Biography: Elder Alex F. Metherell, M.D., Ph.D.

Dr. Metherell committed his life to Christ 34 years ago in the Presbyterian Church he still attends. He is passionately committed to the constitutional structure of the government of the church and its judicial system. As a student of our Constitution he has argued cases before the General Assembly Permanent Judicial Commission. Being the lead member of the Committee
of Counsel of each of these cases he undertook extensive research in the Constitution and prior case law.

Eighteen years ago he was ordained an elder and has served on several committees and as a commissioner to his Presbytery that elected him as Elder Commissioner to the 214th General Assembly. He has served more
than fourteen years as an appointed representative of the Los Ranchos Presbytery on the Presbyterian Membership Association at the Hoag Memorial Presbyterian Hospital in Newport Beach which is responsible for giving spiritual leadership in the hospital and electing one third of the hospital trustee board members.

He has served on the Board of Directors of three independent Christian non-profit organizations. One of these, Reasons To Believe, shows how recent scientific discoveries confirm the existence of the God of the Bible.

Alex Metherell taught Bible studies and has become known as an authority on the medical and physical aspects of the Crucifixion and Resurrection. His
commentaries have been published and televised worldwide. He contributed to a chapter on the subject in the multi-million-copy best seller, "The Case for Christ" by Lee Strobel.

Born in the Far East, Alex grew up in Australia and England. After graduating from college, Alex received his Ph.D. in Engineering three years later from Bristol University in England. Two days later he married his Scottish
wife Pamela (whom he met two years earlier while flying in the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve during his doctoral program) and a week after that immigrated to the United States.

After doing extensive published work in engineering at the University of Minnesota and McDonnell Douglas where he rose to Division Director, he went to medical school at the University of Miami, Florida, where he earned his M.D. degree in only two years. He is Board Certified in Radiology and helped pioneer the clinical use of MRI imaging in Southern California. He co-founded a medical transcription company, which after several mergers now serves over 200,000 physicians and numerous hospitals throughout the U.S. and Canada. Over the years he has held various professorships at UCLA and UCI. He is currently on the research faculty at the University of California Irvine where he is doing research in theoretical modeling of molecular motor mechanisms that are responsible for muscle movement.

Alex’s wife, Pam, has served two terms as Elder on the session at St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church and is now a Deacon. She was elected Elder Commissioner to the 212 th General Assembly in Long Beach. She now serves on the Board of Directors of the Presbyterian Lay Committee and is a substitute Teaching Leader in a 300 women Bible Study Fellowship group that meets weekly in South Laguna.

Alex and Pam have a son Mark, who graduated from Wheaton College with a double major in 1992 and then served in the U.S. Navy SEALS for eight years. For the past three years Alex and Mark have collaborated on the development of a Force Protection system to protect naval vessels and harbors from terrorist attacks. They have U.S. and foreign patent granted and pending. Mark’s wife Sarah worked in international financial services in Chile and Argentina and is in real estate development in the United States. They both have served on the Board of First Fruit, a Christian family foundation. They currently serve on the mission committee of their church in Laguna Beach.

Alex and Pam’s older daughter Alison has recently finished her Residency at USC and is in private practice as a board certified Pediatrician in Encino, when she is not teaching medical students at the USC Medical School.
She is married to Travis Mann, an entertainment lawyer and movie producer in Hollywood. They both currently serve as deacons at Bel Air Presbyterian Church.

Alex and Pam’s younger daughter, Caroline, has just completed her service as one of the youngest elders to serve on the session of St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church in Newport Beach and Los Ranchos Presbytery
commissioner. She is in her fourth year in the Newport-Costa Mesa School District where she has taught kindergarten and 2nd Grade. She is married to Jonathan Campbell, a NASCAR driver.

Personal Statement and Sense of Call
Along with many others in the denomination, I am convinced that it is time for the General Assembly to elect a new Stated Clerk. I came to this decision to offer myself as a candidate for the Office of Stated Clerk after much prayer and discussion with associates across the denomination. My sense of call to this position grows stronger each day as I look at the state of the church and the problems the new Stated Clerk will be facing. My sense of call and motives have been affirmed (1) by knowing they are biblical; (2) that they are confirmed by my Christian brothers and sisters and (3), by my wife and family.

There are two other excellent candidates challenging the nomination of the incumbent, the Rev. Clifton Kirkpatrick. Why then, should I add my name to the field of candidates? As an elder/physician/engineer/businessman, I believe that I can bring a much needed perspective to the race, and to the office if elected. Because of who I am and what I do, I am very much a rational, objective thinker. I will bring the following talents and abilities to the Office of the Stated Clerk:

•The perspective of an elder – much like Elder John Detterick does as GAC Executive Director.
•The compassion of a physician.
•The objectivity and rational thinking that comes with earned two doctorates in Engineering and Medicine.
•The innovation and problem solving ability of one with numerous scientific publications and patented inventions.
•The business background that comes from running a large successful medical practice.
•The experience of being a co-founder of and first medical director of Edix (now called Spheris) the largest medical transcription company with over 3,500 employees and serving over 200,000 physicians in hospitals and clinics throughout the U.S. and Canada.

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