Kirkpatrick re-elected By John H. Adams The Layman Online Friday, July 2, 2004 2004 General Assembly Richmond, Virginia June 26-July 3, 2004 General Assembly news index RICHMOND, Va. – Three rival candidates who called for new leadership of the declining Presbyterian Church (USA) failed Friday to unseat incumbent Stated Clerk Clifton Kirkpatrick, who was re-elected to a third four-year term as the denomination's chief constitutional, ecumenical and ecclesiastical officer. Kirkpatrick won with 349 votes, 66 percent of the total cast by 530 commissioners. The Rev. Robert "Bob" Davis led three evangelical challengers with 137 votes, followed by the Rev. L. Rus Howard with 25 votes and elder Alex F. Metherell with 19 votes. "Thank you from the bottom of my heart," Kirkpatrick said. "This has been the longest hour and one-half of the assembly." The four candidates made five-minute speeches and answered questions for an hour. At one point during the questions, Howard complained that they appeared to be scripted to boost Kirkpatrick's chance of re-election. He said he found the same questions on a discarded paper that advised commissioners to pose "friendly" questions for Kirkpatrick's advantage. But Kirkpatrick demonstrated a flair for presenting an optimism about the denomination and its future. "In all that I have done, I have sought to inspire hope, so that through the power of the Holy Spirit and the PCUSA, God can turn the world upside down." He acknowledge his challengers' concerns that during his tenure in office the denomination had lost 260,000, including 46,683 in 2003. "I have experienced the deep division and I have been pained by our loss of members," he said. But he added that that he was encouraged by "our unity in the face of our diversity" and by his encountering Presbyterians seeking renewal.

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