Will decide whether Abu-Akel should have reconvened 214th GA
[3-4-03]

Presbyterian News Service reports that the Permanent Judicial Commission (PJC) of the General Assembly has scheduled a trial for March 17 on whether or not Moderator Fahed Abu-Akel should have ordered a special meeting of last year's Assembly after receiving a petition bearing the requisite number of commissioners' signatures.

The presbytery resolution, approved at the presbytery's January 28^th stated meeting, acknowledges the "intense theological discussion and conflict" within the church, calls for "a time of prayer, repentance and reconciliation," and "objects to the tactics of personal attack and disinformation used by some to discredit the leadership of the Moderator and Stated Clerk."

Clerk says it would accomplish same purpose as a special Assembly

Presbyterian Outlook's Leslie Scanlon reports that Dr. Alex Metherell, in pursuit of his demand for a special session of the 2002 General Assembly, presented a letter to Moderator Fahed Abu-Akel, with the threat that he will file suit in a secular court if the moderator does not immediately announce that he will recall the Assembly. He gives the Moderator a deadline of January 27.

Four former moderators have written in an open letter, "... That any Moderator would be so treated is unthinkable. Our Moderator has followed the procedures laid out in the Constitution..." The signers are Robert Lamar, Price H. Gwynn III, Douglas Oldenburg and Freda Gardner.

The Outlook article will link you also to the full text of Metherell's letter, and that of the open letter from the former moderators.

A personal sidelight on Dr. Metherell, from Los Angeles:

The LA Times has a fairly extensive article (though not terribly well informed about the niceties of Presbyterian polity and politics) on Metherell, which notes that Presbyterians on both the left and the right are objecting to what he is doing.

The reporter adds that "even Metherell's pastor -- conservative John A. Huffman Jr. of St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church in Newport Beach -- put out a statement saying a Special Assembly 'is not only unwise but could be counterproductive to our constitutional procedures.'"

Presbyterian News Service reports on a complaint from a church in Canton, Ohio, charging that denominational officials have violated The Book of Order by not calling the special session.

Elder Alex Metherell has presented the Moderator the required number of petitions for the convening of a second session of the 214^th General Assembly. Presbyterian News Service has reported on this

Reactions are many and varied

Reports have been pouring forth over the past few days about the effort by Dr. Alex Metherell, who was an elder commissioner to the 214^th General Assembly in June, 2002, to force an extraordinary reconvening of that assembly to deal with what he calls "a full-blown constitutional crisis" in the Presbyterian Church.

Here's a brief outline of the situation thus far, with links to reports far more complete than we can provide.

Your WebWeaver also adds a few personal reflections. 

Coalition conference

Oct. 3-5, 2002: The Presbyterian Coalition gathers in Orlando for "Gathering VII," with less than 400 people in attendance, down from 1,200 last year. Among those present was Dr. Metherell. The focus of the meeting was on demands for enforcement of the PC(USA) constitution - which means, of course, the requirement of "fidelity in marriage between a man and a woman or chastity in singleness," as declared in the Book of Order, G-6.0106b. People also spoke of how they are feeling persecuted by the denomination, how they are planning to withhold their congregations' per capita payments to support the denomination, and much more. You'll find good reports from Presbyterian Outlook and Presbyterian News Service.

Haberer rejects cries of "constitutional crisis"

Oct. 7, 2002: The Rev. Jack Haberer, long a leader among the conservative advocacy groups, and presumably well aware of Dr. Metherell's efforts, publishes a "Viewpoint" article in Presbyterian Outlook online, asserting that the Presbyterian Church is not in a "constitutional crisis," but that we face a "connectional conundrum" as some declare their intentions not to obey the requirement of "fidelity in marriage between a man and a women or chastity in singleness," as declared in the Book of Order, G-6.0106b. He urges that we can best deal with this conundrum not by continuing "to file judicial complaints like tracts being dropped from the gospel blimp." Rather, he urges, "We can live out that covenantal connectionalism by exercising loving discipline as the Scriptures teach. We do need to 'convince, rebuke and encourage' (2 Timothy 4:2) those who defy the church's teachings. But we must do so with one another, not in opposition to one another."

Metherell campaign for special Assembly goes public

Oct. 8, 2002: PresbyWeb announces the campaign, initiated by Dr. Metherell through a "confidential" memo to a number of commissioners to the 214^th Assembly, to request a special meeting of the same Assembly.

The full text of Metherell's e-mail is (where else??) on PresbyWeb, in PDF format.

Stated Clerk thanks groups on right and left for supporting Constitution

Oct. 9: Stated Clerk Clifton Kirkpatrick sends a letter to the Covenant Network and the Presbyterian Coalition, expressing thanks for their recent actions "joining the Office of the Stated Clerk in urging all Presbyterians to abide by the Constitution of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). The Constitution binds us together as Presbyterians. It honors the right of dissent, but provides no avenue for open defiance, which loosens the sinews that hold us together, not only as Presbyterians, but also as the very body of Christ."


Layman reports Metherell's connections to Lay Committee

Oct. 9: The Layman Online reports the campaign, noting that Metherell's wife, Pamela, " is a director of the Presbyterian Lay Committee, but the Lay Committee has not taken a position on having a special meeting of the General Assembly. It has, however, endorsed a statement titled "A Call for Constitutional Integrity." Two other renewal groups, the Coalition and Presbyterians For Renewal, have endorsed similar declarations.

A little side-light, thanks to the Layman: They reported from the 212^th General Assembly on the efforts of Pamela Metherell, along with then Vice-Moderator Rebecca McElroy and commissioner Kriss Bottino, to introduce a commissioners' resolution aimed against a decision by the General Assembly Permanent Judicial Commission to permit same-sex marriage services, if the participants used some other word than "marriage" in describing them.

Two elder commissioners - husband and wife - from one congregation in 3 years. And one of them a member of the Lay Committee board. Pretty impressive.

Presbyterian Forum sees problems with special session:

Oct. 10: Bob Davis, writing on the Presbyterian Forum site, reports on the Metherell petition as well as the "call for Confession and Repentance from five pastors." He notes the difficulties in both efforts, but uses them as an occasion to say: "Here's the point: where the impression is that the process is not achieving the ends it should - namely, upholding the whole Constitution for the whole Church - the Stated Clerk needs to be the one who publicly, widely, and in step-by-step fashion sets out the steps by which those results might be achieved."

Presbyterians for Renewal rejects call for special session

About the same time: Another of the conservative advocacy groups, Presbyterians for Renewal, issued a statement from its board explicitly rejecting the call for a special Assembly as "inopportune and perhaps misunderstood."

Layman insists there is a crisis

Oct. 11: Robert P. Mills of the Layman offers his own thoughts, responding to Jack Haberer's irenic approach by saying essentially that this is not mere conundrum - it's a crisis!

Committee on Office of General Assembly says there's not a crisis, points to problems in call for special session

Oct. 11: The Committee on the Office of the General Assembly, at its regular meeting, responds to Metherell's petition. They state unanimously that the Presbyterian Church is not in a constitutional crisis, and that our regular constitutional processes will deal with any disagreements among us.

They note, too, that : "the Book of Order requires that a request for a special meeting of the General Assembly must specify exactly the items of business to be considered, and all proposals for changes to, or interpretations of, the Book of Order would still require a 120-day deadline before the session of the General Assembly could begin." They add an estimate that a special assembly would cost $400,000.

Since then, quiet???

Please note: This is not an official comment from the Witherspoon Society, but simply one person's reflections on one more difficult time in our Presbyterian Church.

In the midst of all the complaints and accusations, there are grace notes here:

I live in Minnesota, where our famous governor, Jesse Ventura, tends to operate on one temptingly simple principle of governance: "My way or the highway." That is not Christ's way, and I pray it will not become the way of the Presbyterian Church.

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PVJ's Facebook page

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