Noted Presbyterian physician-engineer becomes candidate for stated clerk By John H. Adams The Layman Online Wednesday, March 31, 2004 Dr. Alex F. Metherell, an elder who lives in Laguna Beach, Calif., has become the third evangelical in the Presbyterian Church (USA) to join the race for stated clerk of the General Assembly, the denomination's national governing body. Alex F. Metherell The election of the stated clerk will occur during the meeting of the 216th General Assembly in Richmond, Va., in June. Metherell, a physician, engineer and businessman, announced today that he has submitted the required form for running for the office, currently held by the Rev. Clifton Kirkpatrick, who is seeking his third four-year term as stated clerk. The full text of Metherell's announcement includes references to his faith, professional training, involvement in the PCUSA and family. The stated clerk is the highest ecclesiastical and constitutional officer in the denomination. Metherell is the only lay person in the field. The other two evangelicals are the Rev. Robert "Bob" Davis of the Presbytery of San Diego and the Rev. L. Rus Howard of the Presbytery of Washington in Pennsylvania. Both Davis and Howard had been campaigning intensely – primarily by questioning Kirkpatrick's leadership – through e-mail and personal contacts before Metherell announced his candidacy. Kirkpatrick, who is the nominee of the General Assembly Nominating Committee, has not publicly responded to Davis and Howard in their criticism of his work. Davis announced his candidacy on Jan. 5. Howard announced his on March 10. As the first entrant against Kirkpatrick, Davis has secured a number of endorsements, including one from the Presbyterian Coalition. Metherell drew national attention in 2003 when, using a little known section of the Book of Order, he successfully garnered enough signatures on a petition to require then-Moderator Fahed Abu-Akel to call the General Assembly back into a special session to consider how to respond to an outbreak of constitutional defiance that was creating dissension in the denomination. With the help of the stated clerk's office, Abu-Akel lobbied against that petition and eventually rejected it. The Permanent Judicial Commission of the General Assembly, the highest court in the denomination, ruled that Abu-Akel wrongly lobbied against the petition but that the stated clerk's office had committed no error in deleting names from the petition after it ruled that some of the signers backed out. Metherell briefly referred to the case in his announcement: "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." Well before Davis and Howard entered the race, Metherell was engaged in challenging the stated clerk's interpretation of church law. Metherell, a serious student of the denomination's constitution and the decisions of its courts, also served on the committees of counsel in two cases before the Permanent Judicial Commission of the General Assembly. Metherell is a Ph.D. engineer; a board-certified radiologist; an inventor; and co-founder and first medical director of Edix (now called Spheris) the largest medical transcription company with more than 3,500 employees and serving over 200,000 physicians in hospitals and clinics throughout the U.S. and Canada. "I came to this decision after much prayer and discussion with associates across the denomination," he said in a news release announcing his candidacy. "My sense of call to this position has become 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." Also in his announcement, Metherell asked the question that he has been asked. Why, with two other evangelicals in the contest, whom he described as "excellent candidates," would he join the field? "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," he said. "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 licensed physician. The objectivity and rational thinking of one with a doctorate in engineering. The innovation and problem solving ability of one with numerous scientific publications and patented inventions. The business background of running a large successful medical practice. The experience of being a co-founder of and first medical director of Edix…" Metherell is British by birth and was baptized in the Church of England. His wife, Pam, a member of the board of directors of the Presbyterian Lay Committee, is from Scotland. They were married after he received his Ph.D. in engineering from Bristol University and they moved to the United States few days later. They have been in the U.S. since. After doing post-doctoral research in engineering, Metherell returned to school, completing M.D. requirements in two years at the University of Miami School of Medicine in Florida. Metherell and his wife are elders at the 4,000-member St. Andrews Presbyterian Church in Newport Beach, Calif. They have three grown children. Metherell is an international authority on the medical implications of the scourging and crucifixion of Christ – a subject he has focused on to deepen his understanding of the atonement. He has written and illustrated the most comprehensive review of Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ – "The Most Amazing Love Story of All Time."

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