Four potential moderators have been nominated for the 2009 General Assembly, to begin June 7 in Hamilton, Ont. Ballots were sent to presbyteries in December, and the committee to advise the moderator will tally the votes on April 1.
Marilyn Clarke
Ms. Marilyn Clarke has spent a lifetime in the church and has served as a ruling elder at Knox, St. Catharines, Ont. She was moderator of the Presbytery of Niagara twice, has served on a number of regional and national committees including Assembly Council, and has spent the last four years of her six-year stint on the personnel policy committee as convener.
Clarke's faith journey has witnessed profound tragedy. Over the years, she has lost her first husband (a minister), their two sons, and her second husband to disease or genetic disorders. “I've been through personal losses, and that's sharpened by faith,” she said. “It's never something you ask for or hope for, but it's during these periods that your faith really deepens. It's through personal losses that we grow.”
As an elder, Clark brings a unique perspective. “My passion is really leadership on the part of session,” she said. “The church is being shaken, and we no longer live in a church culture, so it's very important that elders step up to the plate … First and foremost we're servants of Jesus Christ, and sessions are uniquely positioned to provide leadership and spiritual guidance.”
Karen Hincke
Rev. Karen Hincke is a Presbyterian College librarian turned minister, a transition which she describes as “providential leading.” She currently ministers at St. Stephen's, Peterborough, Ont., and has served two years as moderator of the Presbytery of Glengarry, three years as clerk of the Presbytery of East Toronto, three years as clerk of the synod of Quebec and Eastern Ontario, and was convener of the committee on business at the 1989 assembly. She also spent several years as general secretary of the service agency at national offices (which has since become part of support services), executive director of the Women's Inter-Church Council, and has participated in various business and church administration conferences.
“My passion usually lies wherever I am at the moment,” Hincke said. “At the moment I've discovered that I love interim ministry; the kind of problem-solving that's involved is right up my ally. But ecumenical work is certainly my greatest passion at this point.” She has served as an interim minister in the presbyteries of Kingston and Lindsay-Peterborough, currently sits on the ecumenical and interfaith relations committee, and is part of a task group working to create a handbook to help small congregations nurture ecumenical partnerships and ministries.
Harvey Self
Rev. Harvey Self has Presbyterian ministry in his blood. As the son of a minister and chaplain, the grandson of an elder, and the nephew of two more ministers, he follows in well-trodden footsteps. Like his father, he spent time as a military chaplain, and served nine years in bases across the country with a brief UN posting in Cyprus. He has served the Synod of Central Northeastern Ontario and Bermuda for six years as mission convener and representative on the national Canada Ministries' advisory committee, and one term as moderator of the Presbytery of Brampton. He currently ministers at Tweedsmuir Memorial, Orangeville, Ont.
“The opportunity to serve with the military was a wonderful highlight, and although I haven't continued life in the military I've continued to support military families,” Self said. He has been a local legion chaplain and has presided at funerals for soldiers killed in Afghanistan. “I'd like to see a focus on ministry to military families, veterans returning from this current conflict in Afghanistan, and to the chaplains serving in our church … And I'd like to provide guidance for churches who want to do ministry to those people.”
Richard Sand
Rev. Richard Sand has served in a number of small communities across Canada, and currently ministers at St. Andrew's ('The Kirk') in New Glasgow, N.S. A believer in community involvement, he is president of the Pictou County Council of Churches and the Aberdeen Palliative Care Society, and has served in various capacities with local groups throughout his ministry career. He also instructed a number of courses for the lay certificate of theology program at the University of Winnipeg.
Teaching has been the highlight of Sand's career. “I'm quite enthusiastic about the role of the teaching elder … and for the congregation to be a learning community in every sense,” he said. “Not just the people who are participating in more formal opportunities for education, but the church needs to be learning about its ministry and mission. It needs to be learning from its experiences, both successful and unsuccessful.”
Sand hopes the church will be encouraged to listen to voices he refers to as “off-centre,” for instance, those who hail from isolated congregations flourishing without a minister, or who are ministering in difficult economic climates. “Off-centre voices have something to tell us about the experience of being the church, and they have something to teach the centre about the challenges of living faithful lives in difficult times.”
