wfn.org | Doug Oldenburg Wins Moderator's Race

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13-June1998 
GA98016 
 
 
                       Doug Oldenburg Wins  
            Second Ballot Victory in Moderator's Race 
 
                       by Jerry Van Marter 
 
                                  
CHARLOTTE--The Rev. Douglas W. Oldenburg, 63, president of Columbia 
Theological Seminary in Decatur, Ga., rode his renown as an educator and 
champion of social justice in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) to victory 
as he was elected moderator of the 210th General Assembly.  Voting in the 
2.6-million member denomination's Assembly was conducted June 13. 
   Oldenburg won a second ballot victory over the Rev. James E. Mead of 
Tacoma, Wash., and the Rev. Richard C. Hutchison of Fort Wayne, Ind.  The 
tally was 291 for Oldenburg, 220 for Mead and 18 for Hutchison.  Oldenburg 
fell just eight votes short of victory on the first ballot and all but one 
of the 36 commissioners who moved away from Hutchison on the second ballot 
went to Oldenburg. 
   In her nominating speech for Oldenburg, Elder Marilyn Huff of Western 
North Carolina Presbytery emphasized Oldenburg's record as a civil rights 
activist during school desegregation in Charlotte early in his pastoral 
career and told commissioners it would be "appropriate to have an educator 
as moderator during the church's  Year with Education' (a year-long 
emphasis on the church's educational ministry that begins with this General 
Assembly). 
   Oldenburg fortified his position as stronger educator during the 
question-and-answer session prior to the voting.  He told commissioners he 
believes educators have been neglected by the church and voiced his support 
for their ordination.  And in response to a question from the Rev. Richard 
Hill, a campus minister in Shenandoah Presbytery, Oldenburg said he not 
only wants to strengthen support of Presbyterian campus ministers, but to 
"bring together our 67 church-related colleges and universities, to 
strengthen the ties between them and between them and the church." 
   All three candidates reaffirmed the joint appeal they issued three weeks 
ago that commissioners not address the issue of sexual standards for 
ordination.  Oldenburg -- who opposed Amendment B ("fidelity and chastity") 
and supported Amendment A ("fidelity and integrity") -- said he 
nevertheless urges compliance with the "fidelity and chastity" standard 
that is G-6.0106b of "The Book of Order." 
   But he urged the church "not to stop talking -- that's not what I mean 
by the sabbatical.  We have to move on while we keep talking...but we 
cannot foreclose God's future."  He said the goal of the sabbatical should 
be on "further legislative action, on actions that will only further 
alienate us from each other." 
   All three candidates also concurred in their answers to a question from 
elder commissioner Arlynn Barner of Pacific Presbytery that scripture is 
the unique authority in matters of faith and practice.  But Oldenburg went 
a step further. 
   "Scripture is the unique authority as it reveals Jesus Christ," he said. 
"But we need to talk about how we read and interpret scripture in light of 
The Book of Confessions' and our Reformed tradition."  Oldenburg called for 
every congregation and presbytery to engage in a program of study about 
what Presbyterians believe about the Bible and how they read the Bible. 
"How we read and interpret the Bible is a crucial issue for the church," he 
insisted. 
   Such study of the Bible was one of four emphases Oldenburg said he will 
pursue as moderator.  "I will strive to lift up our church -- to emphasize 
all those things we have in common, centrally Jesus Christ," he said. 
   Further pushing his educational program, Oldenburg said he will 
"emphasize our noble heritage of a loving God whom we are called to love 
with our minds as well as our hearts and I will lift up our educational 
ministries." 
   Finally, Oldenburg said, he will "encourage every congregation to 
initiate a new ministry to children at risk.  We're neglecting our 
children," he said, "and that is shameful in this affluent country of 
ours."  Oldenburg said he wasn't going to tell congregations what to do 
specifically, "but friends," he implored, "we have to do something." 
   Oldenburg has been president of Columbia Theological Seminary for 11 
years.  Prior to that he served congregations in Virginia, West Virginia 
and North Carolina.  He is also chair of the denomination's Committee on 
Theological Education. 
   He is a graduate of Davidson College and Union Theological Seminary in 
Virginia.  He is married to his childhood sweetheart, Claudia Jane Smith. 
They have three children -- Mark, Scott and Todd -- and two grandsons, Tyce 
and Jack. 

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