LOUISVILLE — The Rev. James E. Andrews, who served as stated clerk of the General Assembly for 23 years, was struck and killed by a car on March 7 while walking near his Decatur, GA, home. He was 77.

Andrews was elected General Assembly stated clerk of the former Presbyterian Church in the United States (PCUS) in 1973. He served for one year as co-interim stated clerk with his United Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) counterpart, William P. Thompson, after Presbyterian reunion in 1983. The next year, he was elected stated clerk of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), a position he held until his retirement in 1996.

Andrews, like many of his generation, was passionately devoted to unity in the world's Christian churches. He struggled and succeded in helping two US Presbyterian denominations reunite after they'd been separated for 123 years by the Civil War. The article doesn't state his opinions on how fundamentalists are currently trying to divide the church into "Blessed Us" and "Everyone Else," but it's a fair bet division didn't please Rev. Andrews. The man knew how to stood up for what he knew was right:

Andrews also could be stubborn, recalled former Presbyterian News Service director Marj Carpenter. "We were going to Cuba, and Jim was taking some medicine for a child that could not be obtained in Cuba," she said. "They arrested him at the Havana airport for smuggling drugs. He explained what it was and then pulled up a chair and announced, 'I'm sitting here until I get that kid's medicine back.'" Carpenter said a doctor was called in, examined and approved the medication, whereupon it was returned to Andrews. "They REALLY didn't want Jim Andrews sitting in the Havana airport for God knows how long," Carpenter laughed.

Rest in peace, Rev. Andrews, and thank you for doing God's work.

(Via Presbyterian News Service.)