 John H. Jenks Award-winning engineer with a heart for Christ By John H. Adams The Presbyterian Layman Volume 34, Number 2 Posted March 26, 2001
Fife was a nationally known social activist whose resume included a felony conviction for harboring illegal immigrants. His candidacy for moderator had been endorsed by people who favored abortion, homosexual rights and liberation theology. True to his activism even at a meeting of the evangelical Presbyterian Lay Committee, Fife called for a boycott of Ford Motor Co., more political engagement on behalf of social issues and safe houses for illegal immigrants. The directors listened politely until Fife finished his remarks.
John Fife and John Jenks represent the dividing line that continues today in the Presbyterian Church (USA). While emphasizing social activism, especially since 1960, the Presbyterian Church (USA) has experienced a membership loss of more than 40 percent, from 4.2 million to 2.5 million. Meanwhile, many evangelical congregations, such as Menlo Park Presbyterian Church, where Jenks has been a member and leader for 48 years, have increased their membership while emphasizing the divinity of Jesus and the authority of Scripture. Menlo Park has grown from 1,400 members in the 1950s to nearly 5,000 today. It would continue to grow, Jenks says, but the congregation is landlocked and not willing to add any more buildings. Its priority is to spend millions of dollars annually on missions, including the operation of an orphanage in Kiev, Ukraine. Jenks, who has been a director of the Presbyterian Lay Committee since 1967, has played a key lay role in that growth. Since 1946, he has served as a member – and several times as chairman – of various Menlo Park pastor nominating committees. The first questions asked every candidate, he says, are: 1) What do you think about Jesus? and 2) Tell us your view of Scripture. Candidates who fail to answer those questions with clarity and conviction don’t stay around for many more questions. Because of the screening process, Jenks says, “We have a group of pastors who all believe the same thing …. ‘Complete my joy by being of the same mind. …’” That’s John Jenks – Scripture in the middle of a thought or sentence. He says Scripture memorization is an “addiction” acquired through InterVarsity Christian Fellowship while he was an engineering student at Stanford University, where he received three engineering degrees. “Memorizing Scripture led to a deep conviction that the Bible is as it claims to be, the authoritative Word of God and the only infallible rule of faith and practice,” he said. Today, Jenks is senior consultant of Kennedy/Jenks Consultants, one of the largest and most highly respected engineering companies in the nation. He personally has won three national design awards for water reclamation projects that increased supply for agricultural purposes and improved the environment. He is an environmentalist with a Biblical perspective. “It’s clear that we’ve been given the responsibility to be stewards of that which God has created,” he said. “It is also clear that the earth is there for the benefit of mankind and mankind is superior to the natural environment.” Jenks is a third-generation Presbyterian elder and a second-generation engineer. His late father taught engineering and, in 1948, father and son began working together in their own consulting company. “Both my mother and father were very committed Christians,” Jenks said. “I have a clear recollection of seeing my father on his knees praying for God’s guidance in his life. I remember his preaching on Layman Sunday in First Presbyterian Church in Sacramento.” Jenks earned his bachelor’s degree in engineering in 1941 and had begun work on a master’s degree when World War II interrupted his studies. He enlisted in the Navy and became the executive officer of a P.T. boat in the Philippines. He says the only “action” he saw was boating around the Philippines announcing the good news: The war was over. After the war, he returned to Stanford to complete work on his master’s and a third engineering degree that was midway between a master’s and a Ph.D. He finished school in 1948. During his final student years, Jenks heard Dr. Robert Boyd Munger, author of the Christian classic, My Heart, Christ’s Home, speak at Mount Hermon Conference Center. Three long-term relationships developed out of that visit to the center:
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