 Moderator says allegations of conspiracy were a 'lie' By John H. Adams The Layman Online Friday, April 4, 2003 LOUISVILLE – Moderator Fahed Abu-Akel says unnamed allegations that he conspired with Stated Clerk Clifton Kirkpatrick to reject a petition that included sufficient signatures to require him to call a special meeting of the General Assembly were a "lie."
Abu-Akel briefly mentioned the remedial case before the General Assembly Permanent Judicial Commission – the highest court in the Presbyterian Church (USA) – during his report to the council. On Feb. 14, during the previous meeting of the council, Abu-Akel received the petition with signatures of 57 commissioners – seven more than required – who asked him to reconvene the 214th General Assembly to consider how to respond to growing defiance of the denomination's constitution. He responded to that petition by working with Kirkpatrick and his staff in the Office of the General Assembly to try to get commissioners who had signed the petitions to change their minds. Before the petition was submitted, Abu-Akel, rather than remaining neutral, wrote a letter to the 214th General Assembly commissioners "imploring" them not to sign the petition. After he received the petition, he wrote another letter, urging them to change their minds. The Permanent Judicial Commission conducted a trial and ruled that the moderator should not have written the letter asking commissioners to change their minds after he received the petition. However, the commission affirmed his decision not to call the General Assembly back into session, saying that the moderator's post-petition letter probably was not the reason several commissioners asked that their names be removed. In his report to the council, Abu-Akel gave his summary of the actions of the court – "affirming my first letter, not affirming my second letter and affirming my decision" not to call a special meeting. He did not mention that the court, both in its order and in a partial dissent by two members, made a number of critical comments about his role in the case. Nor did he mention his own testimony, in which he said he repeatedly relied on Kirkpatrick and his office to advise him on how to respond to the petition. "As your moderator, I do believe no one is above the constitution," he said. "This experience taught me about the power of media … more powerful than the truth." "My focus was on Jesus and the church during that time, and that was my salvation because I did not allow the outside forces to overwhelm me." He reiterated his appreciation for Kirkpatrick and John Detterick, executive director of the General Assembly Council, who met with him shortly after he received the petition from Dr. Alex Metherell, a physician-engineer and elder-commissioner who initiated the petition. Describing them as "two people that overwhelmed me," Abu-Akel quoted both men: "John Detterick said, 'Maybe God wants to teach us a lesson by having a called General Assembly,' and Kirkpatrick looked me straight in the eye and said, 'Mr. Moderator, we are required to uphold the constitution.'" |
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