Conference cancels trial of Indiana pastor, drops charge May 18, 2005 By Daniel R. Gangler* INDIANAPOLIS
(UMNS)—An agreement among United Methodists in Southern Indiana has
averted a May 19 church trial for the clergyman charged with sexual
harassment. Indiana
United Methodist Bishop Michael J. Coyner announced May 18 that the
church trial of the Rev. Larry Martin of Jeffersonville has been
cancelled. Martin, who had been charged with sexual harassment—a
chargeable offense for ordained ministers—was to be tried May 19 at
Trinity United Methodist Church in New Albany, Ind.
In an
announcement to trial participants, Coyner said, “By mutual agreement of
the parties involved, the charge of sexual harassment against the Rev.
Larry Martin has been withdrawn by the South Indiana Conference of the
United Methodist Church. No church trial will be held. There are no
charges or complaints against Rev. Martin.”
Coyner also
said, “Part of our agreement is, as usual in these cases, not to
disclose the terms of the mutual agreement.” The agreement averting the
trial was reached May 17.
Martin was charged March 6 and
suspended from all pastoral duties at Wesley United Methodist Church in
Jeffersonville. Retired Bishop Joseph E. Pennel Jr. of Franklin, Tenn.,
had been tapped as presiding officer (judge) of the case against Martin,
and May 19 was set as the trial date. The
trial was part of a lengthy judicial process that began months ago when
the Rev. Michael Biggs, the church’s New Albany District
superintendent, first considered the complaint. Without
resolution, the complaint was heard next by then-Bishop Woodie W.
White, who forwarded it to the Board of Ordained Ministry of the South
Indiana Annual (regional) Conference. Sexual
harassment is described by the churchwide Commission on the Status and
Role of Women as “a continuum of behaviors that intimidate, demean,
humiliate or coerce.” The definition is also noted in the church’s
resolution “Sexual Abuse Within Ministerial Relationships,” which was
revised and readopted in 2004 for the Book of Resolutions. *Gangler is director of communications for the Indiana Area of the United Methodist Church. News media contact: Linda Green, (615) 742-5470 or newsdesk@umcom.org.
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