Family and friends remember the Rev. Dr. Cliff Kirkpatrick, a Presbyterian giant

LOUISVILLE — Gathered Saturday at Strathmoor Presbyterian Church in Louisville, Kentucky, friends, former colleagues and family members remembered the Rev. Dr. Clifton Kirkpatrick III with warm and often humorous stories about a Presbyterian giant whose many turns included director of what was then called Worldwide Ministries, now Global Ecumenical Partnerships; Stated Clerk of the General Assembly of the PC(USA); President of what is now the World Communion of Reformed Churches; and Professor of World Christianity and Ecumenical Studies at Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary.

Image

Kirkpatrick, of Columbus, Indiana, and formerly of Louisville, died at age 79 on Jan. 18 at Four Seasons Retirement Community in Columbus. His obituary and a tribute video are here. Watch the Saturday service here.

Among those attending Saturday’s two-hour service were three Presbyterians who followed Kirkpatrick into the denomination’s highest elected office: the Rev. Gradye Parsons, the Rev. Bronwen Boswell, and the current Stated Clerk of the General Assembly and Executive Director of the Interim Unified Agency, the Rev. Jihyun Oh.

Family and friends remembered Kirkpatrick with laughter and a few tears.

Lee Carroll, a nephew of Kirkpatrick, said his uncle’s love for travel — family members said he’d been to 120 countries — began early in life, when Kirkpatrick’s mother, Elizabeth, would drop him off at the local airport in the morning with a sack lunch. Young Cliff would “lie down in the grass and proceed to watch planes all day,” said his nephew, who called Kirkpatrick “an engaged and silly grandfather and a global leader in God’s church. This truly was a life well lived, and the world is a better place because of him.”

Granddaughters, a future grandson-in-law and Kirkpatrick’s sister, Betty Carroll, read four Scripture lessons: Micah 5:2-5, 2 Corinthians 5:16-20, Romans 8:24-28 and 38-39, and Ephesians 4:1-6. Granddaughter Caroline Brucken sang a song for her grandfather.

A half-dozen people provided brief reflections, followed by the Rev. Dr. Elizabeth R. Kirkpatrick, Cliff’s daughter.

David Kirkpatrick said his father taught him “the principal role of a leader is to inspire hope.” His father “spent a lot of time in challenging circumstances, holding on to the belief we can make this better.”

“For all the vitriol” that Kirkpatrick faced, “he believed in what unites us,” his son said. “I scored the jackpot with my parents. They were great role models.”

Kirkpatrick “cared about experiences more than things,” his son said. The two traveled to Zimbabwe, where “we were lucky to escape a hippo attack.” One evening at a nature preserve in Peru, “we got a knock on the door” from people saying, “we needed to flee because people were coming for us.”

Ever the creative type, by the fourth grade or so, Kirkpatrick was writing insurance policies for his classmates. He dubbed it “F Insurance,” his son said. “Pay me a nickel before the test,” he’d tell his classmates. “If you fail the test, I’ll pay you a dime.”

The Rev. Dr. Wayne Willis told stories of the Book Club founded at Springdale Presbyterian Church, a 25-year club that included six couples. Willis estimated that Book Club members had at least 500 hours of time with Kirkpatrick and his wife, Diane, over those 25 years. Book Club members recalled that people in the Global South used to call the 6-foot-5 Kirkpatrick “Gringo Grande.”

“He had an audience with [Pope John Paul II] and had Fidel Castro show him around Cuba, yet Cliff never forgot his place in the world,” Willis said.

David Kirkpatrick’s wife, Christine, said her father-in-law “would wear anything you gave him,” even “an ugly Christmas sweater of a T-rex holding a gift.” An impressed server once offered him free pie for publicly sporting the sweater.

“He was confident with his clothing choices, and as a singer and dancer,” responsibilities he took seriously even though God blessed him with other gifts. “His frequent questions were, ‘How can I help?’ and ‘What can I do?’” she said. “He had arms big enough to hold all his grandchildren at once.”

Nephew William Warren used the word “goofy” to describe his uncle.

“We would have marathon Monopoly games that went on the whole weekend,” he said. “Cliff would crown himself the tycoon winner before we even rolled the dice.”

“He said he deserved to win because we would change the rules,” Warren said. “He would come to me on the side and try to sabotage our alliance. He said I should secretly move over to his side so we could win.”

Kirkpatrick “would move his international schedule around to be at family functions,” he said. Warren lost his son 21 years ago, and Kirkpatrick “moved mountains to be back from an international trip to comfort me and my family,” he said. Kirkpatrick asked for some of Warren’s favorite stories of his son, then urged him to “write these down now so you’ll never forget them.”

“Those are memories I cherish to this day,” Warren said. “I remember things about my son because of Cliff.”

Loyda P. Aja, a former Associate Stated Clerk, called Kirkpatrick “a mentor and friend, and also my supervisor.”

“He had a heart especially for those who were excluded. He had a heart for justice,” Aja said. One year, commissioners to the General Assembly would be considering an overture that would establish an immigration office and would include an immigration attorney. After a long staff meeting when no consensus emerged, Kirkpatrick appeared in her office and said, “Loyda, make it happen.”

“He knew congregations and presbyteries were in desperate need of a lawyer,” she said. He asked her to “look at the budget really well and find some low-hanging fruit somewhere” to help cover the cost.

“Cliff was in the business of empowerment, of making things happen,” Aja said.

Image

The Rev. Dr. Setri Nyomi, a Ghanian theologian and the Interim General Secretary of the World Communion of Reformed Churches, noted that “in a world divided by race, gender, politics, faith and other things, our friend Cliff stood out as a beacon of hope and unity.”

When Kirkpatrick was president of the WCRC from 2004-2010, “Cliff and I visited churches in challenging situations. As a faithful Christian, he understood Christian mission” that aligned with Jesus’ fervent prayer for unity in John 17. “Cliff embodied that,” Nyomi said. “His leadership was humble and trustful, focused on strengthening global partnerships in the Reformed community and beyond.”

“His work reminds us the church’s role is to be a beacon of hope and justice in a fractured world,” Nyomi said. “We extend our deepest condolences to David, Elizabeth and their families. [Kirkpatrick’s] spirit lives on in the hearts of all who are working toward a more just and compassionate world.”

Kirkpatrick’s daughter, the Rev. Dr. Elizabeth R. Kirkpatrick, who serves Fairlawn Presbyterian Church in Columbus, Indiana, said her father’s dedication to the church “is part of the reason I wanted to be a minister.”

“He literally went around the world, preaching about the power and the punch of the gospel. He worked tirelessly to make the church one,” she said, “and he taught future ministers to care about polity. He believed in God’s peace and justice for the world, and he worked for it.”

“Friends, the power of God is in this place. It will not be extinguished,” said the Rev. Vernon Broyles III, who offered a committal prayer. “It is a source of joy to hear the liveliness and the power that is in this place.”

“We leave now as messengers of that same message that Cliff Kirkpatrick planted and nurtured among us. May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ rest on all of us and make us messengers of that love, power and justice. May God bless us and keep us in God’s care, and may we carry the faith with us as we go.”