Retiring Rev

Retiring Rev Subhead Rev. Schofield retires from First Presbyterian Church in Clifton News Staff Wed, 02/28/2024 - 05:48 Image

• Rev. Clint Schofield (center) recently held one of his last children’s sermons prior to retiring from First Presbyterian Church in Clifton. Courtesy Photo By Bryan Davis
• Rev. Clint Schofield (center) and wife, Jan, (left) bid farewell to the congregation of First Presbyterian Church in Clifton on Sunday, February 25. Courtesy Photo By Bryan Davis

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A special worship service in the life of First Presbyterian Church, Clifton, was held on Sunday, February 25, as the congregation, friends and family bade farewell to Rev. Clint Schofield, who preached his last sermon as pastor of FPC.

Rev. Schofield has led the congregation just shy of 20 years, having begun his two-decade leadership in June 2004. The service was marked by special music celebrating Pastor Clint and wife, Jan, and meaningful scripture readings and a message from the pastor.

Music selections included beautiful vocals from soloists Denise Turner and Danielle Ybarra on “Order My Steps.” Former FPC Choir Director Karen Thomasy, who retired in 2023, was soloist on the meditation piece, “Heart of Worship,” joined by Rev. Schofield on vocals and guitar.

Choir director Belinda Honea provided beautiful vocals on the touching special piece, “Thank You,” which concluded with those gathered standing in song as Clint and Jan were thanked for their dedicated service to the church and community. Congregational hymns included “Victory in Jesus,” “Morning Has Broken,” and “Be Thou My Vision.”

In his last sermon as pastor of First Presbyterian Church, Rev. Schofield asked listeners who choose to follow God, will it be “My way, or God’s way?” Pastor Clint said Christ wants what is best for us.

Following the worship service, those gathered greeted Clint and Jan in the church Fellowship Hall and enjoyed a luncheon of sandwiches, fruit, cheese, and two cakes designed to commemorate Clint’s retirement.

Elders Debbie Bergman and Joanne Grelle headed the ceremony thanking the Schofield’s for their leadership and service. Then they were presented with a beautiful clock from the church congregation. A monetary love offering was also presented, as well as a t-shirt for Pastor Clint which read, “Retired Preachers Make the Best Grandpa’s.”

Many other personal gifts and cards were presented to the couple, and the couple expressed thanks and gratitude for the kindness shown.

Rev. Schofield was called to pastor First Presbyterian in June 2004, and during the ensuing 20 years, he has baptized infants, teens, and adults in the church and outdoors. He has married couples of every age in the sanctuary and as far away as Tennessee and California. He taught Sunday school hundreds of times and held untold confirmation classes for youth, orientation for new elders, deacons, and church members. He has served as moderator of the church ruling body, or Session, and worked tirelessly on behalf of the Clifton Ministerial Alliance. He brought comfort to the sick and dying; and consoled families and friends grieving the loss of loved ones. He presided over funerals and life celebrations for members of his congregation and beyond, many of whom he considered dear friends. Pastor Clint experienced the myriad of pastoral duties and emotions, the highs and lows which fall upon the leaders of small congregations where the pastor simply does it all. And, he has done so with grace and gentleness.

As the church’s historian, to the best of my knowledge, Rev. Schofield is the 22nd full-time pastor to lead the congregation since the Rev. W.M. Lewis was called to minister the church full-time in 1906. There have been an equal number of supply pastors provided by Central Texas Presbytery during the early decades of the church in the 1800s as well as many interim ministers who have served the church between pastors.

First Presbyterian remains the oldest continuously operating church congregation in Bosque County. The church was chartered as the North Bosque Presbyterian Church by founding Pastor Rev. Levi Tenney on January 20, 1861, shortly before Abraham Lincoln took office as the nation’s 16th president. Rev. Schofield is the longest serving pastor in the congregation’s 163year history. But Pastor Clint’s faith journey was neither easy nor the norm. When he arrived at Clifton to accept his first and only call to pastor a church, the ministry was a second career, and he was a month shy of his 50th birthday.

Clinton Albert Schofield was born Jacksonville, Texas, on July 10, 1953. He moved as a baby to Cameron with his mother and two sisters, where they would grow up surrounded by the loving presence of his maternal grandparents and extended family. Over the years, the congregation at FPC has heard many stories in Pastor Clint’s sermons about his formative years and the powerful influence of his grandparents and aunts in his life and faith journey. His ancestors settled in Milam County in the late 1800s. Clint graduated from C.H. Yoe High School at Cameron in 1971 and attended Texas A&M University where he graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in horticulture in 1977. At A&M Clint met and fell in love with Jan Hawkins, who graduated from A&M in 1978. Clint and Jan were married that same year, 45 years ago, and the family grew to include a son, Josh, and a daughter, Julia.

Clint and Jan moved to Temple in 1979 and the family joined First Presbyterian Church, where they both served as elders and in various leadership positions. Jan pursued a career in education and Clint worked as a horticulturist with the VA Hospital and operated his own business, Schofield Horticultural Consultants, specializing in landscape design. Clint was called to the ministry in his late 40s and graduated from Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary in 2003. He served as a chaplain at Scott and White Hospital in Temple prior to being called to pastor First Presbyterian on May 2, 2004. Clint officially began serving as pastor on June 1.

Looking back on his years in Clifton, Pastor Clint recalled many highlights, but said the personal connections he has experienced are what he remembers most fondly; the relationships and friendships formed within his congregation and the greater Clifton community and throughout Bosque County.

“As pastor,” Clint said, “one is invited into the heartaches, the joys and the sense of servanthood that God’s children live every day.” He said the trust given a pastor by so many people he considers to be an incredible honor not taken lightly. “This congregation and this community have trusted me with their spiritual lives for many years and I am very grateful to have earned that trust.”

After 20 years of pastoring one church, there are many accomplishments Clint is especially proud to have been a part of. Topping the list is the cooperative nature of the church leadership and congregation throughout his tenure. Despite inherent differing opinions on many subjects, Clint observed that through thoughtful prayer and seeking God’s will and guidance, good things have always come for the church time and again.

Other accomplishments noted by Clint during his leadership at First Presbyterian include the remodeling and enlargement of the physical church and property, installing stained-glass panels in the sanctuary, and partnering with the Clifton Ministerial Alliance to host the Clifton Food Bank at the adjacent “Presbyterian Place” property owned by church. Clint called each of these accomplishments “spirit-led decisions.” Finally, Pastor Clint said the call to seek dismissal from the Presbyterian Church USA into the Evangelical Covenant Order of Presbyterians (ECO) “as a significantly historical time for the church.” Clint called this a two-year-plus journey of “prayerful discernment by the Session and congregation.”

As for retirement, Clint has always had a deep love for music and has shared those talents with the congregation through the years. He has recently acquired an Italian accordion and a new lap slide guitar which he intends to spend lots of time learning to master. He also looks forward to rest, relaxation, and less stress to better concentrate on improving his health. He also hopes to return to his beloved roots as a gardener. Of course, he and Jan plan to spend more quality time with family. Their son, Josh, and wife April make their home near Dallas; while daughter Julia and husband James reside in California with Clint and Jan’s granddaughter, Juniper.

“Seeking God’s plan for me comes first,” Clint said. “And that whatever I might do would glorify Him.”

Yes, saying goodbye is hard. Changes are difficult. But church families are a living, breathing body and change they must. And come Sunday, an important chapter comes to an end in the life of First Presbyterian Church of Clifton. A chapter ends, but the story continues. And it’s a story that is still being written after 163 years. But an important part of the story is the legacy and the leadership of a very special man these past 20 years.

Rev. Clint Schofield always ended his newsletters, texts, emails, and correspondence with three simple words which are most familiar to his church family. Today, we repeat those words to Clint and Jan with love, affection, and gratitude as they embark upon this next phase of their lives together: “Grace and Peace.”