Moderator candidates select their vice-moderators
The Layman, April 25, 2012
The five candidates vying for the office of moderator of the 220th General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (USA) have all announced who will be their running mates for the position of vice moderator.
The Rev. Hope Italiano Lee of Peace River Presbytery is Austell’s choice to be vice-moderator.
Lee is pastor of Kirkwood Presbyterian Church in Bradenton, Fla., and has also served congregations on Amelia Island, Fla., and in King of Prussia, Pa., as well as being active in youth, camp and conference ministries.
Lee calls herself a “fourth generation Presbyterian, married to a fifth generation Presbyterian immigrant, and the mom to two sixth generation Presbyterians.”
Her husband, the Rev. Sung Ho Lee, is on staff at Kirkwood.
Austell said that when he “began looking for a vice-moderator candidate, I looked for someone with a proven record of Biblical teaching, leadership, vision and compassion. Searching widely for these qualities, I was pleased to meet Hope last fall and find a gifted woman with a love for Jesus Christ, her family, her congregation and her wider community. She is a gifted preacher and leader, has a heart for Christian witness and compassion in her congregation and community, and a particular passion for ministry with immigrant families and individuals.”
Branson has picked the Rev. Shamaine Chambers King, pastor of Windsor Presbyterian Church in Windsor Height, Iowa as his vice-moderator candidate.
In December of 2006, Windsor lost approximately half of its members following what the church website called a “minister-led movement to leave the PCUSA.” A majority of the members voted to remain in the denomination, and the others left the church.
“By the grace of God, the congregation continues to grow in faith and numbers as it strives to fulfill its mission to love God and work together in love serving all God’s people,” the website stated.
Edwards selected the Rev. Dr. Jeffrey Krehbiel, pastor of the Church of the Pilgrims in Washington, D.C., as her vice moderator running mate.
“I am proud to stand with Janet Edwards as her nominee for vice moderator because I believe that Janet has the capacity to be a bridge-builder – someone who can help us find our unity through a radical faithfulness to the gospel. I am confident that God is yet active among us, calling us to deeper faithfulness, and that this is an unprecedented moment in our history to rediscover what it means to be the church,” said Krehbiel.
He became the pastor of Church of the Pilgrims in 2000 and in 2002 the church became a More Light Church. The church website states that “being a ‘More Light’ church means we welcome the full participation of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender persons in the life of the congregation, including ordained officers of the church. Being a More Light church means we support the ministry of More Light Presbyterians, a national organization of Presbyterians working for an inclusive church.”
Krehbiel has also served a small, multi-racial congregation on the West Side of Manhattan in New York City, and an inner-city church in Wilmington, Del.
He has a doctor of ministry degree in Gospel and Culture from Columbia Theological Seminary in Decatur, Ga. He and his wife Cheryl have two children.
Rev. Sue Krummel
Krummel’s choice of vice moderator is the Rev. Sanghyuan James Lee of Columbia, S.C.
“Lee brings broad experience in leadership in the PCUSA as well as a deep devotion to mission. Both will serve him well as a candidate for vice moderator,” said Krummel.
As pastor of the Korean Community Presbyterian Church (KCPC), Lee has seen the church expand its membership, programs, and its local and overseas missions. He also is involved with the spiritual formation of the second generation Korean Americans, by helping the regional Korean American summer youth camp grow to a consortium of over 25 youth ministries within the Synod of South Atlantic and Living Waters.
A graduate of Yale Divinity School (MDiv) and Union-PCSE, Richmond (DMin), he is currently the adjunct executive of National Council of Korean Presbyterian Church and has served as moderator of Korean Presbyterian Churches of the Synod of the South Atlantic, stated clerk of National Council of Korean Presbyterian Church and the Church Development Committee of Midwest Hanmi Presbytery.
Lee and his wife, Jina Shin Lee have two daughters, Karen and Crystal.
The Rev. Tara Spuhler McCabe, associate pastor at the historic New York Avenue Presbyterian Church in Washington, D.C., has been chosen as Presa’s vice moderator candidate.
Presa said that he met McCabe 11 years ago on the planning team for a 7% Young Clergy Pastors Event. “Since then, we have discussed the Church, mission, ministry and life; our families have spent considerable time with one another. We bring energy, intelligence, imagination, love and sense of humor to this call. We seek the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace, rooted in our Reformed tradition, while engaging emerging perspectives,” he said.
An alumna of PCUSA-related Agnes Scott College and McCormick Theological Seminary, McCabe has served as associate pastor of New York Avenue Presbyterian Church in Washington, DC, since 2006. She and her husband, Kendrick, have two children, and live in Arlington, Va.
McCabe has served on the planning teams for Montreat Youth Conference, Presbyterian Peacemaking Conference, and the 7% Young Clergy Conference. She was a PCUSA delegate to the World Council of Churches 8th Assembly in Harare, Zimbabwe in 1998.