Bruce Reyes-Chow
For you Presbyterians out there, admit it, you know you are getting all excited about our upcoming General Assembly (July, 2012) just around the corner in Pittsburgh. The exhibit hall schwag, the stylish local host aprons and the endless arguing over what word works best: For, And, Nor, But, Or, Yet or So (FANBOYS).
Yes, we Presbyterians know how to party like it’s 1955.
In all seriousness, while there is much to critique my denominational family concerning a great many things, there is a genuine sense of family for many of us who attend our biennial national gathering. At our worst we model the full spectrum of human brokeness and at our best, we allow the Holy Spirit to move in and through our hearts, minds and actiona. It’s a frustratingly wacky family, but it’s my family.
One of the geekiest and loveliest parts of our General Assembly is the election of our Moderator. This is the person who moderates the week-long meeting of roughly 1,000 commissioners and then travels and speaks on behalf of the denomination for the following two years. I held this office from 2008-2010 and, while exhausting beyond belief on so many levels, it was a great honor to serve. It really was. As a denomination without a bishop in our structure, the Moderator has no real political power, but there is a great affection for and openness to the office by more folks than I had ever expected. Easy to dismiss as an irrelevant position – and that reality is clearer at some times more than others – it’s still an important part of our denominational life together.
This year there are five candidates who have declared their intentions to “stand” for Moderator: Rev. Janet Edwards of Pittsburg Presbytery, Rev. Robert M. Austell Jr. of Charlotte Presbytery, Rev. Randy Branson of Palo Duro Presbytery; Rev. Sue Krummel of Great Rivers Presbytery; and Rev. Neal Presa of Elizabeth Presbytery. We do not “run” for the office, as this is not about a campaign for an individual to win, but a calling to for a community to discern. Part of that process is that the candidates answer questions before and during General Assembly from various organizations and entities. It will be completely up to them whether or not they respond and there is a general understanding that all candidates should be included in all public discussions.
This year I am going to pose a few questions to the candidates as well as to those whom they have selected, should they be elected, to serve as vice-moderator. I will post their responses and links in the next few weeks.
This is where you come in.
One of the questions that I am going to ask them to answer is a wild card: “Answer one question that you would like to answer but have not been asked and/or select from any submitted on this blog post.” So if you have a question that you hope one/all might answer, please leave it in the comment section. It will be totally up to each candidate to choose which and whether they choose one from this pool of questions, but you never know. I will be sending the full slate of my questions to the candidates this weekend, so if you add your contribution soon the more likely it will be answered by one of the candidates.
DISCLAIMER: Just to be clear, I am doing this on my own and not as any official action of any General Assembly entity.
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