The Reverend Joyce Lieberman, director of constitutional interpretation and Associate Stated Clerk of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) General Assembly, has been chosen by the Synod of South Atlantic as its new executive/stated clerk. Lieberman will begin her new responsibilities on June 1, 2017, and will be formally elected by the synod at its stated meeting in September 2017. The synod is based in Jacksonville, Florida. 

“We believe that the Holy Spirit actively and directly led us to an outstanding candidate to lead our synod into the future,” wrote the synod’s search committee in its announcement of Lieberman’s selection. “We feel confident that … Rev. Lieberman will serve our presbyteries, our leaders, and our churches exceedingly well.”

Lieberman was ordained to the ministry of Word and Sacrament by the Presbytery of the Cascades in June 1983 after graduating from the University of Portland and San Francisco Theological Seminary.

She served as associate pastor at First Presbyterian Church, a large downtown congregation, and as interim pastor at Piedmont Presbyterian Church, a redeveloping urban congregation, both in Portland, Oregon. Lieberman also served as co-pastor of Immanuel Presbyterian Church in Albuquerque, New Mexico, with her husband, Chris, and as stated clerk of the Presbytery of Santa Fe.

Lieberman began service in the Office of the General Assembly (OGA) in Louisville in March 2008 as associate for call system support and then as director of constitutional interpretation. Her last day in the OGA will be May 16.

“After serving here in OGA for nine years, I am excited about this new ministry opportunity to be out and about in the presbyteries and churches of Georgia, Florida, and South Carolina, and being a bit closer to the ground where ministry throughout our denomination happens,” Lieberman said in a memo to her OGA co-workers announcing her resignation. “But in the midst of this excitement, I regret having to say goodbye to all of you, my great colleagues, who have made my time here rich, productive and, most especially, a joy. I will miss our daily interactions and our work together but know that our paths will cross again as my new position will have us continuing to meet at various meetings throughout the church.”

Chris Lieberman is currently pastor of Bardstown Road Presbyterian Church in Louisville. He has resigned his pastorate and will join Joyce in Jacksonville sometime in June.