You could learn a lot from a dummy

Yesterday I spent most of the day travelling back and forth between Pittsburgh and Camp Hill. At the Camp Hill Radisson the Synod of the Trinity was providing training for members of presbytery permanent judicial commissions.

The topic was "Sex, Lies, and Disciplinary Cases." Jay Lewis, the stated clerk of Pittsburgh Presbytery had organized a mock trial to help us think through a lot of issues concerning the Presbyterian judicial procedure and the conduct of a disciplinary trial.

The case was PCUSA v. Pastor Bobby. The accused was present in the form of a dummy with a Ronald Reagan mask. The other parts in the trial were played by ministers and elders from around the synod.

You can learn a lot from a dummy. One of the things I learned is that an accused who never takes the stand in his own defense can be acquitted if his counsel is a "sharp West Virginia dude."

File under : Pittsburgh Presbytery, Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), education, law