On behalf of the Interim Pastor Hiring Committee (IPHC) and the Session, I am thrilled to report that the Rev. Dr. Kimberly L. Clayton will be Trinity’s Interim Pastor, beginning on March 2, 2020. After months of hard work, the members of the IPHC unanimously agree that Kim is the best candidate, and on December 10, the Session unanimously approved the IPHC’s recommendation and the terms of employment.
Joanna Adams, Scott Black Johnston, Richard DuBose, Ted Wardlaw, and other friends of Trinity highly recommended Kim as we began looking for candidates. They said things like: “Kim is the first person I thought of when I heard about the interim position at Trinity;” Kim would be “incredible;” Kim is “smart, warm, experienced, wise, and a splendid preacher.” The committee called Kim’s references and members of The Brick Presbyterian Church in New York, where she is currently serving as an interim pastor. The comments were uniformly positive: she is an “excellent preacher,” she made “tough decisions with grace, care, and thoughtfulness;” she works well “with strong personalities and strong minds;” she is a “very good administrator;” and she has been “astonishing” as an interim.
Kim graduated from Birmingham-Southern with honors and has a Master of Divinity and a Doctor of Ministry from Columbia Theological Seminary. She has been a pastor for four congregations, including Central Presbyterian in Atlanta; she was a member of the faculty and administration at Columbia for 13 years, where she served as the Director of Contextual Education; and for the last two years, she has been the Interim Senior Pastor at Brick Church. Brick is a large church which, like Trinity, is committed to music, education, and mission.
Kim has published essays and liturgy in publications such as
Feasting on the Word: Preaching the Revised Common Lectionary; Connections: A Lectionary Commentary for Preaching and Worship; Feasting on the Word Worship Companion
Volumes 1-6;
Inclusive Marriage Services: A Wedding Sourcebook;
and
Brimming with God: Reflecting Theologically on Cases in Ministry
. Kim has two adult children who live in Atlanta. Kim’s partner in life, Melanie Sovine, holds a PhD in Medical Anthropology and worked on HIV/AIDS issues for thirty years.
We expect Kim will be our interim for 18-24 months to help us discern who we are as a congregation, what kind of church God wants us to be, and what kind of leader God is calling to minister with us in the future. I hope you join the IPHC and Session in our excitement about Kim and welcome her to Trinity.
Lesley G. Carroll
Chair, Interim Pastor Hiring Committee
Committee:
Bert Broadfoot, Steve Karasick, Allen Moseley, Susan Reese, Sarah Shoup, Juanita Watson
