wfn.org | Five candidates nominated for Stated Clerk

[George Conklin <gconklin@igc.apc.org>]

30-June-1996 
 
GA96014 
 
 
    Five candidates nominated for Stated Clerk 
 
    The election of the next stated clerk of the Presbyterian Church 
(U.S.A.) is now a five-way race. 
 
    Following the nomination of the Rev. Clifton Kirkpatrick by the Stated 
Clerk Review/Nomination committee, four nominations were made from the 
floor of the 208th General Assembly Saturday afternoon. 
 
    Those nominated from the floor were W. Clark Chamberlain, a Houston, 
Texas, minister and attorney who serves as stated clerk of the Synod of the 
Sun; Richard Dolin, a Louisville, Ky., attorney and minister who serves as 
stated clerk of Louisville Presbytery; John D. Matta, attorney and stated 
clerk of Pittsburgh Presbytery; and  James B. Railing, a Scottsburg, Ind., 
attorney and elder. 
 
    Kirkpatrick is director of the Worldwide Ministries Division of the 
General Assembly. His nomination followed an 11-month application, review 
and interview process by the nine-member committee. 
 
    Speaking for the committee, its moderator, Brian D. Ellison, compared 
the selection process to a pastor nominating committee (PNC), but added 
that unlike a PNC, the committee's nominee might face competition. "Let's 
be careful not to think of the Stated Clerk's election as simply an 
additional moderator's election," he said. "... The Stated Clerk has a 
long-term full-time job with the potential to set a tone for the whole life 
of the church for years to come ... ." 
 
    After committee member Emily Spicer, an elder from Cincinnati, Ohio, 
officially placed Kirkpatrick's name in nomination, there was a motion from 
minister commissioner James F. Bernhardt (Great Rivers Presbytery) to close 
the nomination process. The motion -- which would have needed a two-thirds 
majority because it called for a suspension of the standing rules -- failed 
by a 75-431 vote. 
 
    The other four candidates were then nominated by commissioners who had 
five minutes each to speak to the Assembly. In response to a commissioner's 
question, Ellison said all four had applied for the position, but were not 
among the four finalists interviewed by his committee. 
 
    Chamberlain is no stranger to the Stated Clerk election process. In 
1992 he was nominated from the floor of the 204th General Assembly in 
Milwaukee, Wis., and defeated James Andrews, who had been nominated for 
re-election by the search committee.  Chamberlain later withdrew and 
Andrews was re-elected. 
 
    Dolin,  a parish associate at Harvey Browne Church in Louisville, 
attended Louisville Theological Seminary and law school at the same time. 
In addition to a 23-year career in law, he has also been a college 
instructor and co-pastor of a congregation. 
 
    Matta, who was a senior counsel with PPG Industries, Inc., for 25 
years, also has practiced law privately, served as administrative assistant 
to a federal judge and worked as a newspaper reporter. An elder since 1971, 
he has also served as chair of the Pittsburgh Presbytery council and as a 
member of its board of trustees. 
 
    Railing serves as moderator of Ohio Valley Presbytery, where he is also 
a member of the permanent judicial commission and serves on several 
presbytery committees. He has been engaged in the general practice of law 
since 1978. He was a founding member and is a past president of the United 
Way of Scott County, Ind. 
 
    Moderator Marj Carpenter appointed 10 commissioners to serve on a 
Candidate Review committee which will interview the five nominees. The 
committee members are: ministers Isaac Butterworth,  Janice Hilkerbaumer, 
Ted Wardlaw, George Hardy and Myra Kazanjian; elders Ming Wang, Walter 
McQuie, Howard Borgman, Etheletta Charles and Ruth Dixon. They will be 
joined by the nine members of the nominating committee. Ellison will 
moderate the review group and Wardlaw will be vice moderator. 
 
    The review committee, meeting at the same time as the other GA 
committees, will assemble material on the candidates and publish it for 
distribution to the commissioners and advisory delegates. The election of 
the Stated Clerk will be the first item of business on Friday, July 5. 
 
 
John Sniffen 

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