The Session falsely represented their brother, and the NWGP condoned this sin…
We have already seen numerous other errors the Northwest Georgia Presbytery made because it was either incapable or unwilling to open its eyes to the errors and injustices perpetrated by the Midway Session.
Here is one final error that the SJC Panel identified. The SJC Panel decision said:
A 15th specification of Presbytery error, Appellant alleges that Presbytery erred by condoning the indictment’s assigned motive to RE Dudt’s July 12, 2020, email to the congregation. This specification of error is sustained.
A Minute Explanatory. See Minute for the 6th specification of Session error.
The Minutes for the 6th specification of Session error said: Appellant’s purpose in the letter is clearly stated: “I am asking the congregation to support a substitute motion to postpone this meeting until January 2021 to allow the congregation reasonable time to prayerfully consider the church’s needs, the men’s qualifications, the establishment of a pulpit committee, and the subsidence of the global pandemic to allow for a greater congregational participation.” [ROC 19]. This purpose is misstated in the Session’s indictment: “ in order to defeat their recommendation at the forthcoming . . . congregational meeting.” The Session clearly erred in the judgment made about the content of the email. The ROC does not sustain the claim that Session showed that RE Dudt’s email to the congregation constituted an offense as defined by BCO 29-1.
CONCLUSION
It should be clear, after 21 errors committed by the Midway Session and the Northwest Georgia Presbytery in the indictment, prosecution, conviction, and appeal of RE Dudt, that there was a distinct lack of Biblical justice, love, or wisdom carried through the process.
It would be wrong, however, to say that no great care was taken.
The incredible quantity of errors shows that much care was indeed taken at both lower courts to wrongly convict a man and ensure that his appeal, and therefore his return to his office, were delayed as long as possible.