[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
ment found the dog there.
She said she exited the building through the
garage door, but the security guard on duty said that no
one exited on foot through the garage in the half hour
within which this would have happened. She testified
that she did not see either Mrs. Kelly’s body or people
rushing to it as she walked to her car, yet she would
have passed within eight car lengths of the body and
the growing commotion surrounding it.
Delmar Doucette, one of Clayton Ruby’s law partners, went to the
Supreme Court of Canada to get permission to launch an appeal. The
Crown argued that Kelly had no right of appeal to the Supreme Court
of Canada. The judges refused to grant leave to appeal on a 4–1 ruling.
In this case, the situation is that Kelly has no right of appeal to the high-
est court in the land, but if Kelly had won his case before the Ontario
appeal court, the Crown would have had the right to appeal. Doucette
asked Justice Minister Martin Cauchon to fix what Doucette calls an
unfair situation.
Meanwhile, Kelly is out on parole, still proclaiming his innocence.
His lawyers applied for special consideration under Section 745 of the
Criminal Code of Canada, the so-called “faint hope” clause that brings
a bit of compassion to the law. Patrick Kelly is living in a halfway house
now, trying to adjust to a world he left twenty years ago.
153
Getting What You Deserve
Barry Robinson was summarily thrown out of his world — a world that
preached peace, love, and justice, but practiced harsh judgment, char-
acter assassination, and rule by bureaucracy.
Barry Robinson had been a United Church minister for twenty-
eight years. It was a profession, a calling, he had always known was right
for him. Both he and his loving wife and preaching partner, Susan, had
watched over and cared for several congregations in their careers.
None would be as challenging as the congregation at Wilmar
Heights United Church in Scarborough, on the eastern side of
Toronto. In accepting this ministry, Robinson knew the congregation
had problems — conflicts between a handful of influential members
who were accustomed to getting their own way, and the rest of the
members. He accepted the challenge.
He had been invited to bring a fresh, proactive, and participatory
kind of Christianity to Wilmar Heights, far beyond the proverbial com-
fortable pew. And he did. Or at least he tried. The vast majority of the
congregation loved it. A much smaller group, led by the Troublesome
Handful, set out to get rid of the Robinsons.
They found fault in everything he did. He was observed to have
odd habits. He occasionally didn’t make eye contact in conversation.
He once sat with his head down in church, as if listening to what was
going on, or perhaps, dare I say it, even praying. There was an argu-
ment over where altar furniture was to be placed. And, oh yes, he
couldn’t get along with the organist, or the organist couldn’t get along
with him, and didn’t like Robinson’s choice of hymns, to boot.
It was a festival of trivialities. But after awhile it gained its own goofy
momentum. It was disrupting the business of the congregation. It was
getting out of hand. The stories grew wilder and wilder. They assumed a
life of their own. Finally, to put an end to this whisper campaign, to
deflate the hate-mongering, Robinson agreed to a church dispute-set-
tling mechanism known as a Final Hearing Panel. If that sounds a bit like
Judgment Day, the comparison is inaccurate. The Final Hearing Panel
was much tougher. Everybody had a lawyer — the Panel, the
Troublesome Handful, and Barry Robinson was advised to get one, too.
The FHP had three responsibilities: to consider the effectiveness of
Reverend Barry Robinson as Minister of Wilmar Heights, to consider
154
Striking Out
the state of the Wilmar Heights pastoral charge (the warring church
members), and to consider the oversight of the Toronto–Scarborough
presbytery in respect of Reverend Barry Robinson.
The FHP got right to its task. It fired Barry Robinson and ordered
him to vacate the manse as soon as possible — or in the pseudo-pious [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
zanotowane.pl doc.pisz.pl pdf.pisz.pl fopke.keep.pl
ment found the dog there.
She said she exited the building through the
garage door, but the security guard on duty said that no
one exited on foot through the garage in the half hour
within which this would have happened. She testified
that she did not see either Mrs. Kelly’s body or people
rushing to it as she walked to her car, yet she would
have passed within eight car lengths of the body and
the growing commotion surrounding it.
Delmar Doucette, one of Clayton Ruby’s law partners, went to the
Supreme Court of Canada to get permission to launch an appeal. The
Crown argued that Kelly had no right of appeal to the Supreme Court
of Canada. The judges refused to grant leave to appeal on a 4–1 ruling.
In this case, the situation is that Kelly has no right of appeal to the high-
est court in the land, but if Kelly had won his case before the Ontario
appeal court, the Crown would have had the right to appeal. Doucette
asked Justice Minister Martin Cauchon to fix what Doucette calls an
unfair situation.
Meanwhile, Kelly is out on parole, still proclaiming his innocence.
His lawyers applied for special consideration under Section 745 of the
Criminal Code of Canada, the so-called “faint hope” clause that brings
a bit of compassion to the law. Patrick Kelly is living in a halfway house
now, trying to adjust to a world he left twenty years ago.
153
Getting What You Deserve
Barry Robinson was summarily thrown out of his world — a world that
preached peace, love, and justice, but practiced harsh judgment, char-
acter assassination, and rule by bureaucracy.
Barry Robinson had been a United Church minister for twenty-
eight years. It was a profession, a calling, he had always known was right
for him. Both he and his loving wife and preaching partner, Susan, had
watched over and cared for several congregations in their careers.
None would be as challenging as the congregation at Wilmar
Heights United Church in Scarborough, on the eastern side of
Toronto. In accepting this ministry, Robinson knew the congregation
had problems — conflicts between a handful of influential members
who were accustomed to getting their own way, and the rest of the
members. He accepted the challenge.
He had been invited to bring a fresh, proactive, and participatory
kind of Christianity to Wilmar Heights, far beyond the proverbial com-
fortable pew. And he did. Or at least he tried. The vast majority of the
congregation loved it. A much smaller group, led by the Troublesome
Handful, set out to get rid of the Robinsons.
They found fault in everything he did. He was observed to have
odd habits. He occasionally didn’t make eye contact in conversation.
He once sat with his head down in church, as if listening to what was
going on, or perhaps, dare I say it, even praying. There was an argu-
ment over where altar furniture was to be placed. And, oh yes, he
couldn’t get along with the organist, or the organist couldn’t get along
with him, and didn’t like Robinson’s choice of hymns, to boot.
It was a festival of trivialities. But after awhile it gained its own goofy
momentum. It was disrupting the business of the congregation. It was
getting out of hand. The stories grew wilder and wilder. They assumed a
life of their own. Finally, to put an end to this whisper campaign, to
deflate the hate-mongering, Robinson agreed to a church dispute-set-
tling mechanism known as a Final Hearing Panel. If that sounds a bit like
Judgment Day, the comparison is inaccurate. The Final Hearing Panel
was much tougher. Everybody had a lawyer — the Panel, the
Troublesome Handful, and Barry Robinson was advised to get one, too.
The FHP had three responsibilities: to consider the effectiveness of
Reverend Barry Robinson as Minister of Wilmar Heights, to consider
154
Striking Out
the state of the Wilmar Heights pastoral charge (the warring church
members), and to consider the oversight of the Toronto–Scarborough
presbytery in respect of Reverend Barry Robinson.
The FHP got right to its task. It fired Barry Robinson and ordered
him to vacate the manse as soon as possible — or in the pseudo-pious [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]