As predicted, it was a long night last night -- but indeed we DO have a new Moderator: Elder Cynthia Bolbach from National Capital Presbytery.
It is so interesting how the Holy Spirit works in the moderatorial process. Not all of the candidates followed the "balancing" principle I described yesterday; in fact, one candidate chose a Vice-Moderator from his own Presbytery. It also seemed to me that Twin Cities and Philadelphia presbyteries were over-represented, but no one asked for my opinion....
Each candidate also gets to choose someone to formally nominate them, even though they have already been nominated by their home presbyteries. So we got to hear six five-minute nomination speeches, then six five-minute speeches from the candidates themselves before the floor was opened for general questions.
The nominating speeches had their own variety. A couple of candidates were placed in nomination by their Vice-Moderator candidate; others drew on someone from another presbytery or someone who knew them well. Their styles were also very different; each was passionate about his or her candidate, but some used more decibels than others!!
The "buzz" around the hall had been that there really wasn't a clear leader among the group. The candidates had all spoken at the Presbyterian Outlook luncheon earlier in the day, and I had the impression that no one was especially stellar. The only thing that stood out to me in the formal speeches was which speakers had natural talent for public speaking. One nominator talked more about herself than the candidate! Others were good about making a point and hammering it home more than once in the speech: "a positive change for a positive church."
It really wasn't until the informal questions from the floor, in my opinion, that cream began to rise and others began to falter. One candidate was serious to a fault; one candidate was somewhat patronizing; one candidate was simplistic. I think the tide began to turn when one YAAD (Young Adult Advisory Delegate) stood up and asked the candidates what would happen if they were NOT elected, what was at stake. A couple of candidates answered something predictable like "The Kingdom does not rise and fall on me." Then Cindy Bolbach got up and said, without any introduction, "Utter chaos!" She provided the first belly laugh of the evening for the crowd, and I think they began to listen to her more closely at that point.
There were other questions like "Do you support youth ministry?" (Who would say no to that?) And then the final question asked the candidates their stance on the definition of marriage. In my memory, Cindy Bolbach and the woman who eventually came in a distant second offered the most candid answers. The runner-up answered that she supported the church's current position, but that she would try and listen to everyone around the table; Cindy responded that she did not agree with the church's current position, but would honor and uphold it as Moderator. What struck me about both of their answers, even though they came from different positions, was their humility and their willingness to be led by the Holy Spirit in their response.
Then the fun began. The standing rules of the Assembly state that the voting will continue until a simple majority of registered commissioners have voted for one candidate. So several ballots are often required. Also, no names are removed from the ballot; the voting just continues until a winner becomes clear.
On each ballot, Cindy Bolbach was in first place but without a sufficient margin to win. After about the 3rd or 4th ballot, someone made a motion to suspend the standing rules and drop off the last-place candidate in subsequent ballots. In the course of taking this procedural vote, they discovered that not everyone's electronic ballot was being registered! So while they proceeded to correct the problem, commissioners were asked to test-vote "yes" or "no" on whether they had eaten dinner that night. The problems continued for at least 20 minutes, during which time the number of people voting "no" to dinner grew! It was after 10pm at this point; perhaps the question should have been, "Are you feeling testy by this point?"
Several clever commissioners rose to offer helpful solutions to the dilemma. But finally, everyone was satisfied that a very high percentage of those present were having their votes registered. Then after one last tabulation, former Moderator Bruce Reyes-Chow made the announcement, and the house rose to its feet. Cindy was accompanied to the stage by her colleagues from National Capital, and welcomed by all the former Moderators who were present. There was a service of installation for her - a closing prayer - and then it was well past most of our bedtimes.
Cindy has served on the Form of Government Task Force; it will be interesting to see whether her election bodes well for the adoption of the New Form of Government. Stay tuned!
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