wfn.org | Presbytery endorses Rogers as moderator candidate

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Note #6331 from PCUSA NEWS to PRESBYNEWS:

12-January-2001
01010

Presbytery endorses Rogers as moderator candidate

Longtime seminary teacher wants to be an agent of healing

by Alexa Smith

LOUISVILLE -- San Gabriel Presbytery in California endorsed the Rev. Jack
Rogers Tuesday as a nominee for moderator of the 213th General Assembly.
Rogers, a longtime member of the faculty at Fuller Theological Seminary in
Pasadena, Calif., and a prolific writer, is now one of three
presbytery-endorsed nominees to moderate an Assembly that promises to put
sexuality issues front-and-center on the Presbyterian agenda once again.

Nancy Maffett, an elder from Pueblo Presbytery, and the Rev. Andy Sale, the
executive in Peaks Presbytery, also have been nominated.

"This Assembly will confront very divisive issues," Rogers said in his
statement to San Gabriel Presbytery. "By God's grace, I have worked and
learned from people on many sides of our present divides while at Fuller and
San Francisco Theological seminaries and on the General Assembly staff. I
would hope to be a reconciling presence in our often tension-filled
discussions. After the Assembly, the moderator will need to minister to
people of many different perspectives, some triumphant and others feeling
wounded.

"I am committed to helping us find our common center in Jesus Christ so that
we may go forward healthy in mission and ministry."

Rogers has attended 28 General Assemblies, serving as a member of committees
in some and attending others as an observer or as a teacher of seminarians
studying Presbyterian polity.

Rogers was ordained in 1959. He has earned a Ph.D. in theology from the Free
University in Amsterdam as well as Th.M. and M.Div. degrees from Pittsburgh
Seminary. He taught for eight years at Westminster College in New
Wilmington, PA, a Presbyterian-related school. He retired last year from the
vice presidency of San Francisco Theological Seminary's Southern California
program.

Rogers served from 1988 to 1990 as associate for theological studies in the
Theology and Worship Ministry Unit of the General Assembly Council in
Louisville.

Rogers is an expert on the Presbyterian confessions. A number of his 10
books are used as texts in seminaries and colleges and also as resources for
congregations. They include "Presbyterian Creeds: A Guide to the Book of
Confessions," "Claiming the Center: Churches and Conflicting Worldviews,"
and "Case Studies in Christ and Salvation." A book he co-authored with
Donald K. McKim, "The Authority and Interpretation of the Bible: An
Historical Approach," was nominated for the American Book Award in Religion
in 1980.

Interestingly enough, Rogers' election as minister-commissioner was a tight
one; the vote was 212-210. Minutes later, the presbytery almost unanimously
voted to endorse him as its nominee for moderator.

In the years of debate on issues of sexuality within the Presbyterian Church
(USA), Rogers, an evangelical, has sought reconciliation between the divided
camps.

In his statement to the presbytery, Rogers said, "I love Jesus Christ and
seek to serve Him as my Lord and Savior. To my surprise, people in this
presbytery and elsewhere have urged me to stand for moderator of the General
Assembly. In each case, their request was, 'We need you to build bridges,
bring people together and bring healing to our denomination.'

"Only God can bring genuine healing. I am willing to seek God's guidance and
listen to others in order to be open to God's leading."

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