Six of the thirteen people who submitted complete applications to become Stated Clerk of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) have been asked to move to the next step in the process, said the Reverend Carol McDonald, moderator of the Stated Clerk Nomination Committee (SCNC).
“Thirteen amazing people put themselves forward and their experience is just unbelievable,” she said. “We have identified six persons who have been invited to face-to-face interviews.”
The deadline for receiving completed applications was midnight, Eastern Standard Time, on December 21, 2015. The SCNC will declare its nominee on April 19, sixty days before the opening of the 222nd General Assembly (2016) on June 18 in Portland, Oregon.
McDonald said each candidate will now complete a candidate assessment facilitated through the North Central Ministry Development Center in New Brighton, Minnesota. A report regarding these assessments will be offered to the SCNC in late February.
Face-to-face interviews with candidates will take place March 1–2 in Kansas City, Missouri. Final interviews will take place in early April in Louisville, Kentucky.
Once the SCNC declares its nominee, those who have submitted complete candidate applications have until May 4 to challenge the nominee, a process that takes place at the General Assembly.
McDonald said the committee covets prayers as it continues in its deep discernment process.