The Election of Joan Gray

We have a new moderator -- Joan Gray.

It was not an easy process.

Early in tonight's meeting commissioners had to deal with a few items of business before getting to the election. There seemed to be some frustration among the commissioners. Until this year commissioners had to carry around a large and heavy volume made up of two or more reams of paper. Thanks to the wonderful technology of the 21st century, all commissioners have laptops and wireless internet connections with which to view the necessary documents.

Well, that is the way it is supposed to work.

Sometimes moving into the future takes time, and work, a few tears, groans and moans.

Voting on an early item of business, the commissioners discovered that only half of the body was able to access the necessary information.

“What are we voting on,” became a frequent question, prompting the retiring Moderator Rick Urford-Chase to ask the delegates to vote yes or no – “Do you have the proper Internet connection so you can view the documents you are voting on?”

The vote was 48% yes, but 51% no.

Technology is a wonderful thing – when it works.

Fortunately, laptops were not needed for the election of the moderator.

First came the auditor's report. Each candidate was limited to spending no more than $1,500 on their campaigns, not including travel costs. All four candidates were within the stated rules on spending.

Then came the nominating speeches. Each one was limited to 5 minutes, and a countdown on a screen reminded them of the time remaining.

A Native American gave the nominating speech for Joan Gray, and she began with an introductory sentence in Spanish. As she continued in English, the person nominating held up Joan's book on church government and said, "Joan not only knows church polity, she wrote the book."

After the nomination speeches, the candidates were given an opportunity to give a five minute acceptance speech.

The first to speak was Tim Halverson, who gave what might have been the most dynamic speech of the four candidates. One of his memorable statements came toward the end when he said, "I would rather fail at doing God's ministry than simply whine and complain that our church is dieing. It is time for us to grow. It is time for us to regain our passion."

In her acceptance speech, Joan said, "Polity is not going to save us. One thing will save us and that is a God who makes a way for us." She talked repeatedly about how God makes a way. In what was probably a reference to Clifton Sanctuary, Joan talked about a church in Greater Atlanta in which God made a way for a small congregation to reach out to the homeless.

In talking about her Interim ministry with conflicted churches, Joan said, "Some of them were so broken we disparied if things would ever get better. As long as we focused on fixing the problems of the church we made no progress. Only when we focused on Christ did we start to move forward. God makes a way where there is no way."

After the four acceptance speeches, an hour was allowed for questions from the floor.

When asked "tell us about your experiences with multicultural churches," Joan talked about how the last three churches she had served had immigrant fellowships and shared what she had learned from them.

After about a dozen questions, the four candidates were escorted off the stage by one of the former moderators, Susan Andrews, and taken to a private waiting area.

Before each ballot, the advisory delegates voted. Their votes do not count, but simply advise the comissioners. Youth Advisors, Seminary Student Advisors, and Missionary Advisors all voted fairly evenly across the board -- which was what the commissioners did on the first ballot:

Deborah Block received 143 votes, or 28 %
Kerry Carson received 109 votes, or 22%
Joan Gray came in second to Block, with 139 votes, or 28%
Tim Halverson had 113 votes, or 22%.

After a silent prayer, another ballot was taken. Support for Carson and Halverson declined, and Joan moved into first place -- but with only 40% of the vote, she still did not have a clear majority.

After the third ballot, Moderator Rick Urford-Chase announced, we have a new moderator, and that moderator is Joan Gray. With 307 votes, Joan had received 62%.

When the vote was announced to the four candidates, tradition calls for them to pray for one another. Joan Gray was then escorted back into the assembly hall and a service of Installation was held. She was given symbols of her position -- the moderator's cross and the moderator's stole, which she will wear at church functions for the next two years.

Following the Installation service, the evening session was closed with prayer by one of the Youth Advisory Delegates.

Since I am writing not only for this blog, but for other publications, I have press credentials that permitted me to attend Joan's first press conference. She and Vice Moderator Robert Wilson, seen here, did very well in answering questions about their plans.

During the press conference Joan had high praise for the other three nominees, whom she said had all been called by God to be part of this process. As for her own election, Joan said she felt humbled at being given this gift from God.