GA 219 Moderator Candidate Profile
Bolbach: Change is the key to PCUSA’s future
By Edward Terry, The Layman, December 15, 2009
WASHINGTON, D.C. – The first candidate for moderator of the Presbyterian Church (USA)’s 219th General Assembly has been nominated, and she sees approving the work of the task force she co-chairs as the key action for the denomination’s future when it meets July 3-10, 2010 in Minneapolis, Minn. 
National Capital Presbytery endorsed Elder Cynthia Bolbach Nov. 17 as a candidate for moderator of the Presbyterian Church (USA)’s 219th General Assembly in July 2010.
Best known in her role as co-moderator of the Form of Government (FOG) Task Force, 61-year-old Cynthia Bolbach told commissioners at National Capital Presbytery on Nov. 17 that she wants to help the denomination think about ministry and proclaiming the Gospel effectively in a “pluralistic, 21st Century culture.” In addition to her time on the FOG task force, Bolbach also has served as National Capital’s interim general presbyter, moderator and chairwoman of the committee on ministry and presbytery council.
“I believe the Presbyterian Church (USA) does have a future witness – witness that can make a difference in people’s lives,” she said. “But if we are willing to live into that future, we need to change some things about how we work as a denomination. We need to stop thinking and acting like bureaucrats and start thinking and acting like disciples.”
The anti-bureaucrat statement may sound strange coming from inside “The Beltway,” but recognizing the need for change is at the center of Bolbach’s campaign for moderator. Adding that strategies from 50 years ago no longer work so well, Bolbach said one place to start is the presbytery and synod structure.
She’s taken note of recent overtures and proposals that would reduce the function of the denomination’s 16 synods, and believes that they deserve a hard look, she said. Additional candidates
The Layman will profile additional GA candidates as they are endorsed. If your presbytery has endorsed a candidate, please let us know by e-mailing eterry@layman.org.
“If it’s not working, we have to be able to decide it’s not working and change to something else,” she said in an interview with The Layman. “I think people in every presbytery have to take a look at that. Is it effective? Is it enabling the ministries of its congregations Is it simply just to say, ‘you have to follow these rules and that’s that?’”
She puts it more bluntly on her GA moderator campaign Web site, where she endorses passage of the New Form of Government (nFOG) proposal: “If we don’t change, we’ll die.”
Though she hates the cliché “think outside the box,” she hopes the GA will do just that by empowering Presbyterians to get creative and figure out “the best way to proclaim the Gospel in their area.” Another challenge is lifting up the Gospel above the cacophony of secular messages in today’s society. She offers the non-traditional, often liberal “emerging church movement” as a successful example of embracing modern technology and presenting the Gospel in a new way.
Though she claims to be just left of center politically, she said her ability to listen and understand people who do not share her beliefs would make her an effective moderator.
Bolbach is an attorney who serves as executive vice president and corporate secretary of BNA, Inc., an employee-owned company that publishes specialized legal and regulatory information services. With 35 years at BNA, she is a member of its board of directors and serves on the boards of three subsidiary companies it owns. If elected moderator, Bolbach said she would have to retire, but still would like to serve on the company’s board of directors.
Raised a Lutheran in Lancaster, Pa., in the early 1970s Bolbach joined New York Avenue Presbyterian Church in Washington, D.C. She was ordained a deacon and elder and served as clerk of session before transferring her membership to the First Presbyterian Church, Arlington, Va., where she also served as clerk. She was a commissioner to the 209th General Assembly in 1997, where she voted for an amendment to the Book of Order that would have removed the fidelity-chastity ordination standard. From a justice point of view, she said, the requirement that church leaders be faithful in marriage between one man and one woman or chaste in singleness should not be in PCUSA’s Form of Government.
“We’ve been talking about it for years,” Bolbach said. “Some minds have changed, some minds have not changed. … I’m not in favor of G-6.0106b, but I also would say I intend to be a moderator for the entire denomination, including people who are in favor of it.”
Though she offers no official stance on some issues that the GA could face in 2010, such as the role and future of the denomination’s controversial Washington Office, she is vocal on others:
- Christian Marriage and Civil Union Task Force – “I can understand their difficulty in coming to an agreement. I’m waiting to see what they come out with in terms of their report. I have great admiration for the amount of effort they’ve put in.”
- Property disputes and dismissal from the denomination – “There ought to be a way if a congregation wants to leave the denomination that it can be done gracefully and without hostility and without litigation.”
- Membership losses – “I don’t want to say we shouldn’t be alarmed, but I think we need to stop focusing on membership numbers. … I think we should look more at ‘are we changing people’s lives?’” Bolbach added that she would like the GA to suspend annual statistical reporting for a few years and instead ask sessions to report on what they’ve done to make disciples.
- New Form of Government – “I think what we’re espousing in the FOG is what I believe and that it’s important to the church.” As co-moderator of the nFOG task force, Bolbach said she would suspend that role in favor of her GA moderator role when it’s time to debate and vote on the proposal.
For more information on Cynthia Bolbach’s candidacy as PCUSA Moderator for the 219th GA, watch for addition stories in The Layman, or visit her campaign Web site at http://cindybolbach.com/wordpress/.
It is The Layman’s policy not to endorse candidates for General Assembly Moderator. The above story is intended only to inform readers.