07341
June 7, 2007

Applications for stated clerk candidates will be accepted starting Sept. 23

by Evan Silverstein

LOUISVILLE — Candidates for stated clerk of the General Assembly (GA) of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) will be allowed to file applications for the position starting Sept. 23.

     The Stated Clerk Nomination Committee (SCNC), which recently began work to bring a nominee to next year’s 218th GA in San Jose, CA, will accept applications until Dec. 23.

     The deadline comes 180 days before the June 21, 2008, opening of the Assembly, as established by the Standing Rules of the General Assembly.

     Stated clerk is the PC(USA)’s highest elected ecclesiastical officer. The four-year term of current stated clerk the Rev. Clifton Kirkpatrick expires in June 2008.

     At a meeting in Louisville May 21-23, the SCNC worked on the application form and other background information for the nomination process.   

     The application form will be posted, along with a position description, on the SCNC’s Web page when it’s expected to become operational next month on the PC(USA)’s national Web site.

     Applications will also be available in July by contacting the Rev. Carol McDonald, staff resource person to the committee and co-executive at the Synod of Lincoln Trails.

     Each candidate must provide at least three and no more than five letters of reference or recommendation. The committee will notify applicants about other requirements as provided for in the Standing Rules of the General Assembly.

     The SCNC will process the applications and make its final nomination by April 22, which is 60 days before the start of the General Assembly as required by the standing rules.
 
     SCNC members are chairperson Steve Grace of Beulah, MI; Tom Adger of Atlanta; Pamila Deichmann of Winterset, IA; Joan Fong of Fremont, CA; the Rev. Anna Case-Winters of Chicago; the Rev. Helen Baily Cochrane of Bethlehem, PA; the Rev. Lyle Hillegas of Santa Barbara, CA; the Rev. John Purcell of Dallas; and the Rev. Donnie Woods of Charleston, SC.