Tony Arsenal

@CPresbyterian73 @PresbyParsnip What was the charge and when was it issued? When did process begin?

@PresbyParsnip It seems St Andrews was acting well within their rights to not allow members under process to leave.

Oh but “he doesn’t remember“ if he was or not. I could always give an emphatic no to that answer because it would never happen and if it did accidentally, I would report it to anyone and everyone.

@SoonerNScout @presbymemes They did. They approached the session and didn’t get a satisfactory resolution, then they left.

@presbymemes @ReformedArsenal I would have started attending another church. The fact the Nichols family continued going to the church where the alleged abuser was seems odd to me.

I'm not a huge fan of the Roys Report... but this is the police report that Adams filed... the officer's conclusion was that the main thing the Nichols did wrong was "look angrily" at Adams during church? That certainly seems worthy of excommunication to me...

Sometimes I think I'm the worst person in the world... then I read stuff like this.

Accusations are not evidence of wrong doing, but they do need to be taken seriously and investigated. It seems like some think that investigation itself is a form of punishment that assumes guilt, which is just strange to me.

@SouthLAConserv @nc_reformed @lynndavidf @StephenAdams26 See, here is the problem. An “unspecified” allegation is still an allegation. It seems the prudent thing to do would have been to direct the Nichols to file formal charges with the Presbytery.

@ReformedArsenal @nc_reformed @lynndavidf @StephenAdams26 They looked into it, but you can't clear someone of a charge that is never actually made. I'm just going off of the record here, but that's what makes it seem so insidious and effectively why Nichols was excommunicated: the insinuation kept being made without a formal accusation.

An important update from the SAC elders.

@SouthLAConserv @nc_reformed @lynndavidf @StephenAdams26 So they didn’t investigate and clear him?

@nc_reformed @lynndavidf @StephenAdams26 @ReformedArsenal That's not what they've said. They initiated actions out of an abundance of caution since a child was concerned. But from everything I've seen, no actual offense was ever offered by the Nichols. Just a general concern, conjured up by an outside counselor.

@StephenAdams26 @nc_reformed I don’t know you, and I don’t think I know Nichols. Help me understand. I thought SAC session investigated and cleared you. Did they not investigate?

If you read my original letter, the Nichols letter, and the SAC communications, you will see I am the one that brought concerns. Once that happened, the elders sought to hear from the Nichols. Through every single meeting, the body cam footage where a report was not made but a picture was requested, to this very day, there’s never been an actual charge. There is quite literally nothing to investigate. There is nothing to refer. Do you believe in presumption of innocence? Do you believe in probable cause? Do you believe a man is supposed to have his life torn apart simply because one person says another person said something, but you can’t speak to that other person and I have no evidence to offer. Is that the world you want to live in Christian man? This is me too all over again. This is a dozen other stories all over again. All ones that many of you rightly see for what they are. But you don’t know me and you think you know Steve Nichols so you fill your head with assumptions. I’m just a normal Christian, god-fearing man like all of you. Be grateful your family hasn’t been torn to shreds for no reason.

@nc_reformed @StephenAdams26 The court proceedings against Nichols should have been at the session level, but the basis of the charge was non-sensical. It would have been an easy appeal to Presbytery.

@StephenAdams26 @ReformedArsenal My point was the investigation, not just the court proceedings, should have fallen under the jurisdiction of the presbytery.

@nc_reformed @StephenAdams26 My understanding is that the charges against Nichols were grounded in him continuing to press the accusation once the session had concluded that there was no valid concern, but it doesn’t seem like they were the body who should have made that determination.

@ReformedArsenal @StephenAdams26 I hadn’t thought about that but I think this is right.

@StephenAdams26 No, you, the accusations against you. Nichols brought a concern and you were a TE in the PCA at the time. The body that held jurisdiction over you was the Presbytery.

@ReformedArsenal The session was the court of original jurisdiction. SN is not ordained, he and his wife were communicant members, therefore the local session has jurisdiction.

@JulesDiner This is where general equity is important. The moral principle is that people should be convicted on the basis of evidence, not merely accusation.

I’m gonna go out on a limb and guess that child molesters…in general…are disinclined to allow an audience, so the BCO requirement of “two witnesses” means there’s always the potential for your children to be at risk in the church.

@thisisfoster What a mess…

@1689Brandon The issue with truly independent churches is that a member who faces, or even with autonomous voluntary associations, is that there is no formal actual avenue of appeal or assistance. The option is often to either take the abuse or leave.

@1689Brandon I don't think that I would disagree with any of those points in principle...

This article has been in the works for quite some time now, but with all the craziness at SAC right now, it is even more timely than it was when I started it.

The Independent Pulpit And The Bound Conscience: Ecclesiology And The Necessity Of Appeal | The Heidelblog @RScottClark @heidelcast @heidelbergrefo1 @ReformedArsenal buff.ly/iPKTIM0

@Noahs_Arc_98 For one reason or another, Reformed thinkers tended to be on the cutting edge of emerging technologies (radio, then the internet/podcasting) and it has built a really dangerous celebrity culture.

I love my Reformed brothers & sisters, but why is the Reformed world always so full of drama and public conflict?

I'm seeing all sorts of posts that Pokemon Go was secretly harvesting location data... All us ingress players are like... um... yeah, that's the reason the game is free.