New PC(USA) Moderator Wins in Landslide

Elder Cynthia Bolbach shook hands Saturday after being elected Moderator at the 219th General Assembly on Saturday, July 3, 2010 in Minneapolis, Minn. (Photo: Danny Bolin)

Cynthia Bolbach, the new moderator for the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)'s 219th General Assembly, was elected in a landslide victory on Saturday during the denomination's meeting in Minneapolis.

Bolbach, an elder from National Capital Presbytery, received an average of 41 percent of the votes on the four election ballots, including a 51 percent vote on the final ballot.

None of the other five candidates received more than 23 percent of the votes on any of the ballots.

In a speech to Assembly delegates, Bolbach likened the PC(U.S.A.) to the man who was paralyzed in Luke 5, whose friends lowered him through a hole they knocked in the roof so he could be healed by Jesus.

"Our denomination is that paralyzed man," she said, "paralyzed by fatigue, uncertainty, fear, grief over the loss of the kind of church some of us have known and loved all our lives."

"We are more than just commissioners," she continued. "We are the friends … who have to figure out how to break through these roofs, to bring our paralyzed church to Jesus Christ, to give our paralyzed denomination to Jesus, so Jesus can start the healing."

As moderator, Bolbach will preside over the church's Assembly meeting, which will last until July 10.

Hot button issues that will be debated on during the meeting include the church's views on the Middle East conflict and whether or not the group will adopt a new definition of marriage that is inclusive of homosexual couples.

Notably, Bolbach was the only moderator candidate that expressed complete support for same-sex marriages.

When asked by commissioners about her views on the issue, Bolbach answered: "Who poses the greatest threat to the institution of marriage: Larry King who has been married 8 times" or a couple whom she knows in Washington, DC who have been together for many years and just got married this year?

Bolbach, who is a lawyer and legal publishing company executive in Washington, acknowledged, however, that she doesn't think PC(U.S.A.) is "ready" for changing its marriage definition, but asked "what do pastors do in jurisdictions where same-sex marriage is legal?"

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