Princeton Seminary to Celebrate the Ministry of Bryant M. Kirkland and to Appoint Janice S. Ammon as first Bryant M. Kirkland Minister of the Chapel

Princeton, NJ, October 8, 2007–Princeton Theological Seminary will commemorate one of America’s finest preachers, Bryant Mays Kirkland (1914–2000), and officially appoint the Reverend Janice Smith Ammon to a position named in Kirkland’s honor. A service of worship, to take place at Miller Chapel on Thursday, November 1 at 7:00 p.m., will formally establish the post of Bryant M. Kirkland Minister of the Chapel, and appoint Ammon as the first to bear that title. Preaching at the service will be the Reverend Laird Stuart, pastor of Calvary Presbyterian Church in San Francisco, California. 

Bryant Mays Kirkland served for twenty-five years as the pastor of the Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church in New York City. He earned a B.A. from Wheaton College, and a B.Th. from Princeton Theological Seminary in 1938. Ordained to the ministry of Word and Sacrament in the Presbyterian Church, Kirkland served pastorates at the First Presbyterian Church in Willow Grove, Pennsylvania, Narberth Presbyterian Church in Narberth, Pennsylvania, the First Presbyterian Church in Haddonfield, New Jersey, and the First Presbyterian Church in Tulsa, Oklahoma, before being called to Fifth Avenue. Not only was Kirkland beloved by his congregations, but he also gave exemplary service to Princeton Seminary through his leadership on its Board of Trustees (president from 1973–1979) and his instruction of the church’s future preachers; Kirkland taught preaching as a visiting professor at the Seminary and delivered many sermons from the pulpit in Miller Chapel, all while ministering at Fifth Avenue.

The Reverend Janice Smith Ammon also served at the Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church, as associate pastor for congregational care. She earned a B.S. from Widener College in Chester, Pennsylvania, and an M.Div. from Princeton Seminary. She also ministered as associate pastor for membership and pastoral care at Central Presbyterian Church in Summit, New Jersey.

The evening service will be followed by a reception at Springdale, the home of President Iain and Mrs. Morag Torrance.

The worship service is open to the public. For more information, contact the Chapel Office at 609.497.7890.

Princeton Theological Seminary was founded in 1812, the first seminary established by the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church.  It is the largest Presbyterian Seminary in the country, with more than 700 students in seven graduate degree programs.