....and here's the next question I answered from those given to the moderator candidates by the Office of the General Assembly:

Question Posed: What should be the role of the Moderator during times of deep disagreements in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) about matters of faith and practice.

As stated in Standing Rules of the General Assembly, H.1.a.(4), the job description of the office of the Moderator of the General Assembly sounds simple enough: “When the Moderator presides at the assembly, it is to be a sign of the bond of unity, community, and mission in the life of the church. During the period between assemblies, the Moderator serves as an ambassador of the unity of the Spirit in the bonds of peace, telling the story of the church’s life and upholding the people of God through prayer.”

The term “unity” seems to be predominant in this statement to indicate that the role of the Moderator of the General Assembly is to point attention not to oneself but to the presumptive unity of the church. In other words, the Moderator is not to be a controversial figure but to be a gracious and wise arbiter in times of conflicts and deep disagreements in our church.

I believe the Moderator of the General Assembly is Moderator of the whole church and not just part of the church and therefore needs to be fair and judicious when it comes to matters of faith and practice. I believe the PC(USA) is a table large enough that people of many theological persuasions should be able to have a seat at it and to listen to and learn from one another.

The main role of the Moderator of the General Assembly during times of deep disagreements in the PC(USA) therefore is to be a peacemaker among those who may disagree with one another, to bring a word of healing and encouragement to the wounded and desperate, and to lift up best practices from our congregations across the land and the world for those who need good examples to follow.

But most importantly, the role of the Moderator of the General Assembly is to be a prayer warrior — bringing our joys and concerns to the throne of grace and to intercede for healing the brokenness in our church!

Here's the third question I answered among those posed to moderator candidates by the Office of the General Assembly. I'll post the next (and final) two this weekend. 

Question Posed: In what new ways can the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and its congregations place a focus on ministry to and with youth and young adults to ensure a church for future generations?

There should be no doubt in anyone’s mind that today’s young people need Christ just as much as older folks do, but yet it is blatantly obvious that the missing element in most of our Presbyterian congregations across our land is that of youth and young adults.

However, it is not to say that we don’t have excellent examples of effective youth ministries in some of our congregations! For example, University Presbyterian Church in Seattle has a thriving college-age ministry. People like Anthony Ceder at First Presbyterian Church in Houston can teach us a thing or two about how to reach our youth. How is it that upwards of 5,000 students would gather every Tuesday evening at Texas A&M University for Bible study? How do they do that?

I believe young people today are always looking for authentic models to follow and so we must provide them with an authentic presentation of Jesus Christ — not a watered-down version — but a full-bodied vibrant message of salvation.

While in many homes, young people today are not seeing godly examples in their parents, a good mentoring program in  church would provide necessary models of integrity for them to follow. Young people can tell the difference between genuine concern for them and unreal platitudes in a heartbeat, and so we must not offer insincere clichés and jargons but the living water of God’s Word.

I truly believe only when we show genuine concern for the spiritual, emotional, and relational well-being of our youth and young adults, will they respond by showing interest in what we have to say as a church! 

Here's the next installment of my answers to questions posed by the Office of the General Assembly.  This question was about racial ethnic membership in the PC(USA):

The Question Posed: The 208th General Assembly (1996) affirmed the goal of increasing racial ethnic membership to 10 percent by the year 2005, and to 20 percent by the year 2010.  How do you assess the Presbyterian Church's progress toward the fulfillment of this goal and what would you do during your moderatorial term to move the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) closer to realizing or exceeding this goal?

It’s true that the Christian church today is no longer mainly a White Anglo-Saxon faith or a Western cultural expression. When the World Council of Churches was first organized sixty years ago, some eighty percent of the world’s Christians were in Europe and North America. Today, the opposite is true, where only twenty percent of the world’s Christians are in Europe and North America.

I’m so glad that Tammy Letts has agreed to serve as a vice moderator candidate. Tammy has a long history of faithful service to the church — especially with a heart for youth and young adult ministry and lately with women in ministry. Her youthful disposition and enthusiasm is both genuine and contagious. If elected, I look forward to working alongside Tammy to represent our church to tell the story of God’s faithfulness to us and through us.  I promise I did not bribe her to say nice things about me.  - Bill.
 
 
From Tammy ~ "Why am I excited about the possibility of serving as vice moderator with Bill Teng?"  

The phone call came out of the blue. It was completely unexpected and unforeseen. It was also completely consistent with God’s character. When Bill called, I was once again confronted with that awesome Nature. God has a special knack for interrupting our lives. So why should the phone call really astonish me? The invitation to be a vice moderator candidate alongside Bill is really an invitation to become more dependent on God’s power and grace. For that, I could not be more humbled. The actual role of vice moderator of the General Assembly initially sounded rather austere, and certainly prestigious. But I am coming to see that God’s call to service is simply consistent with God’s inviting call to each of us. Each of us serves, don’t we, because Christ first served us. I am thrilled to be relying on God’s mercy, strength and love in a new way.

I believe that our church has a critical invitation, as well. In these days of rapid change, diverse theological landscape, and cultural uncertainty, Bill’s message of hope and grace profoundly resonate with me. This invitation is an invitation to participate in God’s missional work in our church. I believe Bill is the kind of servant leader that is profoundly needed for our church. To be a partner and support for Bill is a great honor. To rely on our Lord Jesus as we work in this beloved denomination for the mission of God…well, that’s just the most exciting thing I can think of.

To read more about Tammy, see her brief bio.