First Roy Williams, now Jim Dunkin.

For the second time in less than a year, another Kansas Jayhawk is defecting to North Carolina.

After four years of service as senior pastor of First Presbyterian Church, 2415 Clinton Parkway, the Rev. Jim Dunkin is leaving his pulpit to lead a congregation in Tarheel country: 1,300-member First Presbyterian Church in Salisbury, N.C.

Dunkin’s last worship service at the Lawrence church is Sunday. He begins his new position March 1. The Salisbury congregation voted to call Dunkin as its senior pastor Jan. 25, after making an initial contact last year.

According to Dunkin, the opportunity came out of the blue — the Carolina blue.

“This congregation contacted me; I was not looking,” said Dunkin, who did graduate work in counseling in Kansas University’s School of Education in the late 1970s.

“They said, ‘We need a leader with your gifts.’ So, after a lot of thought and prayer, we said ‘OK.'”

Leaving the Lawrence church won’t come easy, though. Dunkin’s roots run deep at First Presbyterian, and it’s the same for his wife, Leslie.

The couple met while attending the church — Jim was a graduate student at KU, and Leslie was an undergraduate — and they were married there 21 years ago.

JIM DUNKIN, LEFT, senior pastor at First Presbyterian Church, 2415 Clinton Parkway, visits with Abla Therese Ahianfo, center, and Emilee Whitehurst, associate pastor at the church. Whitehurst was trying on an outfit made by Ahianfo, a Togo, Africa, native who participates in the Small World program at First Presbyterian. Dunkin, whose last worship service at the Lawrence church is Sunday, will be the new senior pastor at First Presbyterian Church in Salisbury, N.C.

When the Dunkins moved from Prairie Village to Lawrence in December 1999 so that Jim could become senior pastor, it was the Leslie’s third time living here. Her first time was for five years, when she was a little girl; the second time was as a KU student.

“When we came here (in 1999), we thought we’d be here forever,” Jim said. “In terms of human logic, this (move) makes no sense. But to be faithful — faithful to the God I serve — it does make sense.”

Dunkin informed the church of his new position in a Jan. 27 letter to the congregation.

The Dunkins have two children: Christina, 16, a sophomore at Lawrence High School; and Matt, 20, a KU student who is doing his second internship in the Disney College Program in Orlando, Fla.

Strong emotional ties

Leaders of the congregation lauded Dunkin for the job he had done the past four years — as well as the condition in which he was leaving First Presbyterian.

“Well, I just wish him the best. I am so pleased for the accomplishments that he has given our church. It’s difficult to accept his leaving, but I feel he is very sincere, and I believe his motives are accurate and true,” said John Hughes, an elder and longtime member.

“It isn’t easy, but if you understand his motives, it’s the only conclusion that you can come to — that he is sincerely being led to go to a different location, to listen to God’s calling.”

Under Dunkin, Hughes said, First Presbyterian has strengthened its fiscal standing, as well as set the stage for an empowered membership to govern itself.

“Jim is a man of great integrity. He has great vision and organizational skills, and through that vision and organization he has pulled together all the church committees. It has enabled us to get a lot accomplished in the four years that he was here,” said Joan Golden, an elder who serves as the chair of the church’s stewardship and finance committee.

“We’re in a nice position financially. We have no debt, and 99.25 percent of our pledges are fulfilled. We had an incredible increase in individual pledges for 2004 so that we have a strong commitment from our congregation.”

Pledges totaled $341,000 in 2000, according to Dunkin, and the latest figure for 2004 is $539,000.

“I really think we’re in fantastic shape, and we’re sound financially. Every time I look around there’s all sorts of new young couples coming in, babies being baptized. I think our future’s really bright, and this is a time for us to work on developing the relationships among the congregation,” said Jeff Morrison, church treasurer.

Dunkin’s impact on First Presbyterian goes far beyond an improved financial picture. He has strong emotional ties to the congregation.

“I told Jim that I had been a very big girl through this whole process (of Dunkin announcing he is leaving). What I really wanted to do was to grab onto his pant leg and tell him, ‘Don’t leave us,'” said Mary Margaret Morrison, Jeff Morrison’s wife.

She is an elder and a native of Salisbury. Her parents attend the church that Dunkin will be leading, and the Morrisons were married there.

“We’re going to miss him so much,” she said.

Rising to challenge

Dunkin’s colleagues were equally complimentary.

“My description of Jim is that he has modeled for me what it means to be a pastor with the utmost integrity,” said the Rev. Emilee Whitehurst, First Presbyterian’s associate pastor. “He’s modeled a way of compassion and commitment to serving people in the church. For me, in my first year out as a pastor, I can’t imagine having had a better role model for what it means to be a minister. I feel very thankful for the time that I have overlapped with him.”

The Rev. Peter Luckey, senior pastor of Plymouth Congregational Church, 925 Vt., co-chaired with Dunkin the committee that organized an interfaith service that kicked off the dedication festivities at the Dole Institute of Politics in July.

“Jim has a heart for the whole ecumenical movement, a heart for working together collegially with other churches and faith communities toward a broader vision. Some people talk a big game about ecumenism. Jim didn’t just talk it; he walked the walk. He’s not the kind of person who had a huge ego that got in the way of working with others to bring about a common purpose or project,” Luckey said.

Dunkin said he felt confident of the condition in which he was leaving First Presbyterian after four years, and he felt good about that.

“I am proudest of how strong a congregation this has become after the challenges they’ve been through. When I pull away and look back in my rearview mirror, that’s what I’ll see,” he said.

“In all of the challenges in the history of this congregation, the people have risen to the challenge. This moment is no different.”