Constitutional crisis spurs petition seeking Kirkpatrick's resignation The Layman Online Friday, November 15, 2002 The constitutional crisis engulfing the Presbyterian Church (USA) has spurred a petition drive that cites the "failed leadership" of Stated Clerk Clifton Kirkpatrick and seeks his resignation. The Rev. L. Rus Howard, pastor of Peters Creek United Presbyterian Church in Venetia, Pa., and the initiator of the petition campaign, cites the recent rejection by the Permanent Judicial Commission of the Presbytery of Baltimore of a complaint against the Rev. Donald Stroud, a Baltimore minister who says he is an active homosexual and that he will not comply with the denomination's constitution. Howard was one of five Presbyterian ministers who taped a poster-size "Call to Confession and Repentance" on a wall near the entrance of the Presbyterian Center in Louisville on Oct. 28. That declaration charged that the church is "decaying and dying in the belly of the beast" and is "irretrievably apostate under current management." In a note accompanying his electronic petition that was sent to news organizations, Howard wrote, "The decision of the Baltimore PJC does not surprise me. I believe we have reached this point of apostasy because of the failed leadership of Clifton Kirkpatrick. "Therefore, I am initiating the following petition drive effective immediately. I encourage you to forward it to as many people as possible)." The petition states: "We have lost all confidence in the ability of Clifton Kirkpatrick to effectively serve as Stated Clerk of the Presbyterian Church (USA). "We have lost all confidence in Clifton Kirkpatrick as the chief judicial officer of the Presbyterian Church (USA). "Therefore, we call upon Clifton Kirkpatrick to resign as Stated Clerk of the Presbyterian Church (USA) effective no later than March 1, 2003. "If Clifton Kirkpatrick refuses to resign his office on or before March 1, 2003, we will support all efforts to remove him from the office of Stated Clerk of the Presbyterian Church (USA)." The petition then states that those wishing to sign on to it add their name to the petition, their office, the "church/congregation/ministry of service or membership," an address and phone number, and e-mail it to Howard at revlrus@adelphia.net.

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