April Davenport, who previously was deputy general counsel, is now the Church’s general counsel
by Mike Ferguson | Presbyterian News Service
Mike Kirk and his wife, Maureen, received warm wishes during a retirement event held at the Presbyterian Center last week. (Photo by Randy Hobson)
LOUISVILLE — Colleagues gathered at the Welcome Center in the Presbyterian Center last week to celebrate the many contributions of Mike Kirk, the PC(USA)’s general counsel, who retired Friday after 15 years serving in the Legal Services Department of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), A Corporation.
The new general counsel is April Davenport, the former deputy general counsel who has been part of the Legal Services Department for 28 years.
“I’m leaving at a time when there’s a lot of uncertainty in the organization” with the Unification Commission “making some important decisions about the future of the organization,” Kirk said. “I hope folks understand the decisions are being made by faithful Presbyterians who have the best interest of the organization in mind.”
“I hope folks also know our office is here to serve the Presbyterian Mission Agency and the Office of the General Assembly as long as they exist and will serve the new agency with the same energy and vigor we have in the past,” Kirk said. “We look forward to helping folks transition into that new future.”
He recalled the first task assigned to him by his predecessor as general counsel, Martha Clark. “I got a cellphone call and Martha drove me to a PMA Board meeting,” Kirk said. “She said, ‘You don’t have to do anything. Just sit and watch.’ I learned a lot during that first session.”
Kirk was named interim general counsel in 2019 and general counsel the following year. “I’ve worked with a number of leaders — all of them faithful Presbyterians — and I enjoyed every one of them, getting to know them and helping them with the challenging situations they faced. I’m leaving the department in great hands. April and Emily [Hord] will serve the Church well.”
The position of general counsel carries a multifaceted job description, Kirk noted. “The job is to oversee the work of the department, keeping an eye on the organization and the various legal issues,” from relatively routine tasks like reviewing contracts to “keeping an eye out for the threats out there for any organization,” including cyber threats and artificial intelligence. It also involves “trying to figure out what the organization needs to prepare itself for those risks” as well as “presenting information for folks in the church.” While the Legal Services Department does not represent mid councils and congregations, it can and does “offer information helpful to congregations and mid councils” in preparing for risks as well as dealing with “day-to-day issues they face as leaders of their organizations.” That can mean the PC(USA)’s top lawyer writes articles for the mid council relations newsletter with “information to keep their organization safe and deal with the legal issues they face from day to day.”
“It’s hard to define, because so many things come through this office,” Kirk said. “It’s being the filter as they come through the door that we get them the help to deal with issues clients have.”
Among the highlights, Kirk cited “helping the new A Corp Board as they worked to understand their role. They were a new and separate board. It used to be the PMA Board had that responsibility, and it took the A Corp Board a few years to figure out their roles. Faithful Presbyterians have and continue to serve on that board.”
Another has been “helping mission and ministry” in the PMA “to flourish by making sure they have the tools they need from a legal and risk management viewpoint.” It was the Rev. Dr. Diane Givens Moffett, who’s serving as president and executive director of the PMA through Oct. 31, who coined the term “ad-ministers” for members of the Legal Services Department. “It gave us a connection to the work,” Kirk said. “Sometimes you don’t see the end product, the churches and people we are serving directly.”
Kirk said he’s also enjoyed working with other clients including Presbyterian Women and the Presbyterian Investment & Loan Program, “helping them in their mission and ministry, helping them flourish. It’s important work.”
While he and Davenport “have different skill sets and knowledge and experiences in the law, I think she will be an impressive leader and a good partner for our clients,” Kirk said. “I think she brings a different viewpoint than I do to the work, and that’s a good thing. April knows the organization well. She has great knowledge on governance and international legal issues.” The hope is to hire another attorney soon, he said.
Turning to his retirement, Kirk said he has “a lot of books that are unread and a lot of movies that are unseen. I plan to travel to see the world with my wife [Maureen], who’s been retired for three years and has been waiting for me.”
After some time in retirement, Kirk hopes to find a nonprofit organization in need of legal services he can donate. “I’ve been on a number of nonprofit boards,” he said. “Hopefully I have skills useful to nonprofit boards in the community.”
“I have dogs that need walking as well,” he said with a grin.
April Davenport
Davenport called her new work “an exciting opportunity to continue to serve the denomination using the skills and gifts I’ve been developing in my work here in the legal office since 1996. I have and continue to feel called to this work.”
Davenport “was born to a Presbyterian family and did all the things that Presbyterian young people do. I never dreamed this is the kind of job one could have as a lawyer,” she said. “It just worked out that way.”
Davenport believes her continuation and advancement will be good for the Church. “I certainly know the culture, and I know a lot about our past and how that can inform the ways in which the church is changing and how the mission and ministry of our client partners can flourish in today’s environment while being faithful to the rich and generous legacy of Presbyterians who came before us.”
“I am deeply thankful for Mike’s service to the church — to the A Corporation and client partners, in the ways he used his skills and gifts to impact and influence our mission and ministry,” Davenport said. While her chief focus has been “on money stuff,” including tax rulings, restricted giving and how to send money to sanctioned countries, “Mike came from a background as a litigator and employment lawyer,” as well as one who “supported vulnerable persons and faithfully responded in different situations.” Davenport said the plan is to find a new staff attorney with many of those same skills.
“Mike used his skills and gifts to further The Great Ends of the Church as well,” she said. “I am especially grateful for the ways he did that and led our office in setting a tone for how to do that.”
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