The Reverend J. Herbert Nelson, II, Stated Clerk of the General Assembly for the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), announced today that Kerry Rice, director of vocational ministries for the Office of the General Assembly (OGA), will transition to a new leadership role within OGA as Deputy Stated Clerk beginning in June 2017.
As part of the contuning transformation of the OGA, the position is designed to free the Stated Clerk from administrative details while also helping ensure that the work of the OGA is aligned with the Stated Clerk’s vision.
“The Deputy Stated Clerk is an anchor position within the office,” said Nelson.
Among other duties, the Deputy Stated Clerk will be responsible for strategic planning, for coordination of meetings of the Committee on the Office of the General Assembly (COGA), for leadership team meetings, and for providing leadership and administrative oversight for all programs and services of the OGA.
The Stated Clerk’s travel schedule has been exhaustive since he began his call in August 2016. The majority of his trips have focused on visiting congregations and mid councils throughout the denomination to gauge the present state of the church and provide the context he needs as he discerns the staffing of OGA to better serve the changing needs of the life and leadership of the church.
Rice, a ruling elder and long-time employee of the national church, will begin his new role in June while also carrying responsibilities in his current portfolio of Mid Council Ministries. The Office of the General Assembly is searching for three new leaders for Mid Council Ministries—director of Mid Council Ministries and coordinators for both Constitutional Interpretation and Mid Council Relations. These positions should be filled by fall when Rice will begin to focus solely on the Deputy Stated Clerk role.