“The compassion of
a physician. The objectivity and rational thinking
that come with an earned doctorate in engineering. 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.”
Metherell added that he also would bring to the job “the
perspective of an elder — much like Elder John Detterick
does as General Assembly Council Executive Director.”
Commissioners to the 216th General Assembly, which opens in Richmond,
VA, on June 26, will elect a stated clerk to a four-year term.
The other candidates are the Rev. Robert “Bob” Davis,
a pastor from Escondido, CA, and executive director of the Presbyterian
Forum; the Rev. Linn “Rus” Howard, a pastor from Venetia,
PA; and the incumbent, the Rev. Clifton Kirkpatrick, a Texan who
is seeking a third term.
All three challengers describe themselves as evangelicals. Metherell,
who was born in Great Britain and baptized in the Church of England,
is the only lay person in the field.
Metherell said yesterday by telephone that he is not worried
that the evangelical candidates will split the vote and ensure
Kirkpatrick’s re-election. “That is a possibility,”
he said, “but I believe this will actually give the commissioners
more choices. We three are all very different. I think the commissioners
will listen to us all and then elect one of us.”
Metherell is the church activist who collected signatures of
commissioners to the 2002 General Assembly and in January 2003
petitioned for a special GA session to deal with what he called
“widespread defiance” of the PC(USA) constitution,
especially “with respect to G-6.0106b” — the
“fidelity and chastity” provision of the Book of
Order that is invoked to prevent the ordination to church
office of non-celibate gays and lesbians.
The Rev. Fahed Abu-Akel, the moderator at the time, lobbied against
the proposal and ultimately refused to call a special meeting,
which would have been the first in the denomination’s history.
The Committee on the Office of the General Assembly had estimated
the cost of a special session at $400,000 to $500,000, depending
on the timing and location.
The PC(USA)’s highest court, the Permanent Judicial Commission
(PJC), ruled last March that Abu-Akel “acted improperly”
when he “implored” commissioners not to press for
a special meeting. The PJC nonetheless upheld Abu-Akel’s
refusal, ruling that he hadn’t received “sufficient
requests” to trigger a constitutional provision for a special
session.
In the release about his candidacy, Metherell charged that Kirkpatrick
and Associate Stated Clerk Mark Tammen “succeeded in sabotaging
the meeting by getting our moderator to act unconstitutionally.”
“I long to have an open and thorough debate on the issues
that are critical to the life of our denomination,” he wrote,
“particularly in matters that concern the leadership from
the office of the stated clerk.”
Before the Assembly convenes, Metherell said, he will be sharing
with the church his “observations that reflect my concerns
for a denomination that has had an extended constitutional crisis
and a painful loss of membership.”
Kirkpatrick, who disputes the claim that the denomination faces
a constitutional crisis, has argued that he has rightly deferred
to “the careful, thorough, and sometimes-lengthy process
our constitution sets up to address defiance and sin while providing
due process and the opportunity to defend oneself.” Under
PC(USA) polity, he points out, disciplinary authority is largely
exercised by sessions and presbyteries.
Metherell and his wife, Pam, have three grown children.
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