A Divided Church Can Stand United

The moderator of our denomination's General Assembly not only presides over the business meeting for the next week, he or she serves as a spiritual leader for two years.  As the commissioners voted on which of the four candidates they would select, the thought occurred to me, "wouldn't it be great to elect the moderator on the first ballot?"

I suppose that has happened, but I don't recall anyone making it on the first ballot.  Bruce Reyes-Chow was elected on the second ballot in 2008.m

We are a church divided, and an election on the first ballot might have served as a symbol of unity.

On second thought, that might have simply sent a message of conformity, and that is not what we want.

Our church is divided on gay marriage, ordination standards, whether to divest ourselves of investments in companies that may provide jobs to our people while supplying arms to unjust conflicts.

Neal Presa has taken a position against same sex marriage, but the Vice Moderator he selected, the Rev. Tara Spuhler McCabe, has acknowledged that she performed a marriage of two women in Washington, DC.  Shortly afterward, Presa issued a statement saying that he and McCabe disagree on that issue, but that they could model for the church a way to work together despite theological disagreements.

That is the kind of unity the church needs - not conformity, but the ability to work together for the good of the Kingdom even in the midst of deep divisions.

McCabe has not been confirmed by the General Assembly yet.  That will come later today.  The moderator can select his or her choice for a vice-moderator, but the General Assembly must still elect and commission that choice.