c. 2003 Religion News Service
(UNDATED) Officials of the Presbyterian Church (USA) have concluded they do not have to hold an unprecedented special meeting of their General Assembly after determining there were not enough valid signatures on a petition requesting the gathering of the church’s highest decision-making body.
The petition, developed by a church elder from California, had sought to address issues raised by congregations that have violated church rules, including the ban on the ordination of some gay clergy.
“It was not an easy decision to make,” wrote the Rev. Fahed Abu-Akel, moderator of the 2.5 million-member denomination in a Friday (Jan. 24) letter to the commissioners of the last assembly, which met in June 2002. The letter was made public Monday.
“There are no winners in this situation. … It has become even more obvious through this that there are people who are in great pain in our denomination, and for that I have great concern and compassion.”
Abu-Akel’s letter was followed by a formal announcement at a Monday press conference at Presbyterian Church (USA) headquarters in Louisville, Ky., by the denomination’s stated clerk.
The Rev. Clifton Kirkpatrick said he had ruled that “no further petitions are in order” because the upcoming 215th General Assembly, scheduled for May, will occur before a special session of the previous assembly could convene, Presbyterian News Service reported.
Elder Alex Metherell of Laguna Beach, Calif., submitted a petition with 57 signatures seeking the special meeting.
Kirkpatrick’s office, which worked to verify the signatures, determined that less than the 50 required commissioners _ 25 each from the elder and ministerial ranks _ wished to keep their names on the petition. A letter requesting verification was written two days after one from Abu-Akel asked them to reconsider.
“I’m very disappointed and I believe that they have not followed the constitution as it is written in coming to this conclusion,” Metherell told Religion News Service.
He said he believes a special meeting is needed to focus solely on “defiance in general” of church law.
“As far as I’m concerned, it’s not a homosexual issue here,” Metherell said. “It’s an issue of (congregations) complying with the constitution.”
He said his concerns do not solely address ordination of clergy who are living outside faithful heterosexual marriage or chaste singlehood, as required by the church’s Book of Order. He believes there are other violations of church law, such as serving communion to non-Christians and agnostics and ordaining people who deny basic Christian beliefs concerning the deity, resurrection and atonement of Jesus.
A congregation in Canton, Ohio, has filed a complaint with the denomination’s Permanent Judicial Commission seeking a special meeting. Metherell, who threatened to sue church officials in civil court, said he will let that complaint go through the church process instead of taking further action.
In his Jan. 24 letter, Abu-Akel reiterated his concerns that a special meeting would “create needless confusion” and cost as much as $500,000.
He said an overture, or proposal, from the Presbytery of Redstone in Greensburg, Pa., for the upcoming General Assembly will ensure that some of the same issues mentioned in the petition will be addressed at the next regular meeting.
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