Page 10 - Presbyterian Connection, Spring 2024

10
PRESBYTERIAN
SPRING 2024
presbyterian.ca
Connection
BALLOT FOR THE MODERATOR
Each year, presbyteries nominate people for the church to consider electing as Mod- erator of the General Assembly. Members of presbyteries (ministers/diaconal ministers and representative elders) vote to appoint the Moderator-elect in advance of the Gen- eral Assembly, which takes place in early June. For a name to appear on the ballot for
Moderator, each candidate must be nomi- nated by a minimum of two presbyteries.
This year, four names will appear on the ballot to elect the Moderator of the 2024 General Assembly. On Tuesday, April 2, the Committee to Advise with the Modera- tor will meet and confirm the vote count before the name of the Moderator-elect is
The Rev. Dr. Patricia Dutcher-Walls
have a relationship with Christ.
It was first at a church camp that I felt
called to ministry and spent a year in Bible college after high school. One time visiting my father in Ontario, I went to Knox Pres- byterian Church in Cambridge and some- how God spoke to me. It was like I heard a voice saying that this is where I could be a minister.
In some ways I came home to a similar tradition with which I grew up, but with a new sense of sharing about Jesus Christ. I met the minister, the Rev. Bob Jackson, who helped me in the discernment pro- cess, and I went to Knox College.
Knox College was not easy for me. I had been a mathematician and now I had to write essays. It was also difficult theo- logically, coming from an evangelical back- ground and being forced not to accept a party line but to think for myself, and being faced with all kinds of theologies I had not even known existed.
Doing an internship at St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church in Kitchener, Ont., helped put a lot of things into focus, as I was able to talk things out a lot with the assistant minister. I was introduced to some theologians, to good books, to practical experience and to more thinking and discerning.
That whole process at Knox College and this internship changed me and made me a thinker, a preacher, a learner and a person who wanted to follow Jesus wherever Je- sus was leading me.
If you were elected Moderator, what in- terests would you bring to the role?
One interest I would like to bring to the role is that of spirituality. In a time of much change, when the church is changing rapidly and there is a plethora of different theologies, and in a time when many have turned away from the church, I think that
announced to the church. The Moderator- elect’s name will be presented to the Gen- eral Assembly in June, and commissioners will then decide to confirm the Moderator of the 149th General Assembly.
Candidates for Moderator of the General Assembly are asked to submit their biog- raphy along with answers to a series of
The Rev. In Kee Kim
spiritual health is an important factor. About 25 years ago, a retired Presby- terian minister from the United States was chaplain to ministers in the Synod of the Atlantic Provinces. Charles Taylor introduced me to the daily office and to a practice of daily scripture reading and prayer. I wonder if we could emphasize for all Presbyterians the value of spiritual practices, prayer, scripture, meditation... but not just those classic practices, rather practices that give people peace and that connect them with the divine, such as silence, story, nature, walking, healing, embracing one’s pain, service and other
practices.
Along with spiritual health, I think we
could also do more with emotional health. The PCC health and dental plan has in- creased the amount for our people to get professional help, but emotional help can be valuable in situations before there is a crisis. I am wondering if churches, pres- byteries and synods could pick up on val- uable educational oppor tunities to bring in professionals and have workshops on various kinds of health issues, and espe- cially emotional health issues, like com- munication, conflict, family dynamics, the importance of play and fun, listening, be- ing calm, making decisions. Whenever we bring a bit of health to one part of the sys- tem it brings health to the whole system.
The Rev. Dr. Patricia Dutcher-Walls
Patricia Dutcher-Walls is an active Ses- sion member and minister-in-association with Trinity Presbyterian Church, a three- congregation amalgamation and transfor- mational ministry in New Westminster and Burnaby, B.C. She retired as Professor of Hebrew Bible and Dean of the Faculty at Vancouver School of Theology on July 1, 2021. During her vocation as a profes-
questions that all candidates are asked to answer in order to help the church come to know the candidates better. Below is a lightly edited and abbreviated version of each candidate’s biography and their an- swers to only some of the questions they addressed. Learn more about the nomi- nees at presbyterian.ca/nominees-2024.
David A. Robinson
sor, Pat published five books on the social world and interpretation of the Old Testa- ment, authored several scholarly articles and presented numerous papers at aca- demic conferences.
What are some key moments of your faith journey and how have they informed the person you are today?
Growing up in a Presbyterian family, I re- call the quiet, thoughtful faith of my home church through the example of our min- ister whose sermons communicated that one’s faith deserved intelligent engage- ment. In the high school youth group of that same church, when I accepted Jesus Christ as my Lord and Saviour, I discov- ered the joyful enthusiasm of believing. As I matured in faith, both of those youthful experiences taught me how authentic faith could be understood and lived in different ways, integrated within the life of a fol- lower of Christ.
At university, I became involved with a Christian group on campus that was in- spired by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and participated in an anti-racism campaign and protest. That experience shaped my life-long commitment to living out my faith in ways that embody Christian values of justice and compassion. This commitment has carried through in my continued activ- ism on social issues, such as affordable housing, and in my most frequently taught course, in which the strong words of the prophet Amos encourages students to cre- ate their own biblically based responses to current social justice issues.
As a ministry student, I discovered with amazement and joy how much fun it is to read Hebrew and do my own translations. A language shapes the world, and learn- ing Hebrew opened the ancient world of the Hebrew Bible in ways that still inspire me to this day. Understanding the Bible
The Rev. Harry Currie
The Rev. Harry Currie
The Rev. Harry Currie graduated from Knox College, Toronto, in 1983, and went to Armstrong, B.C., for his ordained mis- sion appointment. In addition to serving congregations in Arthur/Gordonville and Oshawa, Ont., Yorkton/Dunleath, Sask., and Summerside, P.E.I., Harry has served at First Presbyterian Church in Edmonton, Alta., for the last 20 years. He is currently the clerk of the Synod of Alberta and of the new Presbytery of the Northwest that amalgamated three presbyteries and cov- ers two-thirds of Alberta, the northeast corner of British Columbia and two of the three Territories.
What are some key moments of your faith journey and how have they informed the person you are today?
I grew up attending a Methodist church in England and then a United Church of Can- ada congregation when we moved back to Canada when I was ten. As a child I didn’t really think much about God or talk to God. Going to church was something I and my brothers did because our mother made us go, even when I wanted to watch Batman on TV on a Sunday. But my mother would make us go to church.
When I was about 13, my mother changed churches and took us to a Baptist church. It was there that I first really started thinking about God and made a commit- ment to follow Jesus Christ. After a few years, I joined a large Pentecostal church that had a big youth group, a choir, a band, a gospel group and the pastor’s daughter, who I wanted to date.
What I learned from those evangelical days was foundational for my relationship with Jesus. Although I have grown in a dif- ferent direction, those were good days with lots of fun, times of prayer, exuberant wor- ship and learning about what it means to