Shortly after his election in 1992 as moderator of the
Presbyterian Church (USA), the Rev. John Fife accepted an
invitation to speak in San Francisco at a meeting of the
directors of the Presbyterian Lay Committee.
Fife was a nationally known social activist whose resume
included a felony conviction for harboring illegal immigrants.
His candidacy for moderator had been endorsed by people who
favored abortion, homosexual rights and liberation theology.
True to his activism even at a meeting of the evangelical
Presbyterian Lay Committee, Fife called for a boycott of Ford
Motor Co., more political engagement on behalf of social
issues and safe houses for illegal immigrants.
The directors listened politely until Fife finished his
remarks.
John H. Jenks
John H. Jenks, then-chairman of the Presbyterian Lay
Committee, responded: “John, all of these problems you
are talking about ultimately can be traced back to one issue,
abandonment and setting aside the Word of God. The Church has
been uniquely given the privilege and responsibility of doing
the only thing that you can meaningfully do in a society –
that is, change people’s hearts. Only through a
relationship with Jesus flow Biblical and God-given answers to
the problems in society.”
John Fife and John Jenks represent the dividing line that
continues today in the Presbyterian Church (USA).
While emphasizing social activism, especially since 1960, the
Presbyterian Church (USA) has experienced a membership loss of
more than 40 percent, from 4.2 million to 2.5 million.
Meanwhile, many evangelical congregations, such as Menlo Park
Presbyterian Church, where Jenks has been a member and leader
for 48 years, have increased their membership while
emphasizing the divinity of Jesus and the authority of
Scripture. Menlo Park has grown from 1,400 members in the
1950s to nearly 5,000 today.
It would continue to grow, Jenks says, but the congregation
is landlocked and not willing to add any more buildings. Its
priority is to spend millions of dollars annually on missions,
including the operation of an orphanage in Kiev, Ukraine.
Jenks, who has been a director of the Presbyterian Lay
Committee since 1967, has played a key lay role in that
growth. Since 1946, he has served as a member – and
several times as chairman – of various Menlo Park pastor
nominating committees. The first questions asked every
candidate, he says, are: 1) What do you think about Jesus? and
2) Tell us your view of Scripture.
Candidates who fail to answer those questions with clarity
and conviction don’t stay around for many more questions.
Because of the screening process, Jenks says, “We have a
group of pastors who all believe the same thing …. ‘Complete
my joy by being of the same mind. …’”
That’s John Jenks – Scripture in the middle of a
thought or sentence. He says Scripture memorization is an “addiction”
acquired through InterVarsity Christian Fellowship while he
was an engineering student at Stanford University, where he
received three engineering degrees.
“Memorizing Scripture led to a deep conviction that the
Bible is as it claims to be, the authoritative Word of God and
the only infallible rule of faith and practice,” he said.
Today, Jenks is senior consultant of Kennedy/Jenks
Consultants, one of the largest and most highly respected
engineering companies in the nation. He personally has won
three national design awards for water reclamation projects
that increased supply for agricultural purposes and improved
the environment.
He is an environmentalist with a Biblical perspective. “It’s
clear that we’ve been given the responsibility to be
stewards of that which God has created,” he said. “It
is also clear that the earth is there for the benefit of
mankind and mankind is superior to the natural environment.”
Jenks is a third-generation Presbyterian elder and a
second-generation engineer. His late father taught engineering
and, in 1948, father and son began working together in their
own consulting company.
“Both my mother and father were very committed
Christians,” Jenks said. “I have a clear
recollection of seeing my father on his knees praying for God’s
guidance in his life. I remember his preaching on Layman
Sunday in First Presbyterian Church in Sacramento.”
Jenks earned his bachelor’s degree in engineering in 1941
and had begun work on a master’s degree when World War II
interrupted his studies. He enlisted in the Navy and became
the executive officer of a P.T. boat in the Philippines. He
says the only “action” he saw was boating around the
Philippines announcing the good news: The war was over.
After the war, he returned to Stanford to complete work on his
master’s and a third engineering degree that was midway
between a master’s and a Ph.D. He finished school in
1948.
During his final student years, Jenks heard Dr. Robert Boyd
Munger, author of the Christian classic,
My Heart, Christ’s
Home, speak at Mount Hermon Conference Center. Three
long-term relationships developed out of that visit to the
center:
- With Dr. Munger, who introduced Jenks to a deeper walk
with Christ. “I was one of those people who could say
that no one would be able to shake my understanding and
intellectual assent to the Gospel. But I discovered that
intellectual assent was one step short of a heart
conviction.”
- With a young lady named Laurie, an independent
Baptist. After their first date, Jenks said he told a
friend, “Bill, remember this – that Laurie is
the girl God intends for me.” And so she was. They
were married 49 years ago in a Baptist church (her former
denomination) that had a neon sign proclaiming, “Jesus
Saves.” In deference to Jenks’ Presbyterian
tradition, Laurie had draperies set up to hide the
sanctuary’s baptistry.
- With Mount Hermon Conference Center itself. Jenks
served on the conference center board for 28 years and now
is a lifelong trustee.
Jenks’ wedding ring is inscribed with Heb. 10.24 to
remind him of a verse that he says has been the cornerstone of
their 49 years of marriage, raising four children and now
enjoying five grandchildren. Jenks prefers the Living Bible
version: “In view of what God has done for us, let us
outdo one another in being helpful, being kind and doing good.”