Former GA moderator expected to be elected Hudson River executive
The Layman Online, May 16, 2006
The Rev. Susan Andrews, moderator of the 215th General Assembly (2003) of the Presbyterian Church (USA), is expected to become the executive presbyter of the Presbytery of Hudson River in New York on Saturday. The presbytery’s search committee voted unanimously to nominate her for the post.
The terms of the call, as published in the agenda for the presbytery meeting, include $90,000 for salary and housing and a total package, including benefits and reimbursements, of $144,000.
Hudson River is one of the most liberal of the 173 presbyteries in the denomination; it also has one of the highest rates of membership loss – from 42,000 in 1960 to 16,500 in 2004, according to denominational statistics.
In an interview with The Journal News, a daily newspaper in the region, Andrews said that in order to begin growing again, the presbytery’s congregations will have to become known for something other than warbling old hymns and opening their doors to local Alcoholics Anonymous meetings.
But these have not been what set Hudson River apart. The presbytery is aggressively opposed to the denomination’s constitutional ordination requirements. Many of its congregations say they will not abide by the standard. They promote homosexual involvement in the presbytery’s churches by advertising that they provide same-sex unions.
Andrews supports both the ordination of homosexuals and conducting “holy unions” for same-gender couples.
But she is at odds on one issue. Hudson River is one of nearly two dozen presbyteries that have overtured the 217th General Assembly to call for a fourth constitutional referendum on a proposal to repeal the “fidelity/chastity” ordination requirement. In the three previous referendums, the presbyteries voted 55 percent (1997), 66 percent (1998) and 73.4 percent (2001) in favor of the ordination law.
While Andrews opposes that requirement, she says she supports the recommendation of the denomination’s Theological Task Force on Peace, Unity and Purity. PUP calls for leaving the ordination law in the constitution but allowing presbyteries to decide on their own whether to ordain practicing homosexuals.
She indicated to The Journal News that the issue of ordaining homosexuals will disappear with or without the church law. “In 25 years, there will be more and more experience across the country of churches being served by gays and lesbians, and the issue will go away,” she said.
While she regards that as a plus for the Hudson River Presbytery, she did note in her résumé for the nominating committee that “… the theological and political tensions that continue to divide us are weakening our witness and service to God’s word.”
Andrews has been pastor of the 700-member Bradley Presbyterian Church in Bethesda, Md., since 1999. If elected by the presbytery, she will begin her work in Hudson River on August 17.