wfn.org | Gay Mothershed is vice-moderator

[PCUSA.NEWS@ecunet.org]

01-July-1996 
 
GA96028 
 
                   Gay Mothershed is vice-moderator 
 
ALBUQUERQUE--Elder Gay Mothershed was appointed vice-moderator of the 208th 
General Assembly today by Moderator John Buchanan.  Her appointment was 
announced at the afternoon business session. 
 
    Mothershed is from Dallas, Texas, where she serves as associate 
executive presbyter for Grace Presbytery.  She is a member of Preston 
Hollow Presbyterian Church, and a certified  Christian educator.  She has 
served the church at every level, including terms on the General Assembly 
Council and on the General Assembly Mission Board of the former 
Presbyterian Church, U.S.  She is known for her wit and  hospitality. 
Mothershed nominated John Buchanan for moderator. 
 
    A highlight of the session was the Celebration of Native American 
Ministries.  Led by Dionne Brady Howard and members of the American Indian 
Youth Council, commissioners joined in energizers, and applauded the 
leadership of Native Americans in the church. 
 
    Sixteen Native American leaders were recognized for their contributions 
to the Presbyterian Church.  The seven men and nine women were wrapped in 
hand woven blankets and received certificates of recognition.  Grace Davis, 
92, the `"matriarch of Navajo Christianity," received a standing ovation 
for her many years of work with the Navaho people. 
 
    Others recognized included: the Rev. Sid Byrd, Santa Fe, N.M., former 
coordinator of Indian ministries in the former United Presbyterian Church; 
the Rev. Cecil Corbett, Scottsdale, Ariz., who served for 25 years as 
director of Cook Christian Training School; the Rev. Paul Firecloud, 
Sisseton, S.D., who served for 30 years as a pastor on the Pine Ridge 
reservation and in the Sisseton, S.D., area; the Rev. Floyd Heminger, 
Wilmot, S.D., who retired in 1985 and continues to provide leadership to 
the church; and Ralph Sessions, former moderator of the Presbytery of 
Nevada, who served as associate for Native American ministries and justice 
in the former Program Agency. 
 
    Also, the Rev. Walter Soboleff, Tenakoe Springs, Alaska, one of the 
first Native Americans ordained to the ministry; the Rev. Gene Wilson, 
Eaglestown, Okla., who has served for many years in the Choctaw Larger 
Parish in Oklahoma; Judy Blackchief, the first woman elder in the Tonawanda 
Indian Presbyterian church, Basom, N.Y.; May Denham, former moderator of 
the Synod of the Southwest; Viola Martinez, founder of Native American 
Ministries Project of Los Angeles, Calif. 
 
    In addition, Arlene Naquayouma, a founding member of the committee on 
Native American ministries in the Southwest; June Sarracino, "teacher, 
leader, friend, and pillar" of the Laguna Church and Pueblo, New Laguna, 
N.M.; Roxanne Burgess, one of the "next generation of leaders" and a synod 
staff person; Rev. Danelle Crawford McKinney, ordained to the ministry June 
1, 1996, "the latest member of her family to enter the ministry;" and Rev. 
Mary Ann Warden, pastor of the Northern Light United Presbyterian Church, 
Juneau, Alaska. 
 
    In other business, the Rev. James Brown, executive director of the 
General Assembly Council, said the church is on the "threshold of a new era 
of humility" and that he is "full of hope" for the church, although "not 
necessarily full of optimism at every turn." 
 
    In his "state of the church" address, Brown said that the "vital signs" 
of the church were good.  He cited the "geometrical" growth of the church 
in Southern Sudan as proof that evangelism was being done, and reported 
that there are now eight groups of Sudanese refugees meeting in churches in 
larger cities.  In spiritual formation, Brown noted that more than 40,000 
copies of the new Bible study on I Corinthians had been distributed since 
early January. 
 
    Justice is being pursued, he reminded commissioners, in the 
denomination's partnership with others in rebuilding the burned out Black 
churches in the South.  He spoke of the approach of the year 2000, citing 
the establishment of the "Covenant 2000" task force as a demonstration of 
the church's commitment to partnership.  The task force was studying the 
words of Revelation 22:20b, "Come, Lord Jesus."  When asked, "What do these 
words mean to you?" Amy Kim Kyremes, a member of the task force and a Youth 
Advisory Delegate to the Assembly, responded, "To say, `Come, Lord Jesus,' 
is to take on an awesome responsibility, for if we say it our lives might 
be changed; we might be led in directions we never wanted to go."  Brown 
concluded, "We are called to discern God's leading through the Holy Spirit" 
to renew the church and share the gospel in the world." 
 
    The business session also included orientation for commissioners on how 
to read and understand the General Assembly's budgets, and how to conduct 
productive committee meetings. 
 
    The Assembly will be in recess until Wednesday at 2 P.M. while 
committees meet and committee reports are prepared. 
 
 
 
Peggy Rounseville 

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