After a pause of almost seven months from the endorsement of the first moderator candidate we now have a second candidate endorsed and standing for the position of Moderator of the 221st General Assembly (2014) of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). This past Tuesday, 26 November, the Presbytery of Genesee Valley endorsed Teaching Elder John Wilkinson to stand for Moderator of the General Assembly.
TE Wilkinson has been the pastor and head of staff at Third Presbyterian Church of Rochester, New York, for the last dozen years and he previously served as Executive Associate Pastor at Fourth Presbyterian Church in Chicago and as pastor of St. James Presbyterian Church, also in Chicago. The Chicago connection continues back to his M.Div. from McCormick Seminary as well as a Ph.D. from Northwestern.
He currently serves as the Moderator of the Presbytery of Genesee Valley and he is on the leadership teams of the Covenant Network and Next Church. His Moderator curriculum vitae shows extensive service to the denomination at all levels including current service on the Committee on the Office of the General Assembly and his recent service as moderator of that committee, as well as his past service on the Theological Task Force on the Peace, Unity and Purity of the Church.
Rev. Wilkinson has his official moderator candidate web site up and running and from that we learn that his theme is “With an urgency born of this hope…”, a phrase taken from the second to last paragraph of the Confession of 1967. For context, the full paragraph is:
With an urgency born of this hope the church applies itself to present tasks and
strives for a better world. It does not identify limited progress with the kingdom of God
on earth, nor does it despair in the face of disappointment and defeat. In steadfast hope
the church looks beyond all partial achievement to the final triumph of God.
He speaks to this theme in one of the three posts currently on the blog section of the web site. Among other things he says “And urgency. Not fear, not anxiety, not panic, but urgency. The work to which we are called matters, and is important.”
On the web site you will also find a narrative bio section and a section called A Shared Vision that includes some links to his writing as well as a Presbyterian News Service article about a linkage of city churches in Rochester. And there is a section called Prayers for the Journey that in addition to the prayer printed there invites you to submit your prayers. And I did take note of the fact that the design was by Cleave Design – another Chicago connection but also a Third Church connection.
If you want to follow along with Rev. Wilkinson’s stand for Moderator, besides the web site he invites you to follow his Moderator page on Facebook. If you are interested he also has a personal Facebook page and a LinkedIn profile. I did not see an RSS feed on the site and there is no mention of a Twitter, or any other social media, account.
Coverage of his endorsement for Moderator has included an article in the local media, the Democrat and Chronicle, as well as the Presbyterian Outlook.
As I read through his material what may be the most unique aspect, in my experience, of his candidacy is the letter the session of Third Presbyterian Church sent to the congregation announcing and explaining his candidacy. In the letter is a paragraph linking this possible election as Moderator to the church stewardship campaign:
In a few days you will receive your annual Stewardship mailing, giving you an opportunity to support the staff and programs of Third Church. Given the potential we now have of national, and even international recognition, we encourage you to think carefully and prayerfully about the support you can provide to your Church.
Well, that is a bit of a unique hook for the annual stewardship campaign.
And so we wish Rev. Wilkinson well as he joins the field of candidates standing for Moderator of the General Assembly. Our prayers are with him as well as all the others currently endorsed and those that are still discerning the call.
Having said that, I will finish up for this evening but will note my eager anticipation of word of more Moderator candidates that should be arriving within the next day or two. Stay tuned… (UPDATE: And if you are curious here they are)