The pastor of the Joseph United Methodist Church was removed from his position last month after it was discovered he had been viewing Internet pornography on the computer in the pastor's office at church.

According to a written statement released in response to questions concerning the minister's dismissal, "Illness or misconduct, depending on the definition, has caused the Rev. Robert R. Andrews-Bryant, pastor at Joseph UMC in Joseph, Oregon to be placed on involuntary leave."

   Andrews-Bryant's departure was announced April 7 during Sunday service in Joseph by the church's district superintendent, the Rev. James Monroe.
   The Joseph church, which was established in 1887, is affiliated with the Oregon-Idaho Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church. Andrews-Bryant succeeded Margie Mai as pastor last summer.
   "The removal was based on reliable evidence of repeated viewing of sexually explicit materials on a workplace computer," according to the release, which was e-mailed to the Chieftain Friday by Portland-based conference director of communications Linda Sullivan. "Professional analysis of the computer has determined that sites visited contained only adult 
material; none contained material dealing in any way with children or underage youth."

   Church officials are choosing to view the questionable behavior as an illness or addiction and have offered Andrews-Bryant assistance for recovery. According to the press release, the United Methodist Church has clear procedures for dealing with various forms of clergy misconduct and these procedures are being followed in this case. "No charges have been brought against Andrews-Bryant, but the Conference reserves the right to bring charges should that become necessary," it stated.
   Dan Saurino, a lay person from La Grande, has been filling the pulpit at Joseph since  Andrew-Bryant's departure.

According to Sullivan, the Rev. Craig Strobel – now serving at the Heppner United Methodist Church – has been tentatively appointed to serve as pastor at Joseph UMC for one year.  Appointments are not official until the Annual Conference session is held June 12-15 in Salem. If his appointment is confirmed, Strobel will take over at Joseph on July 1, the beginning of the 
normal appointment year.
   Prior to coming to Joseph, Andrews-Bryant served from 1996-1998 at Shoshone/Richfield United Methodist churches and 1998-2000 at Middleton/Wilder churches, all in Idaho, and was previously an associate pastor at Tigard UMC for four years starting in 1986. He was originally
ordained in the Baptist General Conference of America and was accepted in 1980 as a  probationary member of the United Methodist Annual Conference

Local inquiries into the pastor's dismissal, resulted in a referral to the district superintendent's office, and then to Sullivan. "We want to be as candid as we can," she said about the situation.

©2002 Wallowa  County Chieftain