Stories published in the Presbyterian Record in 2005 and subsequently about sexual assault charges against a Presbyterian minister played a key role in the church's eventual disciplinary proceedings in the matter, the church has been told.
Representatives from the Presbytery of East Toronto told fellow commissioners at the June General Assembly in St. Catharines, Ont., that other complainants read the stories and lodged formal complaints with the presbytery.
Donna Wells, a member of the presbytery's Sexual Harassment and Abuse Committee and a commissioner later said that: “The committee, to the person, believes the three articles published by the Record regarding Robert Fourney served the church well because they encouraged people who had complaints to come forward.”
Although criminal proceedings against Fourney were eventually dropped because the Crown chose not to call any evidence, other complainants told their story to the committee investigating the alleged crimes. The criminal case was the second one that had been brought against the former minister of Glenview, Toronto, and St. Andrew's, Windsor, Ont. The charges date back to the early 90s, when Fourney was in Windsor.
Both the committee and presbytery as a whole accepted the testimony of the complainants as substantially true and voted to depose Fourney from ordained ministry.
Fourney declined to appeal to the General Assembly to call a church court to hear the case. As a result, he was formally deposed.
In an interview with the Record, Fourney maintained his innocence, claiming that two of the three complaints were without substance. Of the third he said, “I didn't do anything inappropriate. I wouldn't do that today, but that was a long time ago and we didn't think in the same way we do today.”
Fourney further argued that the church's sexual harassment and abuse process was to blame for him being deposed. “According to this policy any elder or any leader could have a complaint brought against them. And if that happens it will be very difficult to prove your innocence. You can't argue, you can't defend yourself. I had pages and pages of defence.”
The Sexual Harassment and Abuse Committee of the Presbytery of East Toronto began its investigation in January this year. They met with Fourney and with the complainants. The committee pored through the testimony and evidence provided by concerned parties. Rev. Jim Biggs, clerk of presbytery, wrote in an email that the committee had “a lot of pain to deal with.”
Fourney, along with the complainants, was present at the meeting of the full court of presbytery, where the committee presented its own report, based upon its investigation. It recommended “that three complaints have been substantiated and that Robert Fourney be deposed as a minister of Word and Sacrament.” Fourney spoke to the court; as did the complainants.
Publishing the stories brought an overture from the Presbytery of Seaway-Glengarry that essentially wanted the Record to adopt a policy not to publish the names of people accused of crimes unless they are found guilty.
The Record's board replied: “We believe the church is well served by openness and transparency and poorly served by secretiveness.
“When people sense a conspiracy of silence, they are unlikely to trust the institution. The recent stories of sexual abuse being hidden by church officials in denominations across North America should serve as ample warning to the dangers of secrecy.”
Record editor David Harris said although publishing such stories causes anguish, in the long run, the magazine believes the stories will help both church and society. “Both the magazine and the church would take severe hits to their credibility and integrity if we didn't publish stories of this sort,” he said.
“The magazine's editorial independence from the church and the board would be seen as meaningless. As for the church, if we don't tell bad stories when they happen, who will? Sometimes telling bad stories is part of telling the Good News: they help the institution deal with evil and avoid or at least minimize the chance of recurrence.”
One of the victims made a similar comment to the Record, saying the decision to speak to presbytery was difficult but he felt it important “to make sure Fourney was not in a position to hurt anyone else.”
Harris admitted the decision to publish these stories was controversial and cost the magazine several hundred subscriptions. “Messengers are always targets,” he said. The Record previously lost several thousand subscriptions for publishing news stories about a presbytery investigating the issue of gay marriage.
Click here to read The Record's response to the Seaway Glengarry overture to General Assembly.
