The complaint says the officials erred by not immediately calling for a special session of the 214th General Assembly when presented with a petition to that effect on Jan. 14.
The complaint says the named parties have “failed to fulfill the requirements of the Book of Order to call the 214th General Assembly into special session, and have otherwise conspired together and acted contrary to the polity of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) to prevent the 214th General Assembly from being recalled into special session.”
“Complainant requests that the Permanent Judicial Commission of the General Assembly order the respondents … to cease all efforts to interfere with recalling the 214th General Assembly into session, and that the Permanent Judicial Commission of the General Assembly issue an order directing the appropriate respondents to immediately call the 214th General Assembly into special session not more than 60 days from January 14, 2003.” (full text of complaint – see below)
“Since the moderator and stated clerk have not merely abandoned their duties, but are themselves acting to subvert the Constitution, I believe the GAPJC needs to intervene to force them to follow the mandate of the Book of Order,” said Jensen in an e-mail to news media. “Those elected to lead our church can no longer be allowed to engage in their campaign to defy the will of the majority of faithful Presbyterians.”
“I pray that the GAPJC will act quickly and restore confidence in our Presbyterian polity,” he added.
Jensen, an attorney living in Northern Virginia, is a member of St. Andrews church, Newport Beach, Calif., the same congregation attended by the leader of the effort to recall the Assembly, physician and elder Alex Metherall, Jensen has also filed dozens of complaints against individuals and sessions around the country, saying that they are not upholding the church¹s Constitution on the rule against ordaining active homosexuals.
The Office of the General Assembly (OGA) responded that it had received the remedial complaint. “The parties named [in the complaint] continue to abide by the Constitution of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) as we continue to process the petition presented to the moderator asking him to call a special General Assembly. We will appoint a committee of counsel to respond to the complaint,” said the OGA release.
The OGA also issued a series of questions and answers relating to the call for a special session of the 214th General Assembly.
“Many conversations are taking place across the denomination regarding the possibility of a called special assembly. What follows are answers to the most frequently asked questions about a special assembly.
Q: What are the rights and duties of the moderator regarding a called special assembly?
A: The Book of Order (G-13.0104) says that the moderator “shall” call a special assembly at the request of the requisite number of minister and elder commissioners. The moderator intends to call the special assembly as soon as the Office of the General Assembly (OGA) receives verification about and from the commissioners who signed the petition.
Q: What is verification and why is it necessary?
A: Verification assures the integrity of votes and the protection of the rights of commissioners in making decisions. Verification is done in other ways in the OGA‹certifying commissioners to an assembly, verifying votes on constitutional amendments, and approving the vote count for the next moderator before the result is announced to the assembly. Verification in this situation insures that there are 25 minister and 25 elder commissioners (from the appropriate spread of presbyteries) to the 214th General Assembly who want a special assembly. This is especially important in this situation, given that some commissioners whose names are on the petition contacted the stated clerk within hours of the petition being presented to the Moderator, stating that their names should not be included on the petition. In addition, the presenter of the petition informed the Stated Clerk, after the presentation of the petition, that one of the names appearing on the petition should not be included.
Q: What is the verification process?
A: On Jan. 14, the moderator received the petition requesting that he call a special assembly. By the next day, the OGA was contacting stated clerks of the presbyteries in which the signers of the petition are located, asking them to verify that the commissioner(s) within their presbyteries are still in good standing. Upon receipt of this verification, the OGA sent a letter to the commissioners who had been verified, asking them to certify with their signature that they desire a special assembly.
Q: What if one or more of the commissioners cannot be reached for verification?
A: The presumption is that the signers of the petition want a special assembly. The only votes that will be counted as not favoring a special assembly will be the ones so marked and received from the commissioners indicating such.
Q: Which is correct: 60-day or 120-day notice?
A: Both are correct and required in this situation. The Book of Order (G-13.0104) requires that commissioners to a special assembly receive notice at least 60 days in advance. G-13.0112c states that all matters requiring constitutional interpretation shall be presented to the stated clerk 120 days prior to the convening of the assembly. The purposes listed in the petition deal only with matters related to interpreting the meaning of the Constitution for our current situation in the PC(USA). For more details, please go to “The Stated Clerk Responds” at www.pcusa.org/oga.
Q: Can a special assembly still be called with a 120-day notice? If so, where will it be held?
A: Yes. The 120-day provision means that a special assembly would be convened between (no earlier than) May 15, 2003, and the beginning of the 215th General Assembly on May 24, 2003. The OGA is currently researching possible locations for a special assembly. Factors include cost and availability.
Q: When will we know if the moderator will be calling a special assembly?
A: As soon as the OGA has received verification from commissioners
who signed the petition‹or the OGA has exhausted everything possible way to contact commissioners and has not been successful‹and it is determined that the minimum requirements are met as outlined in question #1, the moderator will be advised that it is in order to call a special assembly.
SESSION, WESTMINSTER PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH OF CANTON, OHIO, Complainant,
vs.
OFFICE OF THE STATED CLERK OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY; OFFICE OF THE MODERATOR OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY; COMMITTEE ON THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY; FAHED ABU-AKEL, as Moderator of the Presbyterian Church (USA); CLIFTON KIRKPATRICK, as Stated Clerk of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (USA), Respondents.
_________________________________________________
REMEDIAL COMPLAINT
D-6.0101; D-6.0202 (b) (2)
1. The Session of the Westminster Presbyterian Church of Canton, Ohio hereby complains to the Permanent Judicial Commission of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (USA) against the Office of the Stated Clerk of the General Assembly; the Office of the Moderator of the General Assembly; the Committee on the General Assembly; Fahed Abu-Akel as Moderator of the General Assembly; and Clifton Kirkpatrick as Stated Clerk of the General Assembly, in that respondents, and each of them, have at all times since January 14, 2003, failed to fulfill the requirements of the Book of Order to call the 214th General Assembly into special session, and have otherwise conspired together and acted contrary to the polity of the Presbyterian Church (USA) to prevent the 214th General Assembly from being recalled into special session.
2. Complainants believe that the actions of respondents, and each of them, was irregular and that respondents, and each of them, have failed to act as constitutionally required in the following particulars:
A. On January 14, 2003, Dr. Alex Metherell, a Commissioner to the 214th General Assembly, during a combined meeting of the General Assembly Council and the Committee on the General Assembly, personally served Moderator Abu-Akel with the original written requests of 57 commissioners of the 214th General Assembly that the Moderator call a special session of the 214th General Assembly. These requests were signed by 26 minister commissioners and 31 elder commissioners representing 46 presbyteries under the jurisdiction of all 16 synods in the denomination.
B. Section G-13.0104 of the Book of Order provides, in pertinent part, as follows: “The Moderator shall call a special meeting at the request or with the concurrence of twenty-five elders and twenty-five ministers, representing at least fifteen presbyteries, under the jurisdiction of at least five synods, all of whom must have been commissioners to the last preceding stated meeting of the General Assembly. Should the Moderator be unable to act, the Stated Clerk shall, under the same conditions, issue the call …. Commissioners to the special meeting shall be the commissioners elected to the last preceding stated meeting of the General Assembly or their alternates. A presbytery may, however, elect a commissioner or alternate instead of one who has died or changed presbytery membership. Notice of a special meeting shall be sent not less than sixty days in advance to each commissioner…”
C. Subsequently, respondents, and each of them, met to conspire together to circumvent the mandate of the foregoing section of the Book of Order. They devised a plan whereby they would claim that 120 days notice was required before the meeting could be held, and that therefore the special session was improper because it would be held on the eve of the 215th General Assembly. In furtherance of this conspiracy, a letter was sent to each of the 57 commissioners, asking each to reconsider their request for a special session, notwithstanding the fact that the Book of Order does not allow for such a request to be withdrawn.
D. On January 16, 2003, Dr. Alex Metherell personally delivered to respondent Office of the Stated Clerk, a written request that the Stated Clerk call the special session, given the failure of the Moderator to do so.
E. On January 16, 2003, the Stated Clerk mailed letters to some or all of the commissioners who had requested that the 214th General Assembly be called into special session, ostensibly asking those commissioners to verify their signatures, but in reality constituting a request for a new vote on the subject of their request for a special session, thereby effectively nullifying the initial written requests already delivered to the Moderator on January 14th as alleged above, which original requests were in no way insufficient and the delivery of which to the Moderator triggered the necessity for the Moderator to call the 214th General Assembly into special session.
F. As of this writing, neither the Moderator nor the Stated Clerk has issued the required call for the special session.
3. Complainant is a session of a congregation of the Presbyterian Church (USA), and as such has the right to complain pursuant to Book of Order section D-0202(b) (2). Respondents are each entities of the General Assembly.
4. Complainant requests that the Permanent Judicial Commission of the General Assembly order the respondents, and each of them, to cease all efforts to interfere with recalling the 214th General Assembly into session, and that the Permanent Judicial Commission of the General Assembly issue an order directing the appropriate respondents to immediately call the 214th General Assembly into special session not more than 60 days from January 14, 2003.
Dated: January 21, 2003 SESSION OF WESTMINSTER PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
