Hey fam, The Synod Clerk recently sent an update to the Presbytery Clerks on the work of the Synod Judicial Commission that has been assigned to Immanuel RPC in West Lafayette, Indiana. This is a situation that we have prayed about before as a congregation. If you don't recall, this involves instances of sexual abuse in the Church at West Lafayette, where allegations of misconduct on behalf of the leadership in handling the situation were brought to the Great Lakes Gult Presbytery. Several complains were sent from the Great Lakes Gulf Presbytery to Synod last year, which resulted in the forming of this Judicial Commission. For your information, a Judicial Commission has the ability to adjudicate charges with the full authority of the Church court that they represent and report back to (in this case, the Synod). In light of the seriousness of this situation, along with a desire to uphold the Presbyterian principle of transparency in Church courts, the Elders and I have decided to share the update with you. I have also received indications that this could become a media story in the coming weeks. I am sure that even if it evades national media coverage, that it will be discussed on social media. Being aware of a decent amount surrounding this situation, I want to assure you that the higher courts of the Church are doing the right thing, and I have full confidence that they will continue to do the right thing, whatever the outcome. Please keep all those effected in your prayers. The update is as follows: In the 2021 meeting of Synod, the court took over original jurisdiction for the matter pertaining to complaints associated with Immanuel Reformed Presbyterian Church (IRPC). The court directed the Synod’s Moderator to appoint a seven-man Commission to “address this matter.” The Synod Judicial Commission (SJC) was convened on July 8th and within three weeks had appointed four teaching elders to conduct a detailed investigation of the matter pertaining to IRPC. The appointment of investigators was aimed to preserve the impartiality of members of the SJC in the event of subsequent judicial process. There were extensive records from prior court, committee and commission actions and they received good cooperation from all the parties involved. In addition to review of records and recordings, the investigative team also conducted a series of in-person meetings with involved parties during two trips to the Lafayette area. It has required a substantial amount of time and hard work on the part of the investigative team. By the end of October, the investigative team submitted preliminary information to the SJC and responded to questions for clarification. On November 4th, the investigative team submitted their final report and on November 12th, they submitted final, detailed accusations against the elders of IRPC for review by the SJC. On November 15th, in convened session, the SJC voted to confirm that the accusations conformed to the requirements of the RPCNA Book of Discipline (BD) and approved them to be presented to the accused. The action of approving the accusations as conforming to the requirements in no way makes any ultimate determination regarding the case. The SJC is committed to ensuring the full measure of a disciplined judicial process and a full, fair, and impartial hearing of the witnesses and evidence from both prosecution and defense. The accusations received fall into the second category of three types of offenses permitted by our Book of Discipline (BD, E-3, I.1.6 and E-4, I.3.2) which is “disregard for or violation of the moral law.” The SJC received a detailed accusation against Mr. Jared Olivetti which alleges, in part, that he did not shepherd the flock of Jesus Christ appropriately. The full, detailed accusation was delivered to Mr. Olivetti in advance of a trial to be conducted in January 2022. The SJC received detailed accusations against the ruling elders of the 2020 session of Immanuel Reformed Presbyterian Church, including Mr. Zachary Blackwood, Mr. David Carr, Mr. Ben Larson, Mr. Keith Magill, and Mr. Nate Pfeiffer. The accusations allege, in part, that they did not shepherd the flock of Jesus Christ appropriately. The full, detailed accusations were delivered to the ruling elders in advance of a trial date to be conducted in January 2022. We remind all those reading this announcement that these are accusations only at this time. The burden of proof rests on the prosecution which will be conducted by those who brought the accusations to the SJC. Equal opportunity will be given for the defense of those accused at the time of trial. We encourage the fellowship of believers to join the SJC in diligent prayer for the Spirit to give light and wisdom in this judicial process. Please remember all of those who have been involved and are affected by these matters. The 2021 Synod Judicial Commission TE Mr. Bruce Backensto, SJC Convener, First RP Church, Beaver Falls, PA RE Dr. John Bower, Covenant RP Church, Aurora, OH TE Mr. Brian Coombs, Messiah’s Church, Clay, NY RE Mr. Tom Fisher, SJC Clerk, Cambridge RP Church, Cambridge, MA TE Mr. Kelly Moore, Tri-Lakes Reformed Church, Colorado Springs, CO RE Mr. Tom Pinson, Springs Reformed Church, Colorado Springs, CO RE Mr. Keith Wing, SJC Moderator, College Hill Reformed Church, Beaver Falls, PA