wfn.org | Grandmother hopes for a sense of family

[PCUSA NEWS <PCUSA.NEWS@ecunet.org>]

Note #5964 from PCUSA NEWS to PRESBYNEWS:

24-June-2000
GA00019

	Grandmother hopes for a sense of family

	by Sue Boardman

LONG BEACH, June 24 -- "The most exciting thing about being at General
Assembly," said a smiling Clara Olivas, "is seeing the work of the Spirit in
the people of the church." A first time elder commissioner, Olivas brings a
broad perspective to her work at this Assembly. She grew up in Brazil where
her parents served the former southern stream of the Presbyterian Church as
missionaries for 30 years.

	Returning to the States following high school, Olivas attended Maryville
College and Johns Hopkins School of Nursing. In 1967 she moved to
Albuquerque, N. M. where she joined First Presbyterian Church. Ordained an
elder in 1982, Olivas has served her church and the Presbytery of Santa Fe
in a variety of ways, including a three-year term as moderator of the
presbytery. Her first Assembly was in 1996, when she volunteered for the
Committee on Local Arrangements in Albuquerque.

	This year Olivas will be participating in the work of the Committee for
Mission Coordination and Budgets. When asked about her hopes for the 212th
General Assembly, Olivas replied with a sincere mixture of realism and
optimism that she'd like to see the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) leave Long
Beach as family, instead of being fractured. This commissioner, who has 10
children, 19 grandchildren, and 6 great-grandchildren, may just have some
ideas about how to make that hope real.

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