May 13 , 2008

Casey Jones' on the office of Stated Clerk
press release

Rev. Winfield Casey Jones, D Min, has announced that he intends to be nominated for Stated Clerk at the 218th General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (USA) in San Jose, California.

Jones explains, "I feel a strong sense of call to the office of General Assembly Stated Clerk. I have a three-part vision for this office. First of all the Stated Clerk of the General Assembly must be a spiritual leader, second the Clerk is to preserve and defend the Constitution of the PC(USA), and third the Clerk has a unique opportunity to narrow the distance between the General Assembly and the local church.

"Before being a manager or administrator or CEO, the Stated Clerk is first of all a spiritual leader in the church of Jesus Christ. As a spiritual leader, it is especially important that the Stated Clerk help the church create an atmosphere of prayer. Winds of change are blowing in the PC(USA). In order to catch that wind, we need an "ancient-modern" vision of spiritual leadership similar to that of the apostles. That wind has carried our moderator, Joan Gray, as she has called us to prayer and, as well, to "ancient disciplines" like tithing. That wind has also led GAC executive director Linda Valentine to equip fresh leaders from PC(USA) congregations for ministry at GAC. I want to lead with the same vigor and responsiveness to the Spirit as they have.

"The clerk is charged under the standing rules of the General Assembly to preserve and defend the Constitution of the PC(USA). Both parts of the Constitution are important. Part I, the Book of Confessions, most explicitly tries to teach and interpret God's Word. It is also our inheritance from the saints of former generations. It is how they still speak to us today. As clerk I would help re-educate the church about our confessions, and I would seek to find new ways to enable the church to use them as living resources as we move into God's future. Part II of our Constitution, the Book of Order, orders our common life in specific ways. Just as I would try to increase the church's knowledge of the confessions, so I would try to increase our knowledge of the Book of Order. Also, the church must be able to trust the clerk to be evenhanded in interpreting the Book of Order, and to preserve and defend both parts of the Constitution, especially in times of disagreement. I pledge myself to this important task.

"My goal as Stated Clerk would be to help narrow the distance between General Assembly and the local congregation. For over twenty-eight years, I have served small to mid-sized churches in the PC(USA). I would bring to the Office of the General Assembly the recent experience of leading worship, preaching the Word, baptizing babies, visiting the sick, caring for the grieving, and serving in the trenches of local congregational life. I would endeavor to shape the ministries of the clerk's office to respond to the needs of congregations and sessions. I have noticed that Presbyterians in small to mid-sized congregations and in large membership churches do not always completely understand one another. I am grateful that my marriage has helped me bridge that gap. My wife, Rev. Victoria Jones, has served for the past ten years on the pastoral staff of two different large PC(USA) congregations in Houston. My own experience, enhanced by being married to her, has helped me understand and appreciate the wondrously rich and diverse life of the PC(USA) at the congregational level.

"I want the church to understand that I am grateful to the Stated Clerk nominating committee for its hard and prayerful work. I wish to honor the committee, and I wish to honor Gradye Parsons, their nominee. At the same time, feeling God's strong leading, I am exercising the unique freedom which exists under our polity to be nominated for this important position. I believe I can serve God and the church well in this important office, and I believe I would bring a fresh perspective and new energies to the role."

When word began to leak out of Jones' decision to seek office, Rev. Kevin Keaton, former chair of the Presbytery of New Covenant's Committee on Ministry, prepared a resolution which the presbytery passed on May 10. This resolution reads in part:

"The Presbytery of New Covenant, meeting in a Stated Meeting on May 10, 2008, expresses its thanks to the Stated Clerk Nominating Committee for its hard and prayerful work. We ask the 218th General Assembly to honor that work and its goal of finding the person whom God has selected for this office in two ways.
First, we ask the 218th General Assembly to seriously and prayerfully consider and honor the committee's nominee, Gradye Parsons.
Second, knowing the heart, work and gifts for ministry of Winfield Casey Jones as we do, we also commend him to the 218th General Assembly for its serious and prayerful consideration for the position of Stated Clerk of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)."

Jones has a committee of advisors, whose full number is not yet complete. As of now, they are:
The Rev. Mike Cole, General Presbyter, Presbytery of New Covenant;
The Rev. Larry Coulter, pastor of Shepherd of the Hills Presbyterian Church in Austin, TX;
The Rev. Doug Harper, pastor emeritus of St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church in Houston, TX; parish associate at Grace Presbyterian Church in Houston, and member of the committees which produced both the Plan of Reunion and A Brief Statement of Faith;
Elder Jody Harrington, member of Memorial Drive Presbyterian Church in Houston, TX, and moderator of the Presbytery of New Covenant;
The Rev. Kevin Keaton, pastor, First Presbyterian Church of Sugar Land, TX;
The Rev. Jack Lancaster, pastor emeritus, First Presbyterian Church of Houston, TX;
The Rev. Diane Prevary, Stated Clerk, Presbytery of New Covenant

Jones concluded, "In this election the church will choose among different candidates with different kinds of experience. The General Assembly will have to prayerfully decide what kind of experience is most needed now in a new Stated Clerk. Part of what pleases me about what our GAC executive director, has done is that she has brought local congregational elders and ministers into prominent roles of national leadership. She understood that GAC needs people with these kinds of experiences.

"In that vein, maybe it would be appropriate for me just to offer a few vignettes of good things that have happened at our church in Pearland, current membership a bit under two-hundred. Our church has blended worship with a traditional choir and a praise band. Probably a quarter of our members have attended renewal weekends like Presbyterian Cursillo, Walk to Emmaus, or Youth Celebration. Some of these members are now involved in prison ministry. We have three commissioned lay pastors whose ministries bless the community. All of them help supply preach from time to time at smaller PC(USA) congregations. One of them, with presbytery blessing, has for over a year been holding a worship service in Houston on Saturday nights for those in recovery. We have had two congregational days of prayer, and we have a weekly prayer group. At our Mother's Day Out weekly chapel, I and some of the adult leaders individually bless the children each week. We have an emphasis on small groups, and we have over twenty various kinds of groups. Our members deliver Meals on Wheels and help with a food pantry, Christian Helping Hands.

"For a small church, we have had many international experiences. Once in morning worship we had about twenty Ukrainian young people who were visiting us, and a lady from Ghana translated my sermon into Russian. For two years we had a Brazilian-American associate pastor. He and his wife helped renew our faith and involve us in a rich, multi-cultural experience. Last spring, the General Secretary of the Presbyterian Church in Pakistan preached at our Sunday service, and less than one hundred worshipers gave an offering of twelve hundred dollars to Gujranwala Theological Seminary. This spring we hosted a three-day conference on healing prayer with an Anglican priest from Wales as speaker, and we had registration of about seventy. We closed with a moving Celtic healing service. I hope you get a glimpse of our congregation."

Resume of Rev. Winfield Jones