wfn.org | Kirkpatrick Installed as Stated Clerk

[PCUSA.NEWS@ecunet.org]

09-July-1996 
 
GA96126       Kirkpatrick Installed as Stated Clerk 
 
ALBUQUERQUE--The Rev. Clifton Kirkpatrick was installed as Stated Clerk of 
the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) during the final session of the 208th 
General Assembly in Albuquerque Saturday, July 6. 
     Kirkpatrick easily won on the first ballot of a five-way race the 
previous day. He received 386 votes or 71 percent of the ballots cast. 
Closest runners up were the Rev. W. Clark Chamberlain with 63 votes and 
James B. Railing with 61 votes. John Matta received 27 votes and Richard A. 
Dolin got five. 
     The Stated Clerk serves a six-year term, so Kirkpatrick's tenure 
should carry through the year 2000. He succeeds the Rev. James E. Andrews 
who has held the post for 12 years. 
     The installation service was a family affair as Kirkpatrick's 
daughter, the Rev. Elizabeth R. Kirkpatrick-Brucken read the charge to the 
new stated clerk. "Dad, you are an agent of God's reconciling love. You 
bring with you to this office God's gift of a peacemaker, a leader, an 
administrator and a dedicated servant," she said during the charge.  
     It was a trade-out of roles as 10 months ago the father read the 
charge to the daughter when she became pastor of First Presbyterian Church 
of Eminence, Ky. Also by Kirkpatrick's side after the election and for the 
installation was his wife, Diane. A son, David, recently returned from 
Scotland and was not able to be present. 
     After the election, Kirkpatrick met with the General Assembly Council 
to tender his resignation as director of the Worldwide Ministries Division 
effective Aug. 5. He has served as leader of international ministries for 
this denomination and one of its predecessors since 1981. 
     Brian Ellison, chair of the Stated Clerk Review/Nominating Committee, 
noted that while the PC(USA)'s international ministries division was losing 
a leader,  the denomination was really gaining a new missionary. "Cliff's 
vision ... has everything to do with mission, indeed with proclaiming the 
good news of Jesus Christ. There is a sense in which we are not merely here 
to install a stated clerk today, but to commission a missionary, a 
missionary to us." 
     Ellison's committee, which started work 11 months ago, unanimously 
nominated Kirkpatrick at the start of the Assembly in Albuquerque. After 
four candidates were nominated from the floor on June 29, 10 commissioners 
were named by Moderator Marj Carpenter to join the nine members of the 
original nomination committee. After interviewing the candidates, listening 
to their supporters and reviewing their qualifications, this enlarged 
group, also led by Ellison, submitted Kirkpatrick as the best qualified of 
the five candidates.  
     While the committee's endorsement was not unanimous, it also noted 
that the five members who voted against the endorsement felt the Book of 
Order and the church's standing rules do not permit endorsement of one 
candidate. 
     After electing Kirkpatrick, the Assembly also approved the review 
committee's recommendation that the Committee on the Office of the General 
Assembly review the standing rules for electing a stated clerk. 
     During his pre-election speech to the Assembly, Kirkpatrick said he 
wanted to work to bring together the diverse factions in the Presbyterian 
Church. 
     "We can all agree that win-lose politics, turf battles, big egos, 
narrow self-interest groups, all of which are far too common in our church 
have no place in this vision of leadership," he said. "On other hand there 
is plenty of space for win-win approaches to conflict resolution, for 
carrying out our particular ministries in ways that also affirm others." 
     In response to a question about the potential loss of churches from 
the denomination, Kirkpatrick said it was his intention to start working 
immediately after the Assembly ends to do everything possible to convince 
churches that leaving the PC(USA) is not the answer to their concerns. 
     He said that the church in which he grew up was now part of another 
Presbyterian denomination. Noting the pain such a decision puts upon a 
congregation and the need for unity in the church, he said he doesn't want 
to see it happen to other churches. 
          A native of Harlingen, Texas, Kirkpatrick holds a doctor of 
ministry degree from McCormick Theological Seminary and is a graduate of 
Davidson College. Prior to joining the PC(USA)'s national staff, he worked 
for ecumenical organizations in Dallas, Fort Worth and Houston. 
 
John Sniffen 

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