wfn.org | Humor, Collegiality and Good Will Prevail at Foundation Dinner

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

GA99028 
21-June-1999 
 
            Humor, Collegiality and Good Will Prevail 
                      at Foundation Dinner 
 
 
FORT WORTH-Modeling the kind of collegiality called for by outgoing 
moderator Douglas Oldenburg in the opening worship service of the 211th 
General Assembly, 16 former moderators shared their hearts and their 
stories at a dinner given in their honor by the Presbyterian Church (USA) 
Foundation, Sunday, June 20. 
     In a moving response to the question posed by Presbyterian Foundation 
Board chairman John Evans, the Rev. C. Kenneth Hall (1988) cited the 
collegiality of the group of former moderators as among the most 
significant elements that would influence the church as it moves into the 
next century.  "We like each other and we enjoy each other," said Hall, 
"without compromising each other's convictions."  For Hall, and clearly for 
the audience of 100 Foundation trustees, staff, General Assembly staff and 
invited guests, this unique event powerfully witnessed to the denomination 
that there can be unity in the midst of diversity. 
     Present to receive the affirmation of a church grateful for their 
service and witness were Clinton Marsh (1973), William Lytle and Sara 
Moseley (1978), Dorothy Barnard (1981), John F.  Anderson and James Costen 
(1982), Benjamin Weir (1986), C. Kenneth Hall (1988), Price H.  Gwynn 
(1990), Herbert Valentine (1991), David Dobler (1993), Robert Bohl (1994), 
Marj Carpenter (1995), John Buchanan (1996) and Patricia Brown (1997).   
     Their responses ranged from the poetic, in Sara Moseley's vision of a 
quiet stream representing Presbyterian faithfulness throughout this last 
century, to the profound, in Patricia Brown's moving call to the church to 
develop and cultivate its leaders as she related her own testimony of a 
lifetime of church service which emerged from a "lifetime of being 
different." "We have an obligation," said Brown, "to honor and to use this 
experience, to use this perspective." 
     "As a newcomer to denominational leadership," remarked R. James 
Henderson, interim president of the Foundation, "it was positively 
thrilling and uplifting to sit in the presence of these former moderators. 
The annual dinner is a treasured tradition of the Foundation and a part of 
our continuing efforts to keep the denomination connected across all lines 
and, in this case, across time lines." 
Emily Enders Odom 

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