The Standing Judicial Commission (SJC) of the Presbyterian Church in America issued a Preliminary Verdict today in Case No. 2022-10, Presbyterian Church in America v. TE Daniel Herron. The case arose from Central Indiana Presbytery and presented allegations by some church members against their pastor regarding his Christian character.
The case’s lengthy history included an initial determination by Central Indiana Presbytery in 2020 that no strong presumption of guilt existed with respect to the allegations. That decision of Presbytery was complained against, and the SJC sustained a complaint against Presbytery’s actions in February 2021, without expressing any opinion on the merits of the case. Subsequently, Central Indiana investigated further, found a strong presumption of guilt, and issued an indictment in May 2022. Central Indiana then requested that the SJC accept a Reference to try the case.
The SJC accepted the Reference in June 2022. In October 2022, the SJC appointed a Panel of its members to conduct the trial of the case. The Panel convened in Indianapolis, Indiana for the convenience of the parties and conducted the trial over five (5) days. The Indictment included seven charges of violation of Biblical mandates and Constitutional provisions. The parties called 42 witnesses. The trial transcript is 1966 pages. The parties entered more than 600 documents, audio clips, and video files into evidence.
The Trial Panel, after hearing the testimony and evidence presented at trial, unanimously recommended that the full SJC find TE Herron “Not Guilty” on the seven charges. The SJC agreed that the Charges were not proved as required by provisions of the Book of Church Order. The Panel’s Preliminary Verdict was approved by the SJC by a vote of 22 to 0, with 1 recused and 1 absent.
The parties to the case now have 14 days to determine if they wish to file supplemental briefs to address errors the parties believe were made in the Preliminary Verdict of the SJC (see explanation below). If briefs are filed, the SJC will convene again to consider the brief(s) before rendering a Final Verdict. If there are no briefs filed, the SJC will meet again to finalize its Verdict.
The SJC’s written Preliminary Verdict is available at the following link. Its Final Verdict will be reported to the General Assembly in June 2023.
[SJC Preliminary Verdict explanation: Since there is no higher court of appeal of a Preliminary Verdict to which written briefs may be submitted, each party may submit a written supplemental brief in accordance with OMSJC 8.2. Unless the parties waive their rights to submit a written brief, no Final Verdict shall be made until the time periods specified in OMSJC 8.1 have expired. If briefs are filed, copies shall be sent to all members of the Commission as the case requires. Then the Chairman shall convene the Commission where further discussion of the case may take place. This meeting may be conducted by telephone conference call. After discussion, the vote shall be taken on each issue. After a decision has been reached, the decision shall be processed in accordance with OMSJC 17, and then becomes the Final Verdict.]