wfn.org | COGA PUTS PROCESSES INTO PLACE FOR 1996 TRANSITION IN

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8-Jun-95

95196 COGA PUTS PROCESSES INTO PLACE FOR 1996 TRANSITION IN 
                    THE STATED CLERK'S OFFICE 
 
                          by Alexa Smith 
 
LOUISVILLE, Ky.--A transition process for the new General Assembly stated 
clerk and recognition of the service of longtime clerk the Rev. James E. 
Andrews were approved by the Committee on the Office of the General 
Assembly (COGA) at its May 31-June 2 meeting here. 
 
     The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) will elect and install a new stated 
clerk at the 208th General Assembly (1996) in Albuquerque, N.M. 
 
     Summing up COGA's work, the Rev. Kerry Clements, manager of Assembly 
Services, told the Presbyterian News Service, "At this point, this is how 
they see the transition process unfolding, with recognition that 
adjustments will need to be made when we are in the process itself." 
 
     The approved transition process between clerks includes: 
 
     * There will be a one-month overlap between the election of the new 
stated clerk and Andrews' departure (July 6-Aug. 5, 1996) if the new clerk 
is to begin work within 30 days of the Assembly's end. 
 
     *  If the new stated clerk cannot begin within 30 days of the 
Assembly's end, COGA will designate (on the recommendation of its Personnel 
Work Group) an acting stated clerk from the associate stated clerks. 
 
     * Upon request of the new stated clerk, Andrews will be available for 
consultation for up to three months, with a stipend to be determined in 
advance by COGA. 
 
     COGA member Bill Maloney of Glenshaw, Pa., said the working assumption 
in the group is that the new stated clerk will not have previously worked 
in the OGA office.  Consultations with Andrews are purely at the discretion 
of the new clerk, he said.  "There might be things about the job [the new 
clerk] may want assistance with," Maloney said. 
 
     COGA also has established a process for transitional work involving 
the new clerk and the committee itself, including adjusting its budget for 
one additional meeting in 1996 to assist in orientation of the new clerk. 
 
     Currently, COGA is suggesting the new clerk be installed during 
worship on the last day of the 1996 General Assembly.  The committee also 
plans to recognize Andrews during the 208th Assembly. 
 
     In other business, COGA voted to propose a change to the standing 
rules deleting term limits for the position of stated clerk -- to be 
effective after the current clerk leaves office. 
 
     "Now is the time to propose this thing," said the Rev. Oscar McCloud 
of Teaneck, N.J., chair of COGA's Personnel Work Group, describing the 
problem as one of fairness.  "The term limit does not exist anywhere else 
in the system of the Assembly ... and we have a decent process for review." 
 
     Three four-year terms is the current limit for the denomination's 
stated clerk, a limit that was instituted at reunion. 
 
     The proposed change will go to this year's General Assembly Committee 
on General Assembly Procedures. 
 
     The Personnel Work Group is now completing a draft of the position 
description for the stated clerk, which will be brought to COGA during its 
July 16 special meeting in Cincinnati. 
 
 

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For more information contact Presbyterian News Service
  Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), Louisville, KY 40202
  phone 502-569-5504            fax 502-569-8073  
  E-mail PCUSA.NEWS@pcusa.org   Web page: http://www.pcusa.org 

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