Moderator opposes
called
meeting of General Assembly
By John H.
Adams
The Layman
Online
Monday,
November 11, 2002
MINNEAPOLIS
– Fahed Abu Akel, the moderator of the 214th General Assembly of
the Presbyterian Church (USA), has made it clear that he is opposed to
calling the commissioners back to an historic second session to deal
with constitutional issues.
Nonetheless, while addressing participants in the Covenant Network
national conference Nov. 8, he did not say how he will respond to a
petition drive for a second session if that campaign succeeds in
obtaining the required number of signatures.
Alex Metherell, an elder commissioner from Laguna Beach, Calif., has
been leading the campaign to get the constitutionally required 25 elders
and 25 ministers from the 214th General Assembly to sign the petition.
He said recently that the campaign is "breathtakingly close"
to success and that he needs only a handful of signatures.
If that total is reached, the 50-plus commissioners will officially ask
Akel to call the special session to respond to the wave of defiance by
ministers and elders who object to the denomination's prohibition
against ordaining active gays, lesbians, bisexual and transgendered
Presbyterians.
But Akel told the Covenant Network, which is fiercely opposed to the
denomination's ordination standard, that he opposes having a special
session of the General Assembly for two reasons:
- He said the General Assembly would be unlikely to resolve in a
few days an issue that has been simmering in the denomination for
decades. A native of a Palestinian village, Akel pointed to the feud
between Palestinians and Israelis of an example of how serious
contentions are not quickly settled. He did not mention that three
general assemblies and three national referendums have declared that
the ordination standard – G-6.0106b in the Book of Order
– will be the law of the church.
- The 215th General Assembly could meet within a month of the 214th
General Assembly, which, he said, provides little time between
whatever the 214th General Assembly might do during its special
meeting and the possible canceling action of the new General
Assembly.
Akel did not address the growing defiance movement or that
presbyteries have summarily dismissed complaints, even though dozens of
elders and ministers have issued public statements that they will not
obey and/or have not obeyed church law.
Of the more than 20 complaints that have been filed, none has resulted
in a decision at the presbytery level that would result in disciplinary
action against church officers.
The ordination question is not the only issue. Church officers also
have publicly declared their defiance of church law that prohibits
ministers from "marrying" homosexual couples, accepts into
membership people who are agnostic and do not explicitly state their
faith in Christ, admit to the communion table people who are not
Christian, and relegate Jesus to being a savior among many saviors.
Akel also delivered an address at the Covenant Network conference
focusing on peace and, particularly, an understanding of the central
problem in the Mideast: the relationship between the Palestinians and
the Arabs.
"When the time comes that people live in peace," he said, "imagine
what will happen – a billion Christians will want to visit where
Jesus was born."
The situation now, said Akel, who recently visited Israel and the
Palestinian village where he was reared in a Christian family, is
devastating to the tourist traffic and the economy of the Palestinians.
"Their schools are closed," he said. "Their universities
are closed. And their income is $2 a day."
Akel did not condemn either Palestinians or Israelis, but he did call
for some understanding as to why Palestinians have murdered innocent
people by suicide bombers.
It is hard to expect "a Palestinian whose dad is dead, whose mother
is dead, whose brother is dead, whose sister is dead to behave in a
normal way," he said.
During the conference's closing worship service, Akel delivered the
prayer – again focusing on peace, and praying both for the
Palestinians and the Jews.
On the issue of calling for a special session of the General Assembly,
Akel joined a bevy of denominational leaders in opposing the effort.
Besides his comments to the Covenant Network, he sent the following
letter to commissioners to the 214th General Assembly:
- To Commissioners to the 214th General Assembly (2002)
- Dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ,
- I bring you greetings in the name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus
Christ. As we near the Thanksgiving holiday, I give thanks for the
bounty of God's many blessings. I am most grateful for the gift of
the Prince of Peace, whose coming we anticipate again in the season
of Advent and Christmas.
- I also bring you greetings from the many places across the
denomination I have visited on your behalf as Moderator. As I
approach the midway point of my year as Moderator, having visited
churches large and small, presbyteries, and synods, I can share and
celebrate with you that our church is alive and busy in mission!
Even as I have encountered presbyteries that are dealing with
judicial issues and other pressing matters, I am grateful for the
commitment and care people show to one another and for the way in
which our Presbyterian system works.
- Hanging over the celebration at present, however, is a cloud. As
commissioners, you have been contacted to ask for your signatures on
a petition calling for a special meeting of the General Assembly.
One of the letters you received may give you the impression that I
support a called Assembly. I am not in favor of such a meeting. I
want to thank my brothers in Christ, Laird Stuart and Jerry
Tanskerley, for their joint letter that discouraged support of a
called meeting. In addition, the Committee on the Office of the
General Assembly has offered to you wise counsel in stating reasons
why a special meeting would not be helpful to the life of the
church.
- I want to offer to you my reasons for not having a called
meeting. I ask you prayerfully to consider or reconsider the
following: The reason for the special meeting given in the petition
requires an interpretation of the Constitution. According to G-13.0112c
of our Book of Order, this requires a 120-day notice prior to the
meeting. This means that I would not be able to call a special
assembly until late March at the earliest – right before the
215th General Assembly convenes in May. Even if we had a special
meeting, we could not intervene in the judicial system, which is one
of the reasons being given for calling the meeting. Further, the
time, energy, and money that we would spend on a special meeting
need to be spent in mission in the name of Christ. Spending our
resources on a called meeting seems to me to be out of place, given
the current global situation and the possibility that our country
may begin a war with Iraq in a very short time.
- In Columbus, our theme was "Ambassadors for Christ."
We made many decisions that contributed to the peace, unity and
purity of the church. We are called to continue as ambassadors even
now – praying for our church and focusing on unity and mission.
- May God give you wisdom and strength in your work and witness in
this great church in the name of Jesus Christ.
- Peace/Salaam,
- The Rev. Dr. Fahed Abu-Akel
- Moderator, 214th General Assembly (2002)
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