08312
April 22, 2008
Ed Koster to stand for election as GA stated clerk
First challenger to Gradye Parsons is Detroit Presbytery stated clerk
The Rev. Edward H. Koster LOUISVILLE — The Rev. Edward H. Koster, stated clerk of Detroit Presbytery, has announced that he will stand for election as General Assembly stated clerk of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.).
Koster is the first announced challenger to the nominee of the Assembly’s Stated Clerk Nomination Committee (SCNC), the Rev. Gradye Parsons, who is currently associate stated clerk and director of operations for the Office of the General Assembly. The election will take place June 27 during the 218th PC(USA) General Assembly in San Jose, CA.
“We know Ed Koster, have seen his dedication to Jesus Christ and his church, and have observed his skills in his work as stated clerk of the presbytery,” Neil Cowling, a spokesperson for Advisors to Ed Koster, said in a prepared statement. “For eight months we have been advising, meeting with him, and praying with him as he has described his sense that God has called him to seek election. We believe that his call is genuine, and that if elected he will make an outstanding Stated Clerk.”
Koster, a minister and lawyer, was one of 14 applicants who sought the nomination of the SCNC. Only persons who went through that application process are eligible to challenge Parsons under Assembly rules.
He said, “I feel that God has called me to serve the church in this way, to lift up issues I see from my experience in the church as pastor, attorney and 13 years as stated clerk of the Presbytery of Detroit. I believe that while our leadership has been faithful and competent, it has increasingly strayed from the core of the church. If I am called to serve, I believe I can make a difference.”
Koster is a graduate of the United States Naval Academy and Union Theological Seminary and Presbyterian School of Christian Education in Richmond, VA. He also holds a master’s degree in Near Eastern studies from the University of Michigan, where he specialized in Old Testament history.
Koster served as pastor of Calvary Presbyterian Church in Ann Arbor, MI, for 10 years, during which time he also served as chaplain in the Washtenaw County Jail, president of the Ann Arbor Council of Churches and chaplain at the Veterans Affairs hospital in Ann Arbor.
He entered the University of Toledo College of Law in 1988 and began his law practice in Ann Arbor in 1992. He practices in the Washtenaw County Juvenile Court in cases of abuse, neglect and delinquency. He is trained by the Michigan Supreme Court Administrator’s Office as a mediator and mediator trainer in Michigan’s community mediation program.
Koster has served since 1995 as the stated clerk of the Presbytery of Detroit. He is a parish associate at First Presbyterian Church, Ann Arbor.
The election to the position will take place at the General Assembly June 21-28. Nominations will be made on the evening of June 22nd, and the election will take place on the morning of the 27th. Koster will be nominated by his pastor, the Rev. Douglas Brouwer. The Presbytery of Detroit voted to support Koster when he announced in January that he had submitted his application.
The stated clerk is an officer of the General Assembly, responsible for arrangements for the biennial meetings of the PC(USA), publishing and announcing the proceedings of the Assembly, giving advisory opinions on the constitution of the church, representing the church in its relations with other churches and faiths, and performing administrative functions for the agencies and boards of the General Assembly. The term is for four years.
Among the Advisors to Ed Koster are Ruth Knoll (Ann Arbor, MI), Elders Dixie Elam (Livonia, MI) and Virginia Koster (Ann Arbor, MI), and ministers Allen D. Timm (Grosse Pointe Park, MI), William Zambon (Ypsilanti, MI), Douglas Brouwer (Ann Arbor, MI), and Kevin Johnson (Detroit). |
