National Capital Presbytery has unanimously endorsed the first candidate to stand for moderator of the 219th General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). The assembly will be held July 3-10 in Minneapolis.
Elder Cynthia Bolbach, 61, is a lawyer and member of First Presbyterian Church in Arlington, Va.
“I feel called to stand for Moderator to help our church — proud inheritor of the Reformed tradition — discern how best to proclaim the timeless Gospel message to a 21st century world that is multi-cultural and religiously pluralistic,” Bolbach said in a presbytery press release.
She has leadership experience in many levels of the church. Bolbach served as co-moderator of the GA Form of Government Task Force. The task force first reported to the 218th GA in 2008 and will report to this year’s Assembly when its proposal was referred back for more study and refinement.
Bolbach has served in several positions at the presbytery level: as moderator of National Capital Presbytery, as chairwoman of its Committee on Ministry and its council and as its interim general presbyter.
She was ordained as a deacon and elder at New York Avenue Presbyterian Church, where she also served as clerk of session. She previously was a commissioner to the 209th GA in 1997.
Professionally, Bolbach is executive vice president and corporate secretary of BNA, Inc., an employee-owned firm that is the sole independent U.S. publisher of specialized legal and regulatory information services.
Bolbach maintains a Web site on which she provides more biographical information and details her decision to stand for moderator.