Professional Ministry Experience

Stated Clerk of the General Assembly
Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)
1996 to present
Elected as Stated Clerk at the 208th General Assembly (1996). Chief executive officer of the Office of the General Assembly, responsible for interpreting the Constitution, promoting the unity of the Church, conducting the annual session of the General Assembly, and preserving the historical record of the denomination. The Stated Clerk is the senior continuing officer of the General Assembly charged with communicating the actions of the Assembly, representing that body in a wide variety of settings both within and beyond the church, and giving overall leadership for the spiritual well being of the church.

Director, Worldwide Ministries Division
Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)
1993 to 1996

Director, Global Mission Ministry Unit
Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)
1987 to 1993

Director, Division of International Mission
General Assembly Mission Board
Presbyterian Church U.S.
1981 to 1987
Director of the agencies for world mission of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). Leader of the Presbyterian Church's ministries in the United States and in over 80 other nations in the areas of evangelism, education, health, world service, and development. Pastor and administrator for over 1000 missionaries. Preacher and interpreter of world mission in churches and governing bodies within the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and throughout the world. Leader for the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) in partnerships with churches in over 80 nations and in ecumenical and interfaith relations.

Executive Director
Houston Metropolitan Ministries
1972 to 1981
Executive Director for the major interfaith agency in Houston, Texas with ministries in the areas of aging, hunger, institutional chaplaincy, youth services, community development, prison ministry, refugee resettlement, and ecumenical relations.

Executive Director
Fort Worth Area Council of Churches
1969-1972
Chief Executive for the agency for cooperation and service for 127 Protestant and Catholic Churches in Tarrant County, Texas.

Assistant Director
Greater Dallas Council of Churches
1968-1969
Assistant to the Chief Executive for the metropolitan ecumenical agency of Dallas, Texas.

Formal Education

• Davidson College
  Bachelor of Arts Degree (1966)
• Yale University
  Master of Divinity Degree (1968)
• Harvard University
  Merrill Fellow (post-graduate fellowship award)
  Spring term (1975)
• McCormick Theological Seminary
  Doctor of Ministry Degree (1981)

Honorary Degrees

• Westminster College (Pennsylvania)
  Doctor of Divinity Degree (1990)
• Hannam University (Korea)
  Doctor of Literature Degree (1995)
• Silliman University (Philippines)
  Doctor of Humanities (2001)

Service to the Wider Church

• Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) General Assembly
• Commissioner, 1978 General Assembly, Presbyterian Church, U.S.
• Corresponding Member of every General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)
• Member, General Assembly Committee on Ecumenical Relations.
• Member, Moderator's Special Committee on Reconciliation with the Presbyterian Lay Committee
• Member and Secretary, Board of Trustees, Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) Foundation
• Corresponding Member and Recording Secretary, General Assembly Council
• Member, Committee for the Presbyterian Historical Society
• Member, Special Committee on the Consultation on Church Union
• National Council of Churches of Christ in the U.S.A.
• Member of the General Assembly and Executive Committee
• Member of the Board of Directors, Church World Service
• Executive Committee Member and former Chair of Division of Overseas Ministries.
• World Council of Churches
• Member of the Executive and Central Committees
• Commission Member, Commission on World Mission and Evangelism.
• Delegate to Seventh Assembly (Canberra, 1991) and Eighth Assembly, (Harare, 1998).
• World Alliance of Reformed Churches
• Member of the General Council, Seoul, Korea, 1989, and Debrecen, Hungary, 1997.
• Member of Mission in Unity Project Committee
• Executive Committee Member
• Board of Trustees, National Interfaith Cable Coalition
• Council of Presidents, United States Chapter of the World Conference on Religion and Peace
• Minister Member of New Covenant Presbytery
• Member, Association of Stated Clerks
• Life Member and Past President, National Association of Ecumenical Staff

Personal and Civic

Married to Diane Worthington Kirkpatrick, Director for Habitat for Humanity of Louisville.

Two children: Elizabeth, who is the pastor of the Graniteville Presbyterian Church of Graniteville, Vermont and David, who is working in wind energy development in Tehachapi, California.

One grandchild: Katherine Elizabeth Brucken, who is two years old and absolutely beautiful!

Active participant and affiliate member of Springdale Presbyterian Church, Louisville, KY.

Member, Advisory Committee, Americans United for Humanitarian Trade with Cuba.

Chair of Successful School Age Youth Community Investment Team and member of the Cabinet.

Involved with United Way of Metro Louisville.

Co-author with William Hopper of What Unites Presbyterians: Common Ground for Troubled Times.

Statement from the Stated Clerk

Dear Presbyterian Friends and Colleagues:

I am extremely grateful for the affirmation of my ministry by the Stated Clerk Review/ Nomination Committee elected by the 215th General Assembly. I am pleased and honored to learn of their intention to re-nominate me for another term as Stated Clerk of the General Assembly.

It continues to be a great honor to serve this church as its Stated Clerk and to work closely with so many other faithful Presbyterians in seeking to build up our church as the body of Christ in accord with the wonderful core values of our Constitution that have been and continue to be at the heart of my ministry:

• that Jesus Christ is the Head of the Church and the Word of God
• that the Great Ends of the Church are our common calling
• that we uphold a generous orthodoxy growing out of scripture and the confessions that affirms the great themes of the Reformed faith
• that we hold to an ecclesiology built on covenant community and a commitment to Christian unity.

In partnership with my colleague, John Detterick, I have spent much of the last three years in consultation with 115 of our presbyteries and synods. A number of common themes have emerged in those dialogues and conversations:

• A growing and widespread consensus that evangelism is our first calling and that justice is God's great intention for humankind
• A passion to revitalize our congregations
• A priority for reaching out to the rich multicultural reality of God's people that are among us
• A focus on building a new generation of leaders for the life and mission of the PC(USA)
• A valuing of our polity with its emphasis on discerning the will of God through the collective and shared leadership of ministers and elders
• A hunger for the peace, unity and purity of our church.

I share these passions and, if re-elected by the 216th General Assembly, look forward, with a great deal of enthusiasm, to joining those in our congregations, presbyteries and synods in being faithful to God's call to build up our church as a faithful expression of the body of Christ.

Grace and peace,

Clifton Kirkpatrick
Stated Clerk of the General Assembly
January 29, 2004

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