The Rev. Dr. Sallie Watson forgoes retirement to fill a mid-council leadership role in the Interim Unified Agency

In October, members of Mission Presbytery in central Texas gathered for their stated meeting and sent the Rev. Dr. Sallie Watson off into a well-earned retirement — or so they thought. On March 10, Watson began a one-year contract position as the Interim Associate Director for Mid Council Relations. Watson succeeds the Rev. Tricia Dykers Koenig, who retired in November after a long career of her own.

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Watson served most recently as the general presbytery for Mission Presbytery, starting 2016. Prior to that she was in leadership for two other presbyteries, as well as pastoring congregations in California, Utah and Texas. Her contributions to the PC(USA) have been far-reaching, as a board member of Mo-Ranch, a trustee for Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary, and a member of the former Committee on the Office of the General Assembly and the Special Offerings Review Task Force.

Most recently, Watson moderated the Stated Clerk Nomination Committee, which presented Rev. Jihyun Oh as its nominee. Oh was elected and installed at the 226th General Assembly in 2024, and currently serves as Stated Clerk of the General Assembly and Executive Director of the Interim Unified Agency.  

Presbyterian News Service recently had the opportunity to ask Watson about her new role and what prompted her to suddenly eschew —temporarily, at least — the alluring promises of retirement to serve the PC(USA) once again.

Sallie, what is your new role?

I'm serving as the Associate Director of Mid Council Relations, in a one-year term position.

How did you initially hear about this opportunity?

I first read about it in the Mid Council newsletter that comes out of this office. It just kind of kept nagging at me. So I talked it over with a few trusted others and decided to submit my name. Mainly, I just decided to be open to the possibility. Best case — I'd have an interesting and challenging position for a year. Worst case — I'd still be retired! 

You had just retired. What convinced you to step into this transitional role at the IUA?
Some friends and colleagues are saying that I flunked retirement! I'm seeing it more as "for such a time as this." I think that more than a decade in mid-council ministry, along with years of serving on the Committee on the Office of General Assembly, put me in a unique position to work among colleagues both internally and externally.

How are you finding it so far? Challenges? Joys? Surprises?
One challenge for me is mastering Microsoft products! I've been living in the Googlesphere for a long time before this, but now I get to learn how to use Office, Teams, the whole banana.

This being a one-year position also seems to speed everything up; I don't have the luxury of getting up to speed, but rather need to start at full speed. I'm doing my best!

It has been a bit of a surprise to realize how much I have to "ride the wave" with all of the changes going on in Louisville. Someone said to me, "We don't know because we don't know." Some decisions need to be made before others can be made. So, the waiting between decisions means that we have to hold everything lightly, while we still try to serve the denomination in the midst of it all.

The joy — no question — has been the people with whom I get to serve. Everyone has been so gracious and generous with their time and wisdom as I get started, both in Louisville and across the country. It's a definite bonus to get one more year to work with colleagues who have become beloved friends.

What are your hopes for yourself and for your role during this interim time?
I am hoping to do a few things. One is to leave a coherent record of all the things that need to happen. Between the staff retirements and the brevity of this contract, I want to mitigate as many "situations" as possible for the person to come.

I'm also hoping to be a non-anxious presence with staff colleagues as we ride the wave, and with mid-council leaders as they navigate their own significant changes. Another goal is to work alongside presbytery leader formation, the Association of Stated Clerks, and the Association of Mid Council Leaders to revise and possibly reorganize our offerings for new mid-council leaders.

Mainly, I want to leave the campsite a little better than I found it (which is hard to do when you're following Tricia Dykers Koenig!).

Will you truly retire after this, or are you waiting to see where the wily Spirit leads?

That wily Spirit is going to have to bring some game to drag me out of retirement again! My husband Paul and I have all the plans; while we did get to take a cruise in early January, we've put most everything else on hold again. I found out during my brief retirement that I really do like spending time with him, and I loved the freedom to do some things that I've kept on the back burner for too long. That time will come again! For now, though, we press forward.