Trial Starts Tuesday
Posted on September 24th, 2005 in Church, Tom | 2 Comments »
Our trial is now scheduled to begin Tuesday, September 27. There really isn’t too much more information that I’m aware of, except for one major issue. Despite our request, the Session has apparently decided to close the trial. I have no idea why they’ve chosen to do this, but Sarah and I are rather concerned by their desire to keep the proceedings secret.
Please keep us in your prayers this Tuesday. We’ll be sure to keep you all posted.
2 Responses
Can they do that, (close the trial)? I mean, do they have BCO permoission to actually do so?
Apparently, yes. A pastor was on trial in our Presbytery, and he also requested that the trial be open, and was denied. Also, looking up whether they were allowed to do so, I found out that Machen’s trial was originally closed, but Machen’s protest caused the commission to change their mind.
“Dr. Machen was cited to appear before the Special Judicial Commission on February 14, 1935, from which sessions the public was to be barred. The first session of the trial was held in the First Presbyterian Church, Trenton, New Jersey, in the presence of a large audience composed mostly of Dr. Machen’s followers and a number of newspaper reporters. The protests of the defendant against a secret trial had compelled the commission to open the meetings of the trial to the public.”