November 25, 2002
by Leslie Scanlon
The Presbyterian Outlook

Two members of Baltimore Presbytery's Permanent Judicial Commission designated to review an investigating committee's report say no disciplinary charges should be filed against Donald E. Stroud, a gay Presbyterian minister who is on the staff of That All May Freely Serve.

The commission members' letter to the presbytery, which will meet on Nov. 21, was made public Thursday by Charles P. Forbes, the presbytery's stated clerk.

The permanent judicial commission members were asked to review an investigating committee's decision not to bring charges against Stroud and the letter is its response. Following their investigation and review of the facts in the case, PJC members Mary D. Gaut and Thomas B. Eastman say, "We find no reason to sustain the petition and concur in the decision of the investigating committee that no charges be filed."

Their official letter, as per PC(USA) judicial process, does not contain either Stroud's name or that of the person who has complained about his behavior, Virginia attorney Paul Rolf Jensen. Both Stroud and Jensen, however, have publicly announced their roles in the dispute.

Jensen made complaints to numerous presbyteries across the denomination, mostly against self-avowed homosexual officers, or sessions which have made statements that they will not enforce Book of Order G-6.0106b, the section that states that ordained church officers should live either in fidelity within the covenant of heterosexual marriage or in chastity in singleness.

A presbytery is required to investigate any complaint filed within its jurisdiction. The investigating committee decides whether to file formal charges with the presbytery's permanent judicial commission.

The complaint against Stroud, who was a commissioner to the 213th General Assembly and stated his sexuality on the floor of the Assembly, was made by Jensen in September 2001. The presbytery's investigating committee reviewed he complaint and reported last June that it was not filing charges against Stroud. Jensen then petitioned the presbytery's Permanent Judicial Commission to review the investigating committee's findings.

About the same time, Stroud announced publicly that, as a matter of faith and conscience, he cannot comply with the "fidelity and chastity" provision of the church's Constitution.

In a related matter, the Mid-Atlantic Synod is creating an administrative review committee to examine the Baltimore Presbytery's actions regarding Stroud, in response to two letters sent to the synod's stated clerk . The synod council is expected to select the members of that review committee when it meets Friday and the committee should begin its work by early December.

PCUSA News Service