As I wrote the three previous pieces on the teams standing for Moderator of the 223rd PC(USA) General Assembly, I found some interesting threads. One of these was that half of them have some connection to Florida (Bertram, Vilmarie, and Chantal). Not sure how relevant that is, but some other notes:
- It is mostly an East Coast bunch: Bertram – NYC, Vilmarie – Miami, Cindy – Massachusetts, Chantal – Pennsylvania. Ken is in the Midwest (but still east of the Mississippi) and Eliana is in Seattle. That also gives Ken the shortest distance to travel.
- As is typical, there are the Princeton Theological Seminary connections: Half the TE’s have M.Div.’s from there – Bertram and Ken; Cindy’s is from Austin and Eliana’s is from Seattle.
- Both Bertram and Cindy have theater experience
- Both Cindy and Chantal were born abroad as children of U.S. active duty military personnel. In addition Eliana is a native of Colombia.
- Two attended Presbyterian schools for their undergraduate training: Cindy – Whitworth, Ken – Grove City.
- It is four women and two men, four teaching elders and two ruling elders, and three people of color. So, there will be a female Moderator or Co-Moderator this year, and a 2-out-of-three chance of a ruling elder.
My best wishes to all of them. I regret that with a problem with my airline flights I will not arrive in time for the meet-and-greet tomorrow morning, but looking forward to the election and press conference afterwards. And hope to catch some of you in the hall.
On to GA