“Warszawiak Is Restored.” New York Times, November 10, 1899, page 2.

WARSZAWIAK IS RESTORED

Again a Member of Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church.

THE DECISION NOT UNANIMOUS

Resolutions Passed by the Session Dismiss All Charges — The Question of Jurisdiction Raised.

At a meeting of the Session of the Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church last evening it was voted to inform Hermann Warszawiak of his restoration to Church membership, as embodied in a set of resolutions passed last Friday night, through a committee, instead of reading the resolutions from the pulpit. The matter called forth considerable discussion, and there are evidences that the decision was not unanimous.

The subject, however, which received the most attention from the members and which vitally affects the whole matter was one of jurisdiction. A few of the members believed the case to be still in the hands of the General Assembly and that the Session had not the right to pass the resolutions. They were brought before the Elders again and passed by a majority which believed that such an action was within their power. If the Presbytery sustains the action of the Sessions the incident is closed.

The resolutions passed by the Sessions are as follows:

Whereas, It is now nearly three years since the date of the alleged immoral conduct charged against Hermann Warszawiak, namely, gambling at certain gambling houses or pool rooms; and

Whereas, He has during that time been leading a moral life and has not ceased to publicly teach the blessed Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ to the people of his own kindred; and

“Whereas, The witnesses named in the specifications to support the charges, (except some who were called to prove formal matters,) are professional detectives and not members of the Church, (except possibly one,) and some of them not even adherents to any form of Christian faith, and therefore are not such that unqualified credence should be given them; and,

“Whereas, The former trial and subsequent proceedings have been a source of continual irritation and a detriment to kindly, brotherly, and Christian feeling in this Church, and a detriment to the advancement of Christ's kingdom in our midst; therefore, be it

“Resolved, That it is the judgment of this court that a retrial of Herman Warszawiak upon the charges heretofore preferred against him would not result in any good, or to the purity of the Church, but, on the contrary, would disturb the peace and unity of our congregation and of the church; therefore,

“Resolved, That the said charges be, and they hereby are, dismissed, and that Herman Warszawiak be, and hereby is, restored to the communion of this Church as a member in good and regular standing,

“WILLIAM IRWIN,

“EWEN McINTYRE,

“WILLIAM CAMPBELL.

The matter of jurisdiction was brought up by a prominent church member, who presented a brief of the points in church law involved. Last May the General Assembly reaffirmed a decision reached by the Synod, in which the Presbytery was asked to refer the case to the Sessions for a retrial.

When the decision of the General Assembly came before the Synod, which sat Oct. 17-19 at Troy, that body, upon the recommendation of the Judicial Committee, sent back to the Assembly for an interpretation on some of the points of its deliverance. This action put the settlement of the case off until after the meeting of the General Assembly next May.

On Oct. 25 Mr. Warszawiak, through his counsel, the Rev. J. G. Patterson, sent in a petition for the new trial which the decrees of the higher Church courts had ordered. The local Session, stirred up by this petition, or it may be, it is stated, actuated by a desire to have peace in the fold upon the eve of calling a new pastor, decided to take action, and this culminated last Friday night in the passage of the above resolutions.

At the close of the meeting Mr. Silas B. Brownell, clerk of the Session, was asked:

“Has the Session power to dismiss the charges against Mr. Warszawiak, in view of the fact that the case is in the General Assembly?”

Mr. Brownell replied, “The majority of the session think that the case is not in the General Assembly. A minority think it is. The majority voted to dismiss the charges, and the minority have complained to the Presbytery.”

Mr. Irwin said last night at the close of the meeting that he and a majority of the session considered the matter settled and that if Mr. Warszawiak should present himself for communion in the Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church he would be permitted to participate.

Those present at the meeting of the Session were the moderator, the Rev. Dr. R. R. Booth, John Sinclair, William Campbell, Ewen McIntyre, Silas B. Brownell, Robert Beggs, H. Edwards Rowland, James A. Frame, William Irwin, Samuel B. Schieffelin and James Talcott.