KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- The General Assembly Permanent Judicial Commission (PJC) of the Presbyterian Church (USA) ruled on March 19 that moderator Fahed Abu-Akel "acted improperly" when he implored commissioners "in the name of Christ and for the good of the Presbyterian Church (USA)" not to press for a special meeting of the 214th General Assembly.

However, according to the Presbyterian News Service, the commission still dismissed the complaint against Abu-Akel, saying that in this case he "was not required to call a special meeting" because he had not received "sufficient requests" to do so.

The PJC said Abu-Akel's opposition to the special Assembly "had the appearance of seeking to undermine the rights of commissioners" to last year's General Assembly.

The commission members said the Rev. Abu-Akel was right to require verification of the standing and the signatures of the 57 commissioners who allegedly had requested the meeting. And it said he was right in asserting that the Book of Order would require 120 days' notice of such an Assembly, because the business it was to deal with would have required interpretation of the PC (USA) constitution.

In the present case, the commission ruled, "The office of the moderator conducted further inquiry to verify the intention of the requesters," an action that it said was not improper. It said the verification process Abu-Akel ordered "was required for the maintenance of order and the just execution of the office."

The commission also said that a moderator, as "an ambassador of this General Assembly," has a right to communicate with the church, and thus Abu-Akel was acting appropriately in November when he "expressed his concerns regarding a special meeting."

On Jan. 14, Dr. Alex Metherell, a California engineer and physician, asked Abu-Akel to call last year's Assembly back into session to address what he calls a "constitutional crisis" in the PC (USA). He and his attorney in the case, Paul Rolf Jensen, blames the crisis on individuals and governing bodies that have defied or failed to enforce the so-called "fidelity/chastity" provision of the PC(USA) constitution.

That provision, section G-6.0106b of the Book of Order, says candidates for ordination must "live either in fidelity within the covenant of marriage between a man and a woman, or chastity in singleness." It was added to the Book of Order in 1997 to prevent the ordination of unrepentant gay and lesbian candidates for ministry.