Candidate for PCUSA stated clerk says incumbent missed opportunity By John H. Adams The Layman Online Tuesday, June 13, 2000 The Rev. Dr. Casey Jones, a Texas pastor seeking to become stated clerk of the Presbyterian Church (USA), says he believes the incumbent clerk missed an opportunity to "preserve and defend" the denomination's constitution in a pastoral letter responding to a decision allowing ministers to bless same-sex couples. The incumbent is the Rev. Dr. Clifton Kirkpatrick, who has been nominated for a second four-year term. On May 22, the same day the General Assembly's Permanent Judicial Commission released its ruling, Kirkpatrick and Moderator Freda Gardner issued a pastoral letter in which they said the court "re-affirmed what has been the consistent witness of the Presbyterian Church (USA) on these matters in recent years." "I believe that the clerk, pursuant to his duty to preserve and defend the Constitution, should have pointed out the relevant confessional statements" dealing with marriage and homosexual practices, Jones said. "In writing a pastoral letter, he should have been more helpful to the church and to our culture by pointing out the constitution's interpretation of Scripture is that same-gender sex is sin, even though the PJC's opinion was that the current wording of our Book of Order does not mandate that such blessings be prohibited. Not to speak about our confessions is to make them irrelevant." Jones' response was included in a letter to commissioners and advisory delegates to the 212th General Assembly, which will open on June 24 in Long Beach, Calif. Kirkpatrick and Casey are the only announced candidates for stated clerk, but nominations may be made from the floor. The candidates will have five minutes to make a presentation to the commissioners, followed by questions and answers. The election will occur on Friday, the day before adjournment.

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