our church.

Note:

* Section D-10.0101, immediately preceding the section to be amended provides additional details about the written statement: “Procedure preliminary to a disciplinary case is initiated by submitting to the clerk of session or the stated clerk of the presbytery having jurisdiction over the member (D-3.0101) a written statement of an alleged offense, together with any supporting information. The statement shall give a clear narrative and allege facts that, if proven true, would likely result in disciplinary action. Such allegations shall be referred to an investigating committee. (D 10.0201)