wfn.org | Two candidates vie for stated clerk

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Note #5980 from PCUSA NEWS to PRESBYNEWS:

GA00034
June 25, 2000

	Two candidates vie for stated clerk;
	 election is set for Friday morning

	by Alexa Smith

LONG BEACH, Calif., June 25  – In a not-unexpected move, a Texas minister
was nominated from the plenary floor to oppose the incumbent stated clerk in
a bid for the denomination’s top elected ecclesiastical office.

	Though the Stated Clerk Review and Nomination Committee (SCRNC)
re-nominated the Rev. Clifton Kirkpatrick for a second four-year term last
spring, the Rev. Winfield "Casey" Jones of Pearland, Texas, announced his
intention to run for the office just after Easter.

	The Rev. Kriss Bottino of San Joaquin Presbytery nominated Jones.

	The Office of the General Assembly (OGA) immediately began shuffling 10
commissioners off of existing committees to re-form the SCRNC, which will
interview the two candidates, hear endorsements by their backers and attempt
to bring another nomination to the Assembly at 9:30 a.m. Friday.  The 10
will be added to the committee's nine original members.

	According to the Rev. William Maloney of Pittsburgh, Pa., who is chairing
the committee, five supporters of both Kirkpatrick and Jones will address
the SCRNC at 11 a.m. Monday in the conference center’s Catalina Room.  The
candidates will be questioned by the committee from 3-5 p.m. Monday.  All of
the committee’s deliberations are open.

	Maloney,  who has served as an elected member of the Committee on the
Office of the General Assembly for years, told commissioners that the SCRNC
had the "deep understanding" that it is not involved in a political process
as it reviewed the past four years’ of Kirkpatrick’s work.  That process
included a self-evaluation by the clerk, face-to-face meetings and
evaluations filed by what Maloney called "a broad spectrum" from across the
church.

	"We believed then and we still believe now that we are involved in a
process to seek out the will of God for this denomination for the office of
the stated clerk," he said. He reminded commissioners that Kirkpatrick did
not seek the clerk’s position four years ago but was sought out by members
of the committee and others in the church who "sensed a call by God for
him."

	In that time, he said, Kirkpatrick has worked to reduce politicking at the
Assembly, shifting its focus from that of a political convention to a
discerning community, has continued the denomination’s long ecumenical
commitments, has smoothly administered the OGA and launched an effort with
General Assembly Council Director John Detterick to visit all of the
presbyteries and synods in the denomination as a way of re-connecting with
middle governing bodies.

	As Kirkpatrick sat quietly on the stage, Maloney re-nominated him as a man
with a "deep sense of love for Jesus Christ, a deep sense of love for this
Presbyterian Church and a deep sense of love for things ecumenical ... to
serve again, serve you as the stated clerk of the Presbyterian Church
(U.S.A.).

	Describing Jones as a "seasoned pastor who is committed to preserving and
defending the church’s entire constitution in these difficult times,"
Bottino urged commissioners to evaluate the two candidates on their
strengths and weaknesses.  She said Jones’ 21 years of church service at
mulitiple governing body levels enables him to handle the "day-to-day
aspects" of the clerk’s position.

	Jones has long held the view that the confessional part of the
denomination’s constitution is neglected and that any decision, from the
work of sessions to top denominational bodies, ought to be grounded in
relevant confessional statements.

	Bottino, who is a board member of the conservative group The Presbyterian
Forum, told commissioners Jones is a man of "sensitivity and compassion,
mixed with a deep understanding of the biblical mandate for justice."

	The now 19-member SCRNC has the task of outlining the qualifications of
each candidate for commissioners by Friday morning.  It has the choice of
recommending a single nominee or not.  Both candidates’ names will be on the
ballot regardless and each candidate will take questions from commissioners.

	The 10 re-assigned commissioners are William Turner of Balitmore
Presbytery; David Herron of East Iowa; Jackie Patterson of Florida; George
McCall of Missouri Union; Judith Roberts of Giddings-Lovejoy; Emily
Wharton-Koehler of Tampa Bay; Boyd Hahn of Wabash Valley; James Zazzera of
Sacramento; Sandra Burney of Philadelphia; and Carolyn Raffenspierger of
White Water Valley.

	The Rev. Syngman Rhee, who moderated the meeting, thanked the commissioners
for their willingness to be re-assigned from their original committees.

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