wfn.org | PPC Board Elects New Leadership

[PCUSA.NEWS@pcusa.org]

6-August-1997 
97301 
 
    PPC Board Elects New Leadership 
 
    by Julian Shipp 
 
LOUISVILLE, Ky.--During a closed session here July 21-22, the Presbyterian 
Publishing Corporation (PPC) board of directors elected its new leadership. 
 
    The new PPC board chair is the Rev. Robert W. Bohl of Prairie Village, 
Kan. William A. Longbrake of Seattle is treasurer, and Douglas A. Deatz of 
Louisville, Ky., is PPC senior vice president and corporate treasurer. 
 
    Richard E. Brown and Stephen C. Metzger, both of Louisville, Ky., were 
elected vice presidents. The remaining PPC board members are Jerine W. 
Clark of Shaker Heights, Ohio; William S. Dillon of Arlington Heights, 
Ill.; Deborah F. Mullen of Chicago; Barbara Wheeler of North Granville, 
N.Y.; Robert R. Laha Jr. of Shreveport, La.; James Baskin of San Antonio; 
Wanda Fuller of Louisville, Ky.; and the Rev. Frank Diaz, interim executive 
director of the General Assembly Council. 
 
    According to Davis Perkins, PPC president and publisher, PPC board 
members (with the exception of  Perkins and Diaz, who serve on the board by 
virtue of their office) are elected for up to three three-year terms. 
 
    Perkins praised Price H. Gwynn III, former PPC board chair of 
Charlotte, N.C., who opted to relinquish his leadership role after four 
years of service. 
 
    "Price Gwynn has provided magnificent leadership as chair of the PPC 
board of directors," Perkins told the Presbyterian News Service. "The 
success of PPC as the denominational publisher of the PC(USA) is directly 
attributable to his efforts. His business background, his passion for this 
great church and his commitment to the transmission of the gospel have 
combined to benefit PPC and the denomination in immediate and tangible 
ways." 
 
    Perkins also hailed Bohl, Gwynn's successor. 
 
    "I am very pleased with the election of Robert Bohl to succeed Price 
Gwynn," he said. "[Bohl's] penetrating intellect, his familiarity with all 
parts of this church through his term as moderator and via his service on a 
seminary board as well as on other national boards and agencies, and the 
fact that [he] is senior minister at the PC(USA)'s second largest church 
will undoubtedly serve PPC well. Anyone who knows Bob Bohl at all realizes 
that he is a person of consummate integrity and one of our denomination's 
great leaders." 
 
    During the 209th General Assembly (1997) in Syracuse, N.Y., PPC was 
commended by the Assembly following the report of the Assembly Committee 
assigned to review it. The fledgling corporation was founded three years 
ago. 
 
    Gwynn, who is also a former General Assembly moderator, said he was 
pleased to report the corporation is "alive and well," which was not true 
three years ago. 
 
    Gwynn said that $2.8 million in loans is fully repaid and the 
corporation is debt free. Good employee morale, adequate sales, predictable 
expenses and a bank balance of $3.8 million are the reasons he cited for 
high enthusiasm and optimism among PPC board members. 

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