Category Archives: Moderator

Moderator Nominee Of The Presbyterian Church In Canada 140th General Assembly 2014

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I am running a bit late on this, but almost two weeks ago the Presbyterian Church in Canada announced the results of balloting for the Moderator Nominee for the 140th General Assembly 2014. From a slate of three candidates the presbyters of the church have selected the Rev. Dr. Stephen C. Farris to lead the upcoming GA.

Rev. Farris has spent the last decade at the University of British Columbia as the Dean of the Presbyterian theological college there, St. Andrew’s Hall. The college is also associated with the Vancouver School of Theology where Rev. Farris is the Professor of Homiletics.

He has had a long career in academia, having previously served for 17 years as the Professor of Preaching and Worship at Knox College, Toronto. He preaches regularly around Canada and began his career as the pastor of Trinity Church, Amherstview, Ontario.

His training is international with degrees from the University of Toronto, Union Theological Seminary, Virginia (now Union Presbyterian Seminary) and earning his Ph.D. from the University of Cambridge.

The press release notes work in two significant international posts. For the now merged World Alliance of Reformed Churches, he served on the Executive Committee and “helped negotiate the repudiation of apartheid by the Dutch Reformed Church of South Africa.” He has also served as the president of the Academy of Homiletics.

We are also told that Rev. Farris and his wife Patricia have two sons and two wonderful grandchildren.

The 140th General Assembly will convene on Friday 30 May at 1 p.m. at Wilfrid Laurier University in Waterloo. The formal election of Rev. Dr. Farris as Moderator will occur later that day. Our prayers and best wishes for him during the Assembly and his whole moderatorial year.

[Ed. note: I see that the Academy of Homiletics will be meeting in San Diego in November. So. Cal. friends keep an eye out for where he might be preaching on Nov. 23 after the meeting. Or if he would like to preach in So. Cal. and does not have arrangements yet I am sure I can find a congregation that would welcome him.]

Moderator Designate Of The Free Church Of Scotland (Continuing) 2014 General Assembly

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Earlier this month the Free Church of Scotland (Continuing) made the announcement that their Moderator Designate for the 2014 General Assembly would be the Rev. Allan Murray.

Rev. Murray resides and worships in Brora and the Brora church was his charge until his retirement last November. He is a second-career pastor having practiced dentistry for 23 years before studying for the ministry at Free Church College and then taking up his first charge in 1988. He served there at Rogart and Scourie until the division and afterwards for a while served at Scourie and Lochinver at the same time as the Brora charge.

He and his wife Maureen have, as the press release says, “five of a family, now mostly spread around the world.”

The press release was picked up by the Storoway Gazette and pretty much printed verbatim. His sermons, leading up to his retirement, are posted on sermonaudio.com.

The Free Church of Scotland (Continuing) General Assembly will convene in Edinburgh on 19 May 2014. We wish Rev. Murray the best as he prepares for the Assembly and our prayers for him during the Assembly and his moderatorial year.

Presbyterian News Headlines For The First Half Of March 2014

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So what caught my attention the first half of this month? Here are a few of the item I found interesting.

One of the headlines caught my attention because of its implications for other current events:

Representative carries bill to help church he leads: Reps say congregations have concerns about bill to disallow ecclesiastical law in disputes – from Topeka Capital-Journal

The bill would introduce a form of neutral principles to Kansas law for deciding church property cases. There are numerous comments from presbytery and synod leaders about the nature of the bill and the implications as well as the representative’s motives. The comments that his church was considering requesting dismissal from the PC(USA) lead to another article the next day where his pastor denied it:

Pastor of state rep’s church: We’re not splitting: Pastor of Rep. McPherson’s congregation disputes church leaders’ characterization of bill
– from Topeka Capital-Journal

I had mentioned last time about the pressure raised by the Presbyterian Church in Mizoram state of India to continue prohibition on alcohol and the church is now organizing prayer meetings related to this effort:

Mass prayers to keep Mizoram prohibition – from The Times of India

An event to mark International Women’s Day in Cape Coast, Ghana, included remarks by a Senior Lecturer at Presbyterian University that became the headline for this piece about the event:

Change of name after marriage not obligatory – from Ghana News Agency

A particular congregation of the Presbyterian Church in Northern Ireland is involved in a project to examine its region’s troubled history:

New project will look at plantation and penal laws – from Derry Journal; “A new cross-community project will examine
the impact of the penal laws and the plantation on Catholics and
Presbyterians in Derry. The project is being funded by the Department of
Culture, Arts and Leisure and will involve the congregation of First
Derry Presbyterian Church and senior citizens from the Bogside area. When completed, the work will form part of a new website looking at the period.”

As the South Seas Evangelical Church celebrates its 50th Anniversary the Moderator of the Presbyterian Church of Vanuatu sends greetings and a fraternal delegation:

Moderator Ova congratulates Ambu community – from Solomon Star

A couple of fires at Presbyterian-related institutions:

Fire guts Charlieville Presbyterian School – from Guardian Media; about a school in Trinidad

Weekend fire damages children’s home: Water from sprinklers causes more problems than flames – from Daily Journal; about a Presbyterian Children’s Homes facility in Farmington, Missouri

And a building that some time ago was a Presbyterian church in New Rochelle, NY, gets a high-profile renovation for a Pentecostal congregation:

Baseball star Rivera rescues, renovates NY church – AP story, here published by ESPN

And a church loaning out space to the local library during renovation in Lewisboro, NY:

Library begins new chapter – from Lewisboro Ledger

Finally, an honor for recognition of mission work:

Pastor wins medal from Ethiopian government – from The Korea Times; “Pastor Kim Sam-hwan of the Myungsung Presbyterian
Church was conferred a medal of appreciation by the Ethiopian government
for his contributions to the development of Ethiopian medical services.”

So I will hold it at that for this group. I may include one or two more from this time period in the next group as logical groupings suggest.

Church Of Scotland 2014 Moderator Designate Steps Aside Due To Ill Health

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Today it was announced by the Church of Scotland that due to ill health the Rev. Angus Morrison has decided to step aside as the Moderator Designate for the 2014 General Assembly. In the article from the Kirk the Rev. Morrison is quoted as saying:

“This
has been a very painful decision but deep down I feel it is the right
one. I am undergoing medical treatment and anticipate an operation
ahead. The demanding role of Moderator requires someone to be operating
on all cylinders. I do not have the necessary reserves just now.

“It is with huge regret and reluctance that I make this decision. My
heartfelt prayers will be with all those on whom unexpected burdens now
fall. May God’s guidance, strength and peace be given to each one.”

The article notes that the Committee to Nominate the Moderator will be meeting again and that a new Moderator Designate will likely be announced on Wednesday 2 April. The article also notes “There
is no precedent in living memory for a Moderator-Designate standing
down.”

There is also coverage of the announcement in stv news, The Scotsman and the BBC.

The Principal Clerk of the General Assembly asks the church to remember Rev. Morrison and his family in their prayers and we would add ours as well. Best wishes for good medical care and a speedy recovery and God’s presence with you and your family throughout.

Third Moderator Candidate For PC(USA) 221st GA (2014) — TE Kelly Allen

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This past week saw the endorsement of a third candidate to stand for the Moderator of the 221st General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) as Mission Presbytery endorsed Teaching Elder Kelly Allen of San Antonio. Rev. Allen has served as pastor of University Presbyterian Church since 2009 having served as the pastor of a United Reformed church in Buckinghamshire, England, and before that the pastor of two churches in Missouri. Her detailed bio on the church web site lists her education including a BA in psychology from Washington University, St. Louis, an M.Div. from Columbia Theological Seminary and a MA in politics and religion from University of Birmingham, England. On that bio page you can also find her Statement of Faith.

At this time she has a range of social media in place including her OnePager basic web page with the dedicated domain name kellyformoderator.com, a Twitter handle (@kellysueallen), and a Kelly Allen for GA Moderator 2014 Facebook page. She also has her regular blog “How I See Things.” And while the basic web page is a good intro to her, by the nature of the web hosting it might change but will not become much more developed. And the RSS feed on the web page is for her regular blog. Right now it appears that the best place to be reading updated thoughts on standing for Moderator will be the Facebook page.

Her tag line is “Hope-filled leadership for today’s church” and on the basic web page she develops this in three areas of “leadership commitments”: 1. A commitment to spiritual practice – the practices in the history of the church that have drawn us closer to God and to one another in communion. 2. A desire to build community among strangers – “our encounters with the ‘other’ reveal much about ourselves” and in meeting others where they are can we see an expression of the Kingdom of God. 3. A willingness to be bold and bodily witnesses to gospel values – how are we as Christians seen and heard in the world around us and who do we partner with to demonstrate the Gospel?

For more of her thoughts there is a three and a half minute video of Rev. Allen on her Facebook page talking about some of these ideas and her thoughts about the call. On a side note, you have to love the strategecially placed PC(USA) logo in stained glass behind her but she does lose style points for the trailing credits which still has the [enter name here] under the credits.

For additional coverage of her announcement there is an article from the Presbyterian Outlook.

And so, we wish Teaching Elder Allen the best as she prepares for the General Assembly meeting and add her name to our prayer list for all the candidates standing for Moderator.

Presbyterian News Headlines For The First Half Of February 2014

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Let me begin today with a bit of the follow-up news to the election of the Moderator for the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland. First, concerning the successful nominee, the Rev. Dr. Michael Barry:

New Presbyterian Moderator vows to reach out and serve – from Belfast News Letter

Presbyterian moderator says politicians must find way of dealing with past – from The Irish Times

Just a day after his election, new Presbyterian Church Moderator sparks row by telling gay people to stop having sex – from Belfast Telegraph

And the presence of the Rev. Liz Hughes in the final vote, and falling one vote short, has grabbed some significant media attention as well:

Town-born Liz just misses out in historic bid to become Moderator – from Portadown Times

A female Moderator is surely inevitable – from Portadown Times

In Scotland, the Scottish Parliament approved a same-sex marriage bill with corresponding reaction from the various Scottish churches including the Church of Scotland and the Free Church of Scotland:

Scotland becomes seventeenth country to approve same-sex marriages – from Reuters

Same-sex marriage vote prompts church concerns – from Daily Record

Churches denounce law that legalizes same-sex marriage in Scotland – from Ecumenical News

Although individual pastors are speaking out in favour of the legislation:

Cambuslang minister goes against own church’s view on same sex marriage – from Daily Record

Also from Scotland, the Free Church of Scotland confirmed they had settled a lawsuit a few months back related to the death of a visiting Peruvian boy almost eight years ago. The lawsuit was brought by the boy’s parents:

Free Church of Scotland settles with crash boy’s parents – from the BBC

Finally, it was also announced that the jewelry – ring and cross – that are the signs of the office of the Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, have been replaced after they were stolen with a bag at an airport last year:

New ring and cross for Kirk’s Moderator after originals stolen – from STV News

And in Illinois the long-running story of the fate of a Presbyterian camp on Lake Michigan has apparently been settled. While there was hope of saving the camp, with the vote of the Presbytery of Chicago the land was sold to the developer:

Presbyterian group’s plan to sell Michigan campsite meets opposition – from Chicago Sun-Times (Feb 5)

Church votes to sell Saugatuck campground property to developer for $10M – from The Grand Rapids Press (Feb 10)

Sale of 130-acre Presbyterian Camps completed – from Holland Sentinel (Feb 18)

In Mississippi, a celebration and update on a church damaged by a tornado last year:

Year after tornado, damaged Hattiesburg church holds communion – from the Clarion Ledger

From Africa, we first have an op-ed piece the decries some of the steps pastors are taking, including at least one Presbyterian one, to get around laws so they can accumulate more wealth for them and their churches:

Kenya: The Terrorism of Our Modern-Day Pastors – from allAfrica

There were also comments about the economy from the Moderator of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church of Ghana and suggestion that spending be cut instead of taxes raised:

Imposition of taxes is not the answer – Presby Moderator – from Graphic Online

While from the island of Trinidad a problem at a Presbyterian school has parents and students protesting:

Rats close Erin Road Presbyterian – from Trinidad Express

Also in this time period we had news that Joan Mondale initially entered hospice and died a few days later. Her service was held at Westminster Presbyterian Church in Minneapolis with music provided by the Macalester College Concert Choir. She was a daughter of the manse and her father, the Rev. John Maxwell Adams, was the chaplain at Macalester for a number of years. One reason that her passing caught my attention is that my father was a student at Macalester at the same time she was and worked closely with Rev. Adams in connection with the chapel services. I believe I had the pleasure of meeting Rev. Adams, probably at the 183rd General Assembly in 1971.

At this point there is a lot of news out there and you may notice a couple of high-profile items missing from this list. I do hope to make time to blog those individually in the next few weeks. In addition, as GA season approaches the news volume will probably be increasing as well. Stay tuned…

Church Of Scotland 2014 National Youth Assembly Moderator And Clerk

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This past week the Church of Scotland announced the choice of Moderator and Clerk for the 2014 National Youth Assembly.

The Moderator will be Ms Rachel Hutcheson, a member of Old High St. Stephen’s Church of Inverness. She has a good background in the workings of the Kirk having been involved in Church of Scotland Youth (CoSY) for the last six years and during that time participated in four National Youth Assemblies. In addition, she has served as a youth delegate from the Presbytery of Inverness to the General Assembly four times. She is active in her local church as a youth group leader and a member of the Worship Team. She has also helped with the wider church as staff for three National Children’s Assemblies.

She is a student at the University of Aberdeen working on an MA in Education. From one of the bio’s I had to look up her summer pastime of Munro Bagging and found it to be mountain climbing a particular set of peaks very much like the 46ers that I grew up working on.

The Clerk will be Mr. John Haston, an active elder from Abbotsgrange Parish Church in Grangemouth where he serves as the Sunday
School Superintendent, EV3NT co-ordinator, choir member, Boys Brigade helper and a committee member of the
men’s association. He serves the Presbytery of Falkirk as a corresponding youth member and assessor elder for another congregation. (Polity note: when a congregation can not form its own session the governing council is composed of outside assessor elders like other branches might have an organizing committee or an administrative commission.)

He has been to two previous National Youth Assemblies and he will be serving as a youth delegate to the General Assembly for the second time this May.

There is coverage of the announcement from both the Church of Scotland news article as well as a briefer article, but with pictures, from the Kirk’s magazine Life and Work. At this time the COSY page for Moderator and Clerk includes both the current officers as well as the most detailed bios of each of the designees.

The National Youth Assembly will be held 15-18 August and the theme is “My Father’s House.” In the quotes in the Life and Work article Rachel helps to unpack this a little:

“The Church is going through challenging times so we must take time to
reflect on who we are and where we are going. This year at NYA we will
be exploring how we worship. We will discuss how we think the Church
should be spending its money. We will be investigating how we can do
ministry intergenerationally and finally, how we can support Christians
in the Middle East. As we join together to celebrate 20 fabulous years
of NYA I hope delegates will feel empowered and strengthened in their
faith.”

(And I have to give a nod of approval to the coffee cup – OK, hot beverage cup – in the graphics.)

We congratulate Rachel and John on their selection as the officers of the National Youth Assembly and wish them well and offer our prayers as they prepare for the meeting and to represent the Assembly in the following year. Furthermore, we pray for the Assembly as a whole and eagerly look forward to their mutual discernment on the topics to be discussed.

Presbyterian Church In Ireland Elects Rev. Michael Barry As Moderator Designate

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Yesterday was the first Tuesday in February, the day that all the presbyteries of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland (PCI) meet to elect their General Assembly Moderator for the year. There were a few unique aspects to this year’s election, but at the end of the day the 19 presbyteries elected the Rev. Dr. Michael Barry as the Moderator Designate for the 2014 General Assembly.

Rev. Barry has served for the last 28 years as pastor of Sandys Street Presbyterian Church in Newry (in the southeast corner of Northern Ireland, for those of us who had to look it up). He comes from a family of mariners (according to the PCI press release) but his first career was as a teacher, training at Stranmillis College and then working as a math instructor at Larne Technical College, now part of Northern Regional College. During that time he continued his education and in 1979 began studying for the ministry at Union Theological College, Belfast. Upon ordination in 1982 he served as an assistant minister at First Larne and three years later moved to Newry where he has been ever since. He completed a D.Min. from Covenant Theological Seminary, St. Louis, in 1997.

In addition to his parish ministry, he actively works with schools in the Newry area, particularly the Rathore School for children with special needs. He and his wife Esther have two daughters who both are teachers in England.

Following his election he said in a statement (reprinted here from the Belfast News Letter):

“I am very surprised but pleased that the Presbyterian Church has put
its confidence in me and seen fit to give me the honour of serving as
moderator.

“I look forward to encouraging the Church and its
people in their ministry as I have the opportunity to travel around
Ireland and visit congregations and meet people engaged in ministry and
mission.”

For some answers to questions from the Wednesday morning news conference you can check out Alan in Belfast (@alaninbelfast) and his audio of the news conference on Audioboo.

There were a number of interesting points to this year’s election that deserve mention.

First, there were five candidates on the ballot nominated in the first round. Following the first ballot last night there was a three way tie with Rev. Barry, the Rev. Liz Hughes and the Rev. Ian McNie each receiving five votes. In early responses from people familiar with the history of the church no one could remember a three-way tie before.

In a change in procedure used in this year’s tie for the first time the second ballot was taken the same night as opposed to it being taken one month later, like the initial tie in 2010. The second round was again very tight with Rev. Barry receiving seven votes and the other two candidates each receiving six votes.

Another unusual point this year was that none of the five candidates had been nominated in the first round in previous years – it was a group of all first-timers on the ballot.

Finally, the appearance of the Rev. Liz Hughes on the ballot marked only the second time that a woman has been nominated and with the very close first and second votes it is the closest that a female minister has come to being elected Moderator.

So with that, we congratulate the Rev. Michael Barry on his election, wish him well for the time until he is installed on 2 June, and offer our prayers for his time moderating the Assembly as well as for his moderatorial year.

Presbyterian News Headlines For The First Half Of January 2014

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I am going to take a break from my research and writing on church property news long enough to highlight a few news headlines. As I have been going back and forth to the headlines over the last few months I am thinking that maybe this model of doing half of a month at a time might be the right balance. We will see. But on to a few of the items that have caught my attention since the first of the year.

A lot happening in Scotland right now but let me mention one new item I have not covered previously — the Scottish Parliament holding hearings on a petition regarding the role of churches in the schools and a recommendation to limit their role.

MSPs hear bid to cut religious influence on schools – from Herald Scotland

Edinburgh secularists challenge religious privilege in Scotland’s education system – from National Secular Society

Church responds to Petitions Committee decision on religious representation on local authority education committees – from Chruch of Scotland

Also related to the Church of Scotland and schools is a program advocated for by the church to help all younger students with school meals

Chewing over the details: what will free school meals mean for Scots pupils? – from The Courier

And a chaplain who was dismissed because of comments he made on Facebook

Church of Scotland minister loses role as chaplain of Glasgow school after calling homosexuality a ‘disorder’ – from The Telegraph

There was also wide coverage of a BBC program that profiled Scottish minister’s wives

In and beyond the Manse – looking at the role of the Minister’s wife – from Stornoway Gazette

Scottish church ministers’ wives set to star in new reality television series – from Scottish Daily Record

And the Church of Scotland Youth program issued an interesting paper

A guide to ethical living from Church of Scotland Youth – from Scottish Christian

On to Africa – a few interesting headlines from there

Ghana: Minister Bemoans Corruption in Churches – from allAfrica

Presidential Authority Is Abused In Ghana-Rev. Martey – from Spy Ghana

Morally Refreshing Leadership from Moderator Martey – from GhanaWeb

BT Synod urges women to contest as independent candidates – from Nyasa Times

I have mentioned this before but here is an update

Paving the way: Lebanon’s first female pastor – from MSN News (although I think the author really does not understand some of the religious subtleties; the earlier story was much better)

And finally, this headline from the PC(USA)

Youth Convince Presbytery to Divest from Fossil Fuel Companies – from Burnsville Patch; this will be an overture from the Presbytery of the Twin Cities Area to the 221st General Assembly and it looks like it will be a concurring overture to one already submitted by the Presbytery of Boston. Looking through the supporting materials I personally see some issues and I may elect to return to this for a more detailed discussion at a later time. Among other things a particular quote comes to mind… “One word: Plastics”

That’s it for this time. Back with more in a couple of weeks…

Moderator Candidates For The 2014 General Assembly Of The Presbyterian Church In Canada

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As I anticipated in my last post, early this week we got word of the nominees for Moderator of the 140th General Assembly (2014) of the Presbyterian Church in Canada. And in the nominees we have three distinguished ministers from across the country and each from a different type of ministry setting.

In alphabetical order, the first is the Rev. Calvin Brown, currently serving as stated supply pastor of a two-point, or yoked, parish that includes Knox Presbyterian Church in the town of Palmerston, Ontario and Knox Presbyterian Church in Drayton, Ontario. That much was given in the press release and I have to admit that I was stumped for a bit in researching his background, but thanks to some pointers from Al Clarkson I am able to provide significantly more background. From Mr. Brown’s LinkedIn page we know that he has been at his current position for about three years now and before that he was the the Executive Director of Renewal Fellowship within the Presbyterian Church in Canada for over 16 years. In that position he regularly contributed the Renewal column in the Presbyterian Record, a publication of the PCC. He has his M.Div. from Knox College of the University of Toronto and his undergraduate degree in English and Psychology from Wilfrid Laurier University in Waterloo, Ontario. He began his ordained ministry with 20 years in a missionary parish in British Columbia. He does have a Facebook page and there are a number of photographs on Flickr from the transition when he stepped down as executive director.

The Rev. Dr. Stephen Farris is currently the dean of St. Andrew’s Hall, the Presbyterian school at the Vancouver School of Theology, and a professor of homiletics at VST. He holds a B.A. from the University of Toronto, an M.Theo. and D.Min. from Union Theological College in Virginia, and a Ph.D. from Cambridge University. He served five years of service in parish ministry at Trinity Presbyterian Church, Amherstview, Ontario, and then taught for 17 years at Knox College of the University of Toronto before moving to Vancouver. He is the author of numerous books and articles ( example 1, example 2 ) including the Bible Studies for the 23rd General Council of the World Alliance of Reformed Churches.

The third nominee is the Rev. Stewart Folster the director of the Saskatoon Native Circle Ministry. The Presbyterian Record has numerous stories on this ministry, but one in particular – The Path to Healing: Native Ministries – Relating in Saskatoon
– profiles Rev. Folster. There is another extensive section in The Path to Healing: Sharing the pain of residential schools where he talks about his family’s experience and his ministry now.
He and the SNCM were also profiled in the PC(USA) Mission Yearbook this year. When he was ordained in 1996 he was the first aboriginal minister in the PCC. He has been active in part with the Truth and Reconciliation Commission process that has been happening within the church and around the country and the SNCM is mentioned in the special Path to Healing articles and resources from the Presbyterian Record.

To the three nominees we offer our congratulations and best wishes and prayers as they begin on this journey. We will find out in early April who the church elects as it’s next General Assembly Moderator.