PRESS RELEASE Laguna Beach, California March 31, 2004 ELDER ALEX METHERELL, MD, PHD, ANNOUNCES HIS CANDIDACY FOR THE OFFICE OF STATED CLERK OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH (USA) Posted on The Layman Online, March 31, 2004 The Moderator of the Stated Clerk Review/Nominating Committee has informed me that the required documentation that I previously submitted is in order and that I am qualified to be nominated for the office of Stated Clerk of the General Assembly. I came to this decision after much prayer and discussion with associates across the denomination. My sense of call to this position grows stronger every 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), last but not least, by my wife and family. Along with many others in the denomination, I am convinced that it is time for the General Assembly to elect a new Stated Clerk. There are already 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 General Assembly Council Executive Director. The compassion of a physician. The objectivity and rational thinking that comes 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. 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 US and Canada. My walk with Christ began as a boy of 11 when I went -to my local Episcopal church and asked to be baptized. I grew up in the Church of England, which I attended on an irregular basis. I thought I was a Christian because, after all, I was English! I was introduced to the Presbyterian Church by my Scottish wife Pam whom I proposed to after knowing her only five days. (She really is that great.) Pam wouldn't marry me until I finished my PhD in engineering at Bristol University, which I did two years later during which time we maintained a long-distance engagement. Two days after getting my doctorate, we were married in her home church in the Church of Scotland. One week later, we sailed to the United States, which has been our home ever since. Five years later, our son Mark was born. Wanting to have him baptized when Pam's parents were visiting from Scotland, the Rev. Dr. Charles Dierenfield at St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church in Newport Beach agreed to do so after the last service one Sunday. We felt so welcomed that we immediately started attending and joined the young couples group the "Ensigns." We became members and still attend there today. My life-transforming experience came in the Fellowship Hall at an Ensign meeting watching the Billy Graham movie His Land. It was 8 p.m. Nov. 1, 1970. I was suddenly transformed – a new creation in Christ. I wasn't sure what had happened to me but I suddenly got a ravishing hunger to learn more about what the Bible had to say. Pam immediately noticed a difference in me and liked the change. A year later she gave her life to Christ. Shortly after that we took a short detour to Miami, Fla., where I got my MD at the University of Miami School of Medicine in two years through their special PhD-to-MD program. Nearly everyone else in the program had their PhDs in the bio-sciences so, for me, it was pretty tough. The Lord was with me though and I graduated with the others. During our time in Miami, we attended Key Biscayne Presbyterian Church, where I taught the Adult Bible Study on Sunday mornings. This helped charge my "spiritual batteries" while studying at med school. We returned to our home in Newport Beach and I did my residency in diagnostic radiology as a resident and associate clinical professor at the University of California Irvine. After completing that and getting board certification in diagnostic radiology, I moved into private practice. We were back at St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church in Newport Beach. The Rev. Dr. John A. Huffman, Jr. and his wife Anne, whom we had met at Key Biscayne, succeeded Charles Dierenfield as senior minister at St. Andrew's. My service to the church includes the following: Adult Bible study leader (Key Biscayne and St. Andrew's Presbyterian Churches) Adult Education Committee Member of the St. Andrew's Choir, Choir Bible Study leader and Member of the Choir Board Elected elder, 1986 Elder commissioner to Los Ranchos Presbytery Presbyterian member of Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian, Newport Beach representing St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church and Los Ranchos Presbytery Elected elder commissioner to the 214th General Assembly 2002. (Pam was elected Elder Commissioner to the 212th General Assembly 2000.) Successfully collected and presented to the Moderator, Fahed Abu-Akel in January 2003, more than sufficient valid signatures of commissioners to the 214th General Assembly requesting that a special meeting of that Assembly be called for the sole purpose of dealing with the widespread defiance of the Constitution of the Presbyterian Church (USA). Contrary to calling the special meeting upon receipt of those petitions as required by the Book of Order, the Stated Clerk, Clifton Kirkpatrick, working with Associate Stated Clerk, Mark Tammen, succeeded in sabotaging the meeting by getting our moderator to act unconstitutionally by delaying the call and by lobbying the commissioners who had signed the requests to withdraw their names after all the petitions were submitted. Committee of Counsel – GAPJC Case 205-3 Committee of Counsel for 12 church sessions – GAPJC Case 207-7 Board Member Presbyterians Pro-Life.1991-1997 Non-PCUSA Christian Ministry work Board Member, John Guest Evangelistic Team ~ 1992-1997 Board Member (and occasionally Chairman) Reasons To Believe (a Christian apologetics ministry – the scientific evidence for the God of the Bible. www.reasons.org.) 1986-present My wife Pam and I have three wonderful grown children. Mark, an ex-member of the US Navy SEAL Team 5, is married to Sarah and lives in Laguna Beach. Our older daughter Alison is a physician (pediatrician) practicing in Encino, Calif. She and her husband Travis Mann are both deacons at Bel Air Presbyterian Church. Our younger daughter Caroline, who just finished serving as an elder at St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church, is married to Jonathan Campbell. She is an elementary school teacher in Newport Beach. All of our children and their spouses are strongly committed Christians. I long to have an open and thorough debate on the issues that are critical to the life of our denomination, particularly in matters that concern the leadership from the office of the Stated Clerk. Before the GA meets I intend to provide a number of observations that reflect my concerns for a denomination that has had an extended constitutional crisis and a painful loss of membership.

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