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Congregation Chapter Comes To A Close

March 11, 2024

First Presbyterian Church Clifton congregation gives thanks for Rev. Clint Schofield and his wife Jan for 20 years of service with retirement reception

CLIFTON – It’s never easy to say goodbye. But the First Presbyterian Church Clifton congregation did their best on Sunday, Feb. 25, when Rev. Clint Schofield preached his final sermon as pastor. At a retirement reception in the church Fellowship Hall after the worship service, church members expressed gratitude for his two decades of faithful leadership. Love offerings, gifts, cards, and well wishes were given to the Schofield and his wife Jan who have called Clifton home for 20 years.

Pastor Clint has 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.

Rev. Schofield was called to pastor First Presbyterian in June 2004, and during the ensuing twenty 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 has 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 has brought comfort to the sick and dying; and consoled families and friends grieving the loss of loved ones. He has presided over funerals and life celebrations for members of his congregation and beyond, many of whom he considered dear friends.

First Presbyterian Church is the oldest continually operating congregation in Bosque County. The church was chartered as the North Bosque Presbyterian Church by founding Pastor 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 163-year history. But Schofield’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.

Church historian Bryan Davis said to the best of his 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 were 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.

Clinton Albert Schofield was born at 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. Schofield graduated from C.H. Yoe High School, 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 Schofield met and fell in love with Jan Hawkins, who graduated from A&M in 1978. The couple were married that same year, 45 years ago, and the family grew to include a son, Josh, and a daughter, Julia.

The Schofields 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. Schofield 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. Schofield officially began serving as pastor on June 1st.

Looking back on his years in Clifton, Pastor Schofield recalls 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, one is invited into the heartaches, the joys and the sense of servanthood that God’s children live every day.” Rev. Schofield said. “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.”

He said the trust given a pastor by so many people he considers being an incredible honor not taken lightly. After twenty years of pastoring one church, there are many accomplishments Rev. Schofield 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, Rev. Schofield 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 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. Rev. Schofield called each of these accomplishments “spirit-led decisions.”

As for retirement, Rev. Schofield has always had a deep love for music and has shared those talents with the congregation through the years. He 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 the couple’s granddaughter, Juniper. “Seeking God’s plan for me comes first,” Rev. Schofield 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. On Feb. 25th an important chapter came to an end in the life of First Presbyterian Church of Clifton. While this chapter might end, the story continues. And it’s a story that’s been being written for 163 years. But an important part of the story is the legacy and the leadership of a very special man these past 20 years.