Impact of Layman concerns stated clerk
By John H. Adams, The Layman Online, November 5, 2001
PASADENA, Calif. – After Moderator Jack B. Roger railed against the Presbyterian Lay Committee and its principal publication, The Layman, Stated Clerk Clifton Kirkpatrick fielded a tough question from the Covenant Network:
What can be done about The Layman, an evangelical and independent publication that goes to more than 500,000 Presbyterian homes in the United States and several foreign countries?
“We tried a regulatory approach,” he said, referring to an effort to censor The Layman that was overwhemingly defeated by the General Assembly.
He said The Layman is able to continue to publish because it receives “large sums of money” from contributors. “There is probably little we can do to prevent people from sending The Layman to Presbyterians.”
The denomination did instigate a competitive publication called Presbyterians Being Faithful To Jesus Christ, but it died for lack of readership and money. That publication was begun at the behest of John Buchanan, a former General Assembly moderator and co-founder, with Robert Bohl, of the Covenant Network.
Bohl, also a former moderator, pledged to raise money to pay for Presbyterians Being Faithful To Jesus Christ, but he never raised enough.
Kirkpatrick said the dominance of The Layman today is troublesome. He said the denomination has to counter with “the truth” and a more positive image of the church.
Kirkpatrick himself was upbeat. “I always feel at home in this particular community,” he told the audience.