Four pairs standing for Moderators make their case at the Baird Center
Commissioners will elect the next Moderators beginning at 10:30 a.m. Central time on Thursday
MILWAUKEE — Four pairs of candidates standing for Moderators of the 227th General Assembly — the Rev. Dr. Barbara Barkley and the Rev. Dr. Bill Myers, the Rev. Rebecca Luter and the Rev. Chris Peters, the Rev. Marta Pumroy-Cordero and the Rev. Dr. Kristopher D. Schondelmeyer and the Rev. Dr. Frances Lin and the Rev. Dr. Sean Chow — spent 90 minutes on Wednesday getting to know their fellow commissioners to the 227th General Assembly. The election is set for 10:30 a.m. Central time on Thursday.
Despite serving on separate coasts, Barkley and Myers each serve in ministry contexts that center on reconciliation, intercultural partnership and small-church vitality.
Barkley summarized the team’s platform simply: “How do we stay at the table with one another across our differences?” she said. “One of the gifts that I feel Bill and I bring is that we don't agree on everything, which allows us to model how do you stay at the table even when you don't have the same opinion.”
Her call to stand for Moderator grew out of repeated nudges from people who saw her gifts for cross-cultural ministry, including her participation in a Spanish-speaking pastoral group in the Presbytery of San Francisco. There she heard leaders name the pain of not being fully seen or engaged because of the language barrier, an experience that continues to shape her commitment to equity and presence.
Myers said many colleagues see him as unusual because “I’m magnanimous on social issues, but I'm theologically conservative. I believe in the resurrection of Jesus. I believe in the ascension.” His family’s diversity, which includes a daughter who is trans and grandchildren who are biracial, informs his attention to conversations about race and inclusion. In West Virginia, he described a commitment to showing up for white conservative colleagues and church members to build “an authenticity of relationships” that transcends political divisions.
Across settings, Myers emphasized relationship over winning arguments. “I'm not here to change anybody. I'm here to be in relationship, and hopefully by being in relationship, the Holy Spirit will change both of us,” he said. Their shared theme, he added, is “planting seeds of love,” staying at the table to seek reconciliation and shared ministry.
Luter said she’s heard from fellow commissioners about pain and the need for trust in the body. “It’s such a large Assembly, and I’ve loved getting to know people,” she said.
She added, “I think there is a deep love for the church. Their concern and pain come out of that love. They’re not angry, but they really care.”
Peters said Assembly-goers have spoken to him about “the beauty of what it means to gather in the Assembly.”
“Even with the long hours and the tough votes, we feel like the body of Christ,” he said. “We are weary, but there is a great sense of what’s to come.”
“If the rest of the church could feel this sense of hope, it’d be great,” he said. “The hope is like the chrysalis, we will emerge and pollinate around the churches.”
He said he’s also hearing that whoever prevails in Thursday’s election, “we’ll be led well.”
Pumroy-Cordero and Schondelmeyer won’t shy from hard conversations, they said during the event.
It was pain and hard conversations, including the study of racism, that brought them together. In 2020, when Schondelmeyer was in doctoral studies on moderating civil discourse, he discovered that Pumroy-Cordero was co-moderating a denominational Special Committee on Racism, Truth and Reconciliation.
“I reached out, and we’ve been friends ever since,” Schondelmeyer said.
“We balance each other,” Pumroy-Cordero said. She said he is detail-driven and organized. “I’m kind of scattered and bubbly and need someone to bring me down.”
Pumroy-Cordero is the border ministry coordinator for Tres Rios Presbytery in El Paso, Texas. Schondelmeyer is pastor of First Presbyterian Church in Davenport, Iowa. Both became concerned when President Donald Trump ramped up immigration policies across the country.
Concerned for their country and denomination, they began discerning a run for Moderators. It didn’t take long to realize fellow Presbyterians worried about similar issues.
“They want to know what is going on with World Mission, what will happen with that,” Pumroy-Cordero said. “Mostly what they want is healing.”
As a survivor of sexual assault in the church, Schondelmeyer said he knows how important it is to really listen to people. Through healing he realized just how much he loved the world.
“I love this church,” he said. “I’ve experienced the worst of this church, and I’ve experienced the best of this church.”
Chow said he and Lin created a podcast in order to hear people’s stories in the church. “I know new worshiping communities, but not a lot beyond that,” he said. They said they’ve also heard that “God is an abundant God who continues to be faithful.”
“We need to tell people in congregations that God is not done with us yet, that God is faithful and doesn’t withhold from us,” he said. “People want to be able to tell their story, out of sorrow or out of excitement of what God’s doing.”
Lin said she’s heard stories at the Assembly from people in pain. “We need to start building trust and create space for each other,” she said. “That’s from people and it’s from my own heart.”
“I feel more committed now than when I made the announcement” to stand, Lin said. “Our experiences can start the healing process.”
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