The Wartburg Watch 2024
Dissecting Christian Trends
The PCA Sent Me a Letter That Appeared to Be a Vague Legal Threat While Exhibiting None of the Fruits of the Spirit.
“Cold as ice, sharp as a blade, I am not to be trifled with.” link
Warning: the post linked below will be removed this weekend. Please get in touch with me with any questions.
In March 2021, I wrote The Abusive Responses of Dan Herron, Formerly of Hope Presbyterian Church, and the Central Indiana Presbytery In Addressing the Concerns of Abuse by Kara Million and Others. This story contained concerns about an inappropriate response pattern of a pastor, Don Herron, and the eventual response of the Presbytery, which seemed to find the concerns of the women unconvincing. The pastor took some time off from the pastorate to get counseling and to work for a laboratory company. I found the link to a CBE post by Kara Million to be deleted.
Today, almost four years later, I received the following email.
Here is the attached document.
January 28, 2025
To whom it may concern:
It has come to our attention that your media outlet has reported on the charges that were brought against Rev. Dan Herron, a minister in the Central Indiana Presbytery of the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA). We wanted to make you are aware that the Standing Judicial Commission of our denomination (our highest ecclesial court) tried the case against Rev. Herron, and ruled on March 2, 2023, that he is not guilty of all charges for which he was accused. Furthermore, Central Indiana Presbytery considers Rev. Herron a minister in good standing.
According to the Society of Professional Journalists Code of Ethics, the first two headings and overarching themes in this document include: “Seek Truth and Report It” and “Minimize Harm.” Along with these principles, a charge is included to “Acknowledge mistakes and correct them promptly and prominently.”
We would formally request that, if you have written any articles insinuating the guilt of Dan Herron, you would provide a commensurate public retraction of any erroneous report you may have published.
Thank you for your attention to this matter.
Central Indiana Presbytery
Here are some questions and thoughts that I have which are not addressed by this email
I am not a professional journalist, although I seek to honestly tell the stories of those who have been hurt or harmed within the church environment. I have to judge the truth, and I would never write anything that I believed to be untrue. I am not a media outlet. May I make a recommendation to Pastor O’Bannon, who appears to speak for the Standing Judicial Commission of the PCA? If the Presbytery wants to “make me do something,” try to figure out who I am before writing a form letter.
I am a fellow Christian (although not certified by any formal meeting of the Presbytery. .) Sometimes, it helps move the process along if the requester attempts to “be sweet.” After all, kindness is one of the fruits of the spirit (as found in Galatians.)
Why does the Central Indiana Presbytery “formally” request anything on behalf of Don Herron? Shouldn’t he ask me to do so, or does he get to hide behind the barrier erected by some dudes in the PCA? Why is this a “formal” request? Why not just politely ask me?
I did not “insinuate” what occurred. I read Herron’s missive and stated what it sounded like to me. I also believe Kara Million. Would the Presbytery outline what they want me to remove rather than being vague?
Are my thoughts no longer valid because the “Standing Judicial Commission of the PCA” has declared him “not guilty of all charges?” Am I to treat those declarations like the findings of a court of law in the US?
I don’t recognize the PCA Commission. I am Lutheran. Are all these folks on the Commission and Presbytery saying I should believe their findings because the Commission has spoken?
How in the world do I retract erroneous statements when I do not know which one of them is erroneous?
The PCA got my “attention.” It did not do so in a tone that struck me as Christian. Instead, it attempted to sound like some two-bit lawyer sending a cease-and-desist letter.
What I have since learned. The Presbytery could have told me instead of sending a vaguely threatening letter.
Since the PCA dudes couldn’t help me understand what was going on, I searched Google for updates since I wrote the post about five years ago.
Ministry Watch posted an “Understanding” between Kara Million and Don Herron. Dr. Million appears to have retracted some of her statements about what transpired, which sounded like a process to avoid a lawsuit.I don’t know how Ministry Watch got this document; it does not look like an official document. Then, I found that Dr. Million recently posted the following on Medium: The Scapegoat Speaks: An Open Letter to the Presbyterian Church in America. It does not appear that she was satisfied with the process.
I did not commit a crime by coming forward with my accusations.
In their verdict, the SJC suggests that my public accusations could be considered crimes in multiple states. This is completely false. According to my attorney, even if I had committed defamation (which I deny), defamation is only considered a crime under very specific circumstances, none of which apply to our case. Given that multiple members of the SJC have extensive legal backgrounds, I have a hard time believing that they would make such a public statement in total ignorance of its falsity. They should publicly apologize to me and correct their statement, but I know better than to hold my breath.
The PCA now has me interested in what happened.
It seems like a lot is going on behind the scenes. I was disappointed in the note from the Presbytery, which appeared to be a thinly veiled threat of legal action unless I “do something.” So here is what I plan to do. I will take down the post over the weekend. If readers have questions about that post, they may contact me.
In the meantime, I plan to investigate what happened to Dr. Million. I know this: I would not recommend the PCA to anyone looking for kindness, pastoral support, and care. The letter to me was cold and thoughtless. Dr Million is hurting. But Don Herron is back in business in the PCA, so the denomination won, or did it?
Comments
The PCA Sent Me a Letter That Appeared to Be a Vague Legal Threat While Exhibiting None of the Fruits of the Spirit. — 12 Comments
Yvonne on Fri Jan 31, 2025 at 09:16 PM said:
I spent over 10 years in a PCA ‘church’. I can attest to the coldness of leadership and lack of pastoral care. The people in attendance were mostly king and loving, however. Leadership was the issue.
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EW66 on Fri Jan 31, 2025 at 11:09 PM said:
I’ve been binging on Sons of Patriarchy and Bodies Behind the Bus podcasts. The common theme is the lack of the PCA presbytery board doing anything to defrock or deter abusive pastors. I don’t understand how this denomination works but I’m wondering if they’re sending out veiled threats to all of the podcasts exposing PCA abuse, too?
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Erp on Sat Feb 01, 2025 at 12:10 AM said:
I’m not sure how much voice women have in governance in the PCA beyond the local congregation. The local area sessions and the general assembly seems to consist of elders only who must be male. All communing members of a congregation do have the right to vote on calling a pastor (aka teaching elder) or electing congregational ruling elders (though the session can veto).
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Lowlandseer on Sat Feb 01, 2025 at 08:15 AM said:
I’m currently reading about the formation of the PCA as it celebrates its fiftieth birthday and only this morning completed the chapter on the history of the Standing Judicial Commission. You can read it in The Confessional Presbyterian, issue 19.
Of more interest, perhaps, is the PCA account of proceedings in this case taken from their archive. You can find it here –https://www.pcahistory.org/pca/sjc/cases/2022-10_PCA_v_Herron.pdf
If it in any way increases the risk of judicial action against TWW, please remove it, although threat of legal action goes against their beliefs as you will see from the body of the report!!
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Friendly neighbor on Sat Feb 01, 2025 at 08:41 AM said:
Honestly, this sounds less like a legal threat and more like a procedural effort to update or correct the public record with their findings. Sending out form letters requesting updates seems in line with that.
You can probably leave your old post up with an editor’s note at the bottom regarding the recent events and communication, much like newspapers will print updates or corrections at the bottom of an online copy of their story. I don’t see anything in their letter that would “require” more than that.
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Will Wright on Sat Feb 01, 2025 at 09:13 AM said:
I was a member of PCA churches for 20 years – multiple locations as I moved from place to place. One of those churches was in this Central Indiana Presbytery, but thankfully it was a while ago. There were some good and well-meaning people in the membership of all the PCA churches I attended. But after processing what I observed in the leadership at the church and denomination level over the years, I will not step foot in a PCA church again. Life is too short to spend time dealing with organizations such as this.
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Phil Snyder on Sat Feb 01, 2025 at 09:13 AM said:
I can say from personal experience that the kangaroo courts of the PCA are a joke. Fortunately, you do not have to take my word for it. I would like to remind everyone of the Christianity Today article titled “The Presbyterian Church in America Has an Abuse Crises Too” which states that the abuse victims suffered in the PCA courts was worse than the original abuse. In other words, the PCA courts are more than useless. https://www.christianitytoday.com/2023/06/presbyterian-church-in-america-abuse-response/
Finally, I have a question for everyone. Is the Herron case the one where the PCA gave the green light for pastors to sue their accusers?
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Ava Aaronson on Sat Feb 01, 2025 at 09:36 AM said:
Lowlandseer: the PCA account of proceedings in this case taken from their archive. Y Accounts like this indicate, “Stay away from this leadership, org, denom, and all involved.”
It’s really that simple. When they tell you who they are, [by their actions], believe them the first time. (Maya Angelou)
A myth in the US is that churches, LE, and the DOJ protect. All. Women, minorities, and minors know this is not always true. Protect yourself and your family.
Seek God first, church second.
Elie Wiesel’s “Night” recounts the town rabbi who got dragged away, put in a Camp, but escaped to go back and warn the town. The town, including Elie Wiesel’s Dad, the town leader, didn’t believe the rabbi. The Dad died in a Camp.
Matthew 10:23
“When they persecute you in one city [because of your faith in Me], flee to the next; for I assure you and most solemnly say to you, you will not finish going through all the cities of Israel before the Son of Man comes.”
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Ava Aaronson on Sat Feb 01, 2025 at 09:57 AM said:
Ava Aaronson: Accounts like this indicate, “Stay away from this leadership, org, denom, and all involved.”
Unless you are:
1) a Male who always wants and gets his way, especially of the “God says guys, only guys, and all guys rule” variety. “Women’s voices, say what?”
2) Males, only males, control the narrative, especially at church. (Yesterday there was a story about a nonReligious person saying publicly that a certain ME Religion had violent tendencies. Then a Middle Easterner of that religion protested by beating up the first guy. Duh. On point.)
3) a supporter of #1 and #2 above. And, yes, these My Way or the Highway guys definitely have their supporters.
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Joyce Rohe on Sat Feb 01, 2025 at 10:03 AM said:
Hi Dee! My situation you reported on a while back was also in the PCA and I was on Sons of Patriarchy this week. I will say that my understanding of the Herron case is that the SJC overturned his guilty verdict (at the Presbytery level) based on a technicality (and not because he was innocent). Advocacy from the Presbyterian Pew would be a good resource for you to contact for more information. The problem with the PCA is they end up arguing procedure and technicality rather than what Jesus would do. It’s a problem.
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Eric Bonetti on Sat Feb 01, 2025 at 11:05 AM said:
Good job, PCA! I’m republishing EVERYTHING!
Fellow bloggers, last one to publish is a rotten egg!
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Eric Bonetti on Sat Feb 01, 2025 at 11:08 AM said:
PS Falsely claiming that alleged defamation is crime was part and parcel of Liam Goligher’s efforts to shut down coverage of his antics.
I wonder if the state attorney disciplinary board is interested in these fabrications by the attorneys involved.
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