wfn.org | Carr Says Goodbye; Search for Successor Continues

[PCUSA NEWS <pcusa.news@ecunet.org>]

23-April-1999 
99162 
 
    Carr Says Goodbye; 
    Search for Successor Continues 
 
    by Evan Silverstein 
 
PHILADELPHIA-Larry Carr, who led a restructuring of the Presbyterian Church 
(U.S.A.) Foundation and made it one of the savviest and most aggressive 
church-related financial institutions in the nation, thanked his colleagues 
and friends in an emotional farewell speech last week. 
 
    Carr's comments, which at one point had the outgoing Foundation 
president and CEO batting back tears, came when corporation officials 
gathered here April 15-18 for a trustee board meeting and the Foundation's 
bicentennial birthday celebration. 
 
    Meanwhile, the search for Carr's permanent replacement is in full 
swing. 
 
    "It is a position that I've held and a responsibility that I have 
cherished for the last six years," Carr told the board.  "So much has 
happened, there's so much I'd like to say. There are so many that I would 
like to thank. If I did all I would like to do, there would be no time left 
to do the work that needs to be done today." 
 
    Carr announced in February that he planned to resign from the post, 
which he has held since 1993. The move will allow him to rejoin his wife, 
Jean, who moved to Boston last year following her graduation from law 
school to go to work for a law firm there.  Carr will continue leading the 
Foundation until May 1, when interim CEO R. James Henderson assumes the 
duties temporarily. 
 
    In the six years of Carr's leadership, the Foundation has released a 
record $601.5 million to support church mission and ministry, according to 
board chair John R. Evans of Austin, Texas, and the corporation's total 
assets have risen from around $1 billion to nearly $1.8 billion. 
 
    In thanking his staff, Carr said, "I hope you're beginning to 
understand how incredible you are. You have accomplished things in the last 
year and a half that none of you would have believed you could have 
(done)," he said. "Keep that knowledge at the top of your mind, it will 
give you power." 
 
    Carr told his board and staff colleagues that they had "given me too 
much credit for things you have done" in the past six years. He also said: 
 
      That an early copy of the first quarter gift report indicates "we are 
on pace for a $200 million (net income) year." 
 
      That the first two months of 1999 suggested that the Foundation has 
an operating surplus of more than $200,000. 
 
      That relationships within the Foundation and between it and other 
parts of the church "are just fine." 
 
    In closing, he offered his favorite benediction, fighting back tears: 
"May the Lord bless you and keep you. May the Lord's ... face shine upon 
you. May the Lord lift up his countenance upon you." 
 
    The Rev. Phil Young, a Foundation trustee and executive for the Synod 
of the Pacific, is heading a search team charged with finding Carr's 
successor. 
 
    Young said the team is reviewing proposals from four consulting firms 
to help identify the best candidate. He said he hopes the committee will 
bring a recommendation to the board of trustees in October. 
 
    He reassured the trustees, however, that "we will not bring you a name 
until we are satisfied that it is the best possible candidate for the 
position." Following election by the Foundation board, the candidate must 
also be confirmed by the General Assembly. 
 
    Young introduced the search committee. In addition to Evans and 
Henderson, the members are board members Areta Crowell of Los Angeles, 
Georgette Huie of San Francisco, Ed Johnson of Newton, Pa.,  and Judith 
Stephens of Springfield, Ill.; Maggy Hendrix, Foundation planned giving and 
investment officer; Dennis Murphy, Foundation senior vice president and 
chief financial officer; the Rev. Cliff Kirkpatrick, PC(USA) stated clerk; 
and John Detterick, executive director of the General Assembly Council. 

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