In many ways, it’s like calling a pastor in the
northern stream: you bring them in, listen to them speak, ask them a few
questions, then trust that God knows what’s best.
The only problem is, instead of one candidate, there’s four of them,
and you have to pick.
Each of them has served
the church in lots of ways; each of them is enthusiastic about ministry and
about the PCUSA; they all speak well, and have at least one funny story to
share. This year, they are all Teaching Elders (also known as ‘pastors’), so
they each have pastoral skills. Randy Branson, from First Church, Graham, TX
has been in ministry for, like forty years; Robert Austell was graduated from
seminary in 1996. Sue Krummel is a presbytery executive, and has served in
every size church; Neil Presa has lived the immigrant experience in the church,
and served at the highest level of the denomination.
In standing for
Moderator, they must do something very difficult: tout their own skills and abilities,
their accomplishments and strengths, without
tooting their own horns. After an hour of question and answer, I found them
all at least sort of engaging, and felt okay with the idea that they would
represent the denomination. In the end, though, I started to think about the
question, which one of these people could actually run the meeting for the next
seven days? That helped narrow the field for me.
In the end, the
Assembly elected Neal Presa, pastor of the Middlesex (NJ) Presbyterian Church.
Born in Guam of Filipino parents, Presa came to the Presbyterian Church after
being baptized Catholic, and came to the ministry from a pre-law background. He
is married, with two young sons, and is very comfortable with the social media
demands of the twenty-first century moderator (@nealpresa), while not seeming to be
preoccupied with them. He has served as adjunct faculty at both New Brunswick
Theological Seminary and Somerset Christian College, has authored three books,
and served on General Assembly committees, Task Forces, the GA Mission Council, as well as in the international
Reformed community.
It is interesting to
note that in choosing, and then sticking with Vice Moderator Candidate, the Rev. Tara Spuhler McCabe,
Presa is modeling the ‘living in the tension’ he described in his nomination
speech. It was made public last week that McCabe had signed a marriage license
for a same gender couple in the District of Columbia, where she was serving as an
Associate Pastor; Presa, while strenuously disagreeing with her action,
nonetheless refused to repudiate her as his choice as running mate, citing
their eleven year friendship as ample evidence that people who disagree can
still work and worship together.
Regardless I think he
will be a good face for the church, regardless of the decisions that we make;
and I think he will keep the Assembly moving in the right direction over the
next week.