The Assemblies of God has installed its 13th general superintendent. 54-year-old Doug Clay was elected chief executive officer of the General Council of the Assemblies of God at AG’s biennial convention in Anaheim, California in August and was installed in a consecration ceremony in Springfield at Central Assembly of God.
Clay served as AG's general treasurer for nine years. He was superintendent of the Ohio District from 2004-2008 and was pastor of Calvary Assembly of God in Toledo, Ohio from 1997-2004. He's a 1985 graduate of Central Bible College in Springfield.
In describing what kind of leader he'll be, the former district superintendent, pastor and youth director said, “I hope I’m a growing leader. I hope I’m a humble leader. I hope I’m a decisive leader. But, more importantly, I hope I’m a dependent leader, dependent upon the wisdom of God.”
He said his first task will be to get used to the weight he’ll be carrying as general superintendent. According to Clay, as he looks into making any changes to the vision or initiatives, he’ll take a calculated approach.
“I want to be very calculated in things that we do—calculated in any vision tweaks or initiatives that we would start," he said.
Maintaining "the foundations of our faith," he said, is critical to him, including Biblical literacy. He says it's important for young people to have a good, working understanding of scripture.
"You know, everybody has a world view. Our world view gets shaped by our experiences, by our upbringing, by our ethnicity," he said. "But a biblical world view, I think, is so very, very important."
Clay succeeds Dr. George Wood who served as general superintendent for 10 years and had a total of 24 years of executive experience in the Assemblies of God. Clay said he would never attempt to fill Wood's shoes. According to Clay, "I hope to build on the incredible foundation that he's laid that I think's strong enough to bear the weight of future growth. His impact through his writings, through his decision making and some of the initiatives that he has established, AG Trust, the consolidation of our schools, will live on for years to come."
Rick DuBose was installed as general treasurer and Malcolm Burleigh as executive director of U.S. Missions at the ceremony at Central Assembly of God.
The Assemblies of God has more than 367,000 churches worldwide with 13,023 in the U.S.
The Assemblies of God Headquarters, at 1445 N. Boonville in Springfield, employs around 700 people and houses the denomination's executive and administrative offices, service divisions and department's. It also houses the AG's printing plant, which ships out more than six tons of literature daily.
