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

Note #4 from PCUSA NEWS to GA 212 REPORTS:

	This is Jerry Van Marter of the Presbyterian News Service with news from
the 212th General Assembly in Long Beach, California, for Saturday, June 24.

	The Rev. Syngman Rhee, 69, who exactly 50 years ago today was forced to
flee North Korea when the Korean War broke out, was elected moderator of the
212th General Assembly on the first ballot tonight.  He received 257 votes,
two more than the needed majority.  The Rev. Jill Martinez, a housing
development worker from Santa Barbara, Calif., finished second with 107
votes.  Youngil Cho, a Korean-American elder from Raleigh, N.C., finished
third with 82 votes and the Rev. John Herndon, a pastor from Huntsville,
Ala., trailed with 65 votes.	It was the first moderatorial election in
history in which there were no white male candidates.  Rhee, a member of
Atlantic Korean-American Presbytery, is professor of mission and evangelism
and director of the Asian American Ministry and Mission Center at Union
Theological Seminary/Presbyterian School of Christian Education in Richmond,
Va.  He was formerly associate director of the Worldwide Ministries Division
in Louisville.  In a halting voice, Rhee spoke of his flight from North
Korea at age 19 with his younger brother.  His mother remained in North
Korea.  His father was martyred by the communist regime for his faith.  "I
remember the hunger, being afraid and cold and feeling hopeless," Rhee told
the 558 commissioners during his campaign speech to the Assembly.  "The only
thing that sustained me then and the only thing that sustains me now is
faith in God."  The Rev. Rebecca McElroy, a commissioner from Missouri Union
Presbytery who nominated Rhee, called him "a zealous man of God" and a
"passionate proponent of evangelism and reconciliation."  In response to one
question from the floor, Rhee rejected the assertion that an "irreconcilable
impasse" exists in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.).  "We are in conflict
not because we hate each other but because we love our church."  The key to
resolving conflict in the church, he said, is to affirm the centrality of
Jesus Christ no matter what the disagreement."  Such an approach to conflict
lead Presbyterians to "hold our convictions with humility, to say to each
other: ‘This is the best I know but I may be wrong before God so please
forgive me."

	The 558 commissioners and thousands of visitors to the 212th General
Assembly streamed into the Long Beach Convention Center this afternoon for
the 2:00 p.m. convening of the Assembly.  They heard the "State of the
Church" reports by outgoing moderator Freda Gardner, stated clerk the Rev.
Clifton Kirkpatrick, and General Assembly Council executive director John
Detterick.

	Detterick unveiled a new churchwide publication, "Glimpses," which will be
mailed in bulk to each congregation quarterly.  The bulletin-insert size
publication is the successor to "Presbyterians Being Faithful To Jesus
Christ," a tabloid-sized newsletter that has been published for the last
three years and mailed directly to 600,000 Presbyterian households.

	In the most dramatic moment of the opening session, the Assembly voted to
honor a moratorium recommended by last year's Assembly on amendments to the
ordination standards of the church's "Book of Order."  As a result, all
proposed amendments to G-6.0106b -- the commonly called "fidelity and
chastity" provision -- of the "Book of Order" will be deferred to next
year's General Assembly.

	Sunday morning the Assembly gathers for its opening worship service.  After
a brief business session Sunday afternoon, the Assembly breaks into its 15
Assembly Committees for meetings that will last until the end of the day
Tuesday.

	This is Jerry Van Marter.  Thank you for calling VoiceLine.  For more news
from the 212th General Assembly, call VoiceLine Sunday, June 25, after 7:00
p.m., Pacific Daylight Time.  For commentary on the 212th General Assembly
by noted pundit Dave Steele, call VoiceLine each morning.  Pray for peace. 
Good by.

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