April 23, 2008

Contact:   Stacey Schmeidel

Rev. Clifton Kirkpatrick '66

Davidson College will award an honorary degree on Wednesday, April 30, to The Rev. Dr. Clifton Kirkpatrick, stated clerk of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and president of the World Alliance of Reformed Churches. The degree will be presented at Davidson's Spring Convocation, which will begin at 4 p.m. in Duke Family Performance Hall. The public is invited to attend the event, which will also feature the awarding of prizes to students, faculty and staff.

Kirkpatrick, a 1966 Davidson graduate, was elected as stated clerk of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in 2006. He was first elected to the position in 1996. Only the second person to hold this position since Presbyterian reunion in 1983, he is responsible for interpreting the church's Constitution, promoting the unity of the church, conducting the annual session of the General Assembly and preserving the historical record of the denomination. He also is charged with communicating the actions of the Assembly, representing that body in a wide variety of settings both within and beyond the church and providing overall leadership for the spiritual well-being of the church.

Kirkpatrick's term as stated clerk will conclude at the end of the 218th General Assembly, which will take place in June 2008 in San Jose, Calif.  

Kirkpatrick also is president of the World Alliance of Reformed Churches, a fellowship of 75 million Reformed Christians in 214 churches in 107 countries. The WARC's member churches are Congregational, Presbyterian, Reformed and United churches with roots in the 16th-century Reformation led by John Calvin, John Knox and others. WARC has a small secretariat in Geneva, Switzerland.

Before becoming stated clerk of the General Assembly, Kirkpatrick served for 15 years as director of the church's Worldwide Ministries Division, where he led the church's ministries in the U.S. and in more than 80 other countries. From 1987 to 1993, he directed the church's Global Mission Ministry Unit, and from 1981 to 1987 he was director of the Division of International Mission for the church's General Assembly Mission Board. Before that, he served the church in various capacities in Dallas, Fort Worth and Houston, Texas.

Kirkpatrick received his M.Div. degree from Yale in 1968. He was a Merrill Fellow at Harvard in 1975, and received his Doctor of Ministry degree from McCormick Theological Seminary in 1981. He holds honorary degrees from Westminster College (Penn.), Hannam University (Korea) and Sillman University (Phillipines). He also is the co-author, with William Hopper, of "What Unites Presbyterians: Common Ground for Troubled Times."

Davidson is a highly selective independent liberal arts college for 1,700 students. Since its establishment in 1837 by Presbyterians, the college has graduated 23 Rhodes Scholars and is consistently regarded as one of the top liberal arts colleges in the country.

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Posted By: Bill Giduz