The office of the Moderator of the General Assembly is the highest elected position in the Presbyterian Church (USA). The Moderator is responsible for presiding over the meeting of the General Assembly, which was held annually until 2004, and on alternate years since. After the meeting, which lasts for about a week, the Moderator serves as an ambassador of the denomination throughout the remainder of the term. After completing the term, most former Moderators take on the role of a church statesman or stateswoman.
The chart below shows the Moderators and Vice Moderators, and the place of meetings, since the United Presbyterian Church in the United States of America and the Presbyterian Church in the United States merged to form the present day Presbyterian Church (USA).
Number | Year | Place of Meeting | Moderator | Vice Moderator |
---|---|---|---|---|
195th GA | 1983 | Atlanta, Georgia | The Rev. Randolph Taylor | The Rev. Dr. Joan SalmonCampbell [1] |
196th GA | 1984 | Phoenix, Arizona | The Rev. Harriet Nelson | none |
197th GA | 1985 | Indianapolis, Indiana | Elder William H. Wilson | none |
198th GA | 1986 | Minneapolis, Minnesota | The Rev. Benjamin Weir | none |
199th GA | 1987 | Biloxi, Mississippi | Elder Isabel W. Rogers | none |
200th GA | 1988 | St. Louis, Missouri | The Rev. C. Kenneth Hall | Elder Ruth Montoya |
201st GA | 1989 | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania | The Rev. Dr. Joan SalmonCampbell | Rev. Herb Meza |
202nd GA | 1990 | Salt Lake City, Utah | Elder Price H. Gwynn, III | The Rev. Sharon Johnson |
203rd GA | 1991 | Baltimore, Maryland | The Rev. Dr. Herbert D. Valentine | none |
204th GA | 1992 | Milwaukee, Wisconsin | The Rev. John Fife | none |
205th GA | 1993 | Orlando, Florida | The Rev. David Dobler | none |
206th GA | 1994 | Wichita, Kansas | The Rev. Robert Bohl | none |
207th GA | 1995 | Cincinnati, Ohio | Elder Marj Carpenter | The Rev. William F. Henning |
208th GA | 1996 | Albuquerque, New Mexico | The Rev. John M. Buchanan | Elder Gay Mothershed |
209th GA | 1997 | Syracuse, New York | Elder Patricia G. Brown | Elder D. Eugene (Gene) Sibery |
210th GA | 1998 | Charlotte, North Carolina | The Rev. Douglas Oldenburg* | The Rev. James E. Mead |
211th GA | 1999 | Fort Worth, Texas | Elder Freda Gardner | The Rev. Floyd Rhodes |
212th GA | 2000 | Long Beach, California | The Rev. Syngman Rhee | Elder Rebecca McElroy |
213th GA | 2001 | Louisville, Kentucky | The Rev. Dr. Jack Rogers | The Rev. Janet Arbesman |
214th GA | 2002 | Columbus, Ohio | The Rev. Fahed Abu-Akel | Elder Ann Beran Jones |
215th GA | 2003 | Denver, Colorado | The Rev. Dr. Susan R. Andrews | Elder Charles Easley |
216th GA | 2004 | Richmond, Virginia | Elder Rick Ufford-Chase | The Rev. Jean Marie Peacock |
217th GA | 2006 | Birmingham, Alabama | The Rev. Joan Gray | Elder Robert Wilson |
218th GA | 2008 | San Jose, California | The Rev. Bruce Reyes-Chow [2] | The Rev. Byron Wade |
219th GA | 2010 | Minneapolis, Minnesota | Elder Cynthia Bolbach [3] | The Rev. Landon Whitsitt |
220th GA | 2012 | Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania | The Rev. Dr. Neal Presa [4] | The Rev. Tara Spuhler McCabe, resigned [5] and replaced by The Rev. Dr. Tom Trinidad [6] |
221st GA | 2014 | Detroit, Michigan | Elder Heath Rada [7] | The Rev. Larissa Kwong Abazia |
222nd GA | 2016 | Portland, Oregon | The Rev. Denise Anderson & The Rev. Jan Edmiston | |
223rd GA | 2018 | St. Louis, Missouri | Elder Vilmarie Cintrón-Olivieri & The Rev. Cindy Kohlmann [8] | |
224th GA | 2020 | Baltimore, Maryland (virtual via Zoom) | Elder Elona Street-Stewart & The Rev. Gregory J. Bentley [9] | |
225th GA | 2022 | Louisville, Kentucky (hybrid virtual) [10] | The Reverend Ruth F. Santana-Grace and The Reverend Shavon Starling-Louis | |
226th GA | 2024 | Salt Lake City, Utah |
The Presbyterian Church (USA), abbreviated PC (USA), is a mainline Protestant denomination in the United States. It is the largest Presbyterian denomination in the country, known for its liberal stance on doctrine and its ordaining of women and members of the LGBT community as elders and ministers. The Presbyterian Church (USA) was established with the 1983 merger of the Presbyterian Church in the United States, whose churches were located in the Southern and border states, with the United Presbyterian Church in the United States of America, whose congregations could be found in every state.
Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA) is a liberal religious association of Unitarian Universalist congregations. It was formed in 1961 by the consolidation of the American Unitarian Association and the Universalist Church of America, both Protestant Christian denominations with Unitarian and Universalist doctrines, respectively. However, modern Unitarian Universalists see themselves as a separate religion with its own beliefs and affinities. They define themselves as non-creedal, and draw wisdom from various religions and philosophies, including humanism, pantheism, Christianity, Hinduism, Buddhism, Taoism, Judaism, Islam, and Earth-centered spirituality. Thus, the UUA is a syncretistic religious group with liberal leanings.
Presbyterianpolity is a method of church governance typified by the rule of assemblies of presbyters, or elders. Each local church is governed by a body of elected elders usually called the session or consistory, though other terms, such as church board, may apply. Groups of local churches are governed by a higher assembly of elders known as the presbytery or classis; presbyteries can be grouped into a synod, and presbyteries and synods nationwide often join together in a general assembly. Responsibility for conduct of church services is reserved to an ordained minister or pastor known as a teaching elder, or a minister of the word and sacrament.
The Church of Scotland is the national church in Scotland.
The Presbyterian Church in America (PCA) is the second-largest Presbyterian church body, behind the Presbyterian Church (USA), and the largest conservative Calvinist denomination in the United States. The PCA is Reformed in theology and presbyterian in government.
The Presbyterian Church in the United States was a Protestant denomination in the Southern and border states of the United States that existed from 1861 to 1983. That year, it merged with the United Presbyterian Church in the United States of America (UPCUSA) to form the Presbyterian Church (USA).
The moderator of the General Assembly is the chairperson of a General Assembly, the highest court of a Presbyterian or Reformed church. Kirk sessions and presbyteries may also style the chairperson as moderator. The Oxford Dictionary states that a Moderator may be a "Presbyterian minister presiding over an ecclesiastical body".
Joan S. Gray was elected moderator of the Presbyterian Church (USA) at the 217th General Assembly on June 15, 2006. As moderator, she served as the presiding officer of the week-long General Assembly meeting in Birmingham, Alabama, followed by a two-year term as the ambassador-at-large for the denomination. She has also spent many years working in various churches and is currently serving as part of the faculty at Columbia Theological Seminary.
Rick Ufford-Chase, born in York, Pennsylvania, is a peace activist and long-time member of the Southside Presbyterian Church in Tucson, Arizona. He was elected Moderator of the General Assembly of the 216th General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (USA) on June 26, 2004. Ufford-Chase was 40 years old at the time, the youngest PC (USA) moderator in recent history. Ufford-Chase was the first Presbyterian Church (USA) moderator to serve for two years. Previous moderators served one-year terms.
Freda Gardner was the professor emerita of Christian education at Princeton Theological Seminary, and was the Moderator of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (USA) in 1999. She was elected as Moderator, the church's highest elected position, at the 211th General Assembly, on the second ballot.
The Evangelical Presbyterian Church, Ghana is a mainline Protestant Christian denomination in Ghana. It is popularly referred to as the "EP Church". It has strong roots in the Evangelical and Reformed traditions. The denomination's Presbyterian sister church is the Presbyterian Church of Ghana.
Bruce Reyes-Chow is an American Teaching Elder (minister) of the Presbyterian Church (USA).
Byron Wade is the Vice Moderator of the 218th General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (USA).
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Cynthia Bolbach was the Moderator of the 219th General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). Bolbach was elected as Moderator on July 3, 2010 from a field of six candidates. Of the candidates, Bolbach was the only Elder and the only one to express unqualified support for same-sex marriage. She succeeded Rev. Bruce Reyes-Chow and ended her term as moderator upon election of her successor, Rev. Neal D. Presa, at the 220th General Assembly on June 30, 2012. She received 30 percent of the vote on the first ballot and, after three additional ballots, clinched the election with 53 percent of the vote.
The First Presbyterian Church of Tulsa was organized in 1885 in Creek Nation, Indian Territory, before statehood. It originally met in the store owned by brothers James M. Hall and Harry C. Hall, and was served by itinerant, circuit-riding ministers.