Questions and Answers: Elder Alex F. Metherell, M.D., Ph.D.

The Most Important Issues Facing the Church and General Assembly:
Without question, the single most important issue facing the denomination at this Assembly is the election of the Stated Clerk. There will not be another opportunity to elect another stated clerk until 2008.

If the incumbent, The Rev. Clifton Kirkpatrick, is reelected there will be no change of direction for our church. We will continue accommodating to the unbiblical and unholy beliefs and practices of our culture as we ignore the standards upon which our denomination was founded.

I predict that by the next election in 2008 (if not by 2006) we will see the ordination standard (G-6.0106b), which says “… the requirement to live either in fidelity within the covenant of marriage between a man and a woman (W-4.9001), or chastity in singleness. …” will have been amended changing the phrase “a man and a woman” to “two persons” indicating that same sex “marriages” will be recognized as being as valid as the marriage between a man and a woman and therefore practicing homosexual persons will be eligible for ordination.

Furthermore, the GAPJC has ruled in Benton et al v. Presbytery of Hudson River that same-sex union ceremonies are permitted. This is tantamount to playing word games with the Constitution. I agree with The Rev. Janie Spahr who said at the 212 th GA that same-sex union ceremonies were the same thing as marriages. “Let’s call them what they are – marriages” she said. Given the dissemblance that has infected our constitutional system, she is right.

On April 30, 2004 the Synod of the Covenant PJC ruled that the Presbytery of Cincinnati's court "erred by interpreting Section W-4.9001 of the Book of Order to prohibit same-sex marriages." Thus I also predict that, absent that election of a new Stated Clerk at this General Assembly, the Book of Order will be amended to require all ministers to participate in all “marriage” ceremonies regardless of whether the couples are “a man and a woman” or two persons of the same gender.

All ministers of the Word and Sacrament will then be compelled to participate in these ordination and marriage ceremonies or they will be forced to renounce the jurisdiction of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). That is why it is essential that Clifton Kirkpatrick be replaced at this General Assembly.

The underlying issue that has led to this sad state of affairs is the almost complete abandonment of both the Word of God and the Book of Confessions as authoritative in the life of the church. The judicial courts of the church in recent history have never, to my knowledge, relied on either of these documents for their decisions. How else can one explain the GAPJC’s decision in the Benton case, or the Synod of the Covenant PJC’s decision on April 30 in the Presbytery of Cincinnati case when the Word of God and the Confessions clearly and unequivocally state that homosexual practice is a violation of the seventh commandment – adultery (4.087, 7.249)? Are we now going to ordain and marry practicing unrepentant practicing adulterers? The answer, I predict, is yes!!

If I were to pick one issue that is the most important to the future of the church and General Assembly it would have to be the restoration of respect for the WHOLE of the Constitution of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.).

The Book of Confessions “… declares to its members and to the world who and what it is, what it believes,(and) what it resolves to do” (G-2.0100a.) This tells us who we are and what we believe. The Book of Orderdefines the Form of Government, the Directory of Worship and the Rules of Discipline (G-1.0502.) This is essentially a handbook, or organization manual for how we do things. Both the Book of Order and the Book of Confessions acknowledge that Holy Scripture is the ultimate authority.

Thus, the constitutional order of priority of authority is, first the Word of God, second the Confessions and third the Book of Order. This is confirmed by the fact that the Word of God cannot be amended; an amendment to the
Book of Confessions requires approval of the General Assembly and two thirds of the presbyteries (G-18.0201); and an amendment to the Book of Order requires approval of the General Assembly and a simple majority of
the Presbyteries.

General Assembly Permanent Judicial Commission Decisions, policies and actions of the General Assembly and General Assembly Council are all subordinate in their authority.

The practice of ignoring the Word of God and the Confessions has resulted in our denomination becoming pseudo-Presbyterian. The once great characteristics that have defined us as Presbyterian has always been our Constitution as described above. The distinction that we have as Presbyterians is also our connectionalism. We are bound and connected together by what we believe (the Confessions and the Word of God). The Book of Order merely tells us how we do things. By diminishing the authority of Scripture and the Confessions we are drifting towards being Congregationalist or Baptist.

By any objective analysis, our denomination is at a crossroads. Who can deny that the policies of our denomination, which have been consistent since 1967, have resulted in the loss of vast numbers of our members? No impartial observer of our franchise would conclude other than that in our divisiveness we have whipped ourselves up into two warring camps, each intent upon victory, and each utterly irreconcilable with the other. From Angela Davis to abortion to ReImagining to our present constitutional crisis, we Presbyterians have been very successful at self-destruction.

Each side believes itself to represent the true church, but both cannot be right. Then there are those who deny we are divided, or who foolishly proffer the false aphorism that there is “strength and unity in diversity.” In fact,
this has been a frequent theme expressed by our current Stated Clerk. Exactly the opposite is the case. The idea of diversity started well when it was directed to being inclusive of race, gender, and socio-economic status; but
when it extended to diverse theological views that deny the fundamental biblical teaching on who God is, who Jesus Christ is, the virgin birth, the miracles, the resurrection, redefining sin and an obsession for including all
manner of perverse sexual behavior as normative – this is “inclusiveness” gone MAD. This is destroying the church. The hallmark of the early 1 st century church was that they were “of one mind.” How then can we agree on anything if we all do “what is right in our own minds.”

As a result of this, there is great moral and theological confusion throughout the denomination. It seems that the more bizarre and novel the moral and theological idea, the more we want to embrace it in the name of inclusiveness. We have lost our moral and theological compass. But – here is the good news – we haven’t in fact lost it. Our moral and theological compass has always been there. It is the Word of God and our Confessions to which we have been paying scant attention.

These two foundational constitutional documents are our plumb-line. Everything we do and believe must be measured against them. Incessant fiddling with the Book of Order to try and get its wording to comply with the
latest whim and fancy is a waste of time. This is especially true when we try to redefine the ordination standard.

I have no doubt that if we continue on the way we are going, we will eventually codify an ordination standard that will require that we not discriminate between a person’s sexual orientation and practice; will not discriminate between a person’s views of theology and their embracing of pagan ideas, and which will require all ordained officers to participate in same sex union ceremonies whether or not they are called marriages. When any of these things get codified in the Book of Order they will trigger a constitutional crisis between the Book of Confessions and the Book of Order because they will then plainly contradict each other.

What then?

The answer is simple. The Book of Confessions trumps the Book of Order because the Confessions define WHO WE ARE and what we BELIEVE while the Book of Order tells us how we DO things. We cannot try to change what we believe by amending the Book of Order which is what is being attempted by proposed amendments to the ordination standards.

While our present Stated Clerk blithely denies the existence of any present crisis, he has labored long and craftily at furthering the cause of one of our two camps. While our current Stated Clerk fiddles, our denomination burns. We have now come to the point where congregations are declaring themselves “out of communion” with governing bodies who refuse to honor the constitutional priority of our governing documents: Word of God first; The Book of Confessions second; the Book of Order third.

But we elected this Stated Clerk twice. We elected this Moderator, and her predecessors, who make no attempt to conceal their contempt for constitutional and scriptural integrity. Previous General Assemblies have set upon us this hugely bloated denominational bureaucracy which sends more than 400 staff to GA at a cost of millions of dollars, all to the end of preserving the political status quo.

The most important issue facing our church and this General Assembly is whether the PC(USA) will continue on its present path of certain destruction, or instead return to her historical faith as infallibly proclaimed by our Lord in Scripture and articulated by our forebears in the Confessions. This issue is personified in the election of the Stated Clerk, which for the first time in our entire history has drawn three challengers to an incumbent (unanimously endorsed by the nominating committee) each of whom denounce the performance of the incumbent. On the one side stands the incumbent. He subverted the call of a sufficient number of Commissioners to a prior General Assembly to recall that assembly into session to deal with the crisis. He has
spent the time and treasure of our church pursuing anti-American and leftist secular political agendas. He has countenanced the efforts of the Washington Office to lobby Congress for extremist positions not approved by any General Assembly. He has done nothing to prevent Wicca ceremonies on Presbyterian territory. He has dispatched his subordinates throughout the land to counsel presbyteries on how to avoid enforcing the Constitution. He has utterly failed to uphold the Constitution in any meaningful way. He has, at every opportunity, encouraged those whose actions have brought us to the verge of schism. He has exhausted his travel budget going to presbyteries to proclaim what a good job he is doing and the absence of any real crisis—
when exactly the opposite is the case. When challenged “any where, any time” to debate his performance so that he might answer his challengers, he refused. The Q & A session at the time of the election is inadequate to fully
answer for you whether these charges are true: let him even now relent, and agree to a debate so that all may see and hear him acquit himself of all of the charges his three challengers make of him! Whether he continues to refuse, or he comes before you with his challengers in the crucible of debate, your vote for Stated Clerk will, more than any other action you take at this Assembly, determine the future of our denomination.

“But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your forefathers served beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.” Joshua 24:15.

My Vision of the Church of the Future and what I would do as Stated Clerk:
My vision of the PC(USA) in the future is one of faith and integrity to the inerrancy of Scripture, the divinity and bodily resurrection of Jesus, the truth of His miracles and the virgin birth. My vision is for a denomination whose ordained ministers profess their beliefs in these tenants so clearly articulated in Scripture and the Book of Confessions. My vision is for every pulpit to ring with the sound of preaching that Jesus is THE way, THE truth and THE life, and that except by Him, no man comes to the Father. My vision for our future is a church where every minister accords equal sincerity to his ordination vow to be governed by the polity of our church. I see a church where our seminaries only employ professors who proclaim the bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ, and where no paid staff worship a false god they have “reimagined”, whether called “Sophia” or any other name. My vision is for a church whose headquarters is thought by none to be a “Whited Sepulcher”.

I yearn for a church where Scripture is the first answer to any question; where there is no possible argument that homosexuality is other than an abomination, and that abortion is other than murder. I yearn for our denomination to return to its Calvinist heritage where we live by our professed belief in total depravity, unconditional election, limited atonement, irresistible grace, and the perseverance of the saints.

I long for a church that doesn’t risk losing its tax deductible status by employing lobbyists to urge Congress to adopt un-Christian policies, where the Stated Clerk boycotts paganism instead of capitalism, where the GA
Moderator only picks speakers and committee chairmen who share our common profession in the Book of Confessions. I long for our Stated Clerk to attend a meeting of the National Council of Churches to announce the PC(USA)’s determination to win souls for Christ and to get out of America-bashing. I long for a Stated Clerk to denounce a president’s perjury instead of a president’s acting to preserve our national security and to free a key nation from enslavement under a brutal tyrant. I long for a church where the Stated Clerk will demand that every employee adhere to the Scripture, our Confessions and our Book of Order - in that order - and will call for the dismissal of every employee who does not, even those employees not directly under his supervision (for the Stated Clerk sets the tone for all staff). I long for a church whose priorities, visible in its budget, are governed by the Great Commission not Das Kapital and Wicca. I long for a church where the Stated
Clerk thinks he must obey the church’s Constitution, not subvert it. I long for a church that is unified not in diversity, but in common faith, for as our Lord taught, “Any kingdom divided against itself will be ruined, and a house divided against itself will fall”. (Luke 11:17)

I envision a Presbyterian Church far different than what we have today. I envision a Presbyterian Church that GAINS members, instead of losing members at a breakneck pace. I envision a Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) that
does not witness other Presbyterian churches breaking fellowship with us because they view us as apostate. I envision a Presbyterian Church where discipline is enforced when ministers deny the bodily resurrection of our
Savior, and where the Stated Clerk is the first, and not the last, to condemn such misconduct. I envision a Presbyterian Church where the Stated Clerk dispatches his associates throughout the land to enforce, not tear down, the Constitution. I envision a Presbyterian Church where it is inconceivable that a Synod PJC could ever rule that homosexual marriages are not precluded by Scripture. I envision a Presbyterian church where sin is called “sin” and not sacred. I envision a Presbyterian Church where everyone does what is right in God’s eyes, instead of a Presbyterian Church where ministers claim the right to do what is right in their own eyes. I envision a denominational headquarters that is a fig tree that bears fruit, instead of one that bears no fruit and is in the process of being cut down. (Luke 13: 6-9)

As Stated Clerk, I would take every action consistent with this vision, including, specifically, prohibiting pagan ceremonies, calling for obedience to the Constitution and discipline for those who trash their ordination vows. I will prohibit GA staff from lobbying commissioners at GA, and will work to slash the number of staff attending GA. I will refuse to sign any letter to secular leaders denouncing America or the policies of her president, except as are undeniably contrary to Scripture and our Confessions. I will call for a return to prayer in schools, starting with VMI. I will strictly interpret the Book of Order consistently with Scripture and the Book of Confessions. I will call for the denomination to have its books and financial records open to all, and that they be kept in conformity to the standards of the ECFA. I will work to regain the trust that has been lost of the people in the pews as reflected by the continuous decrease in undesignated giving to the GA and withholding of GA per capita.

My understanding of the Stated Clerk’s Role in Carrying out his Constitutional Duty to Preserve and Defend the Constitution of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), and support the decisions, actions, and programs of the General Assembly:
Who could disagree that the Stated Clerk’s every loyalty is to Jesus Christ as Head of the Church? Who could argue that the Stated Clerk must express that loyalty through obedience to Scripture, the Book of Confessions and the Book of Order? Constitutionally, the Standing Rules are not on par with those three sources, and to the extent they conflict with our Constitution, they must fall. I will support the decisions, actions and programs of the General Assembly in so far as they are constitutional. We know that governing bodies err (G-1.0307) and where they may conflict with the Constitution I will work to correct those errors through our polity.

On the other hand, our present Stated Clerk has abandoned his duty to defend the Constitution. When this duty called, he was not merely absent, he was actively giving aid and comfort to those who would subvert it. The Stated Clerk must use his “bully pulpit” to hold accountable those who defy our Constitution. He must never countenance actions to destroy our faith, our confessions or our polity. His role is to lead the denomination in pious dedication to Scripture, our Book of Confessions and our Book of Order.

The One Item of Business before this General Assembly which will most help the Church be Faithful to its Mission to Proclaim the Good News:
The most important item of business before this Assembly is the election of the Stated Clerk. It presents our denomination with a clear choice to either continue down our present path, where we have sustained a net membership loss of some 220,000 members (nearly 9%) during the incumbent’s 8-year tenure. It is time to elect a new Stated Clerk.

When we proclaim the Good News of salvation through the bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ alone, we tell the world that we have reversed course and returned to the true path of righteousness. The proclamation of the true
gospel of Scriptural purity and the integrity of our Confessions, we will be rewarded with a reversal of our death-spiral. I pray for the day when those who view the witness of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) will declare “… Hallelujah! For our Lord God Almighty reigns. Let us rejoice and be glad and give him glory! For the wedding of the Lamb has come and his bride has made herself ready. Fine linen, bright and clean, was given her to wear.” (Revelation 19:6-8).