Office of the General Assembly

Members

Members of the Mid Council Commission

220th General Assembly, Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)

Ruling Elder Ariel Mink and the Reverend Byron Wade will serve as co-chairpersons of the commission. Mink (Redwoods Presbytery) is a member of the Presbyterian Church of Novato, Calif. She has served as a member of the presbytery council, vice-moderator and moderator of Redwoods Presbytery, and as vice-moderator of the Mid Council Issues Committee at the 220th General Assembly. Mink is a senior consultant with the Gallup Organization, specializing in employee and workplace management.

Wade (New Hope Presbytery) is pastor of Davie Street Presbyterian Church in Raleigh, N.C., and has served at all council levels of the denomination, including the Presbyterian Mission Agency Board. He was Vice Moderator of the 218th General Assembly (2008). He is also a member of New Hope Presbytery's newly formed visioning team, which will discover and focus the future of the presbytery. Wade is the representative from the National Racial Ethnic Ministries Task Force.

From the commissioners to the 220th General Assembly (in addition to Mink):

Commissioned Ruling Elder Barbara Gilliland (Pueblo Presbytery) has served two congregations as a CRE since 2001 and is now the visitation/pastoral assistant at Faith Presbyterian Church in Colorado Springs, Colo. She has served as moderator of Pueblo Presbytery, the Synod of the Rocky Mountains, and their coordinating councils. She serves on the presbytery’s CLE coordinating committee and on the Synod Permanent Judicial Commission.

Ruling Elder Judi Johnson (San Jose Presbytery) serves as clerk of session and missions chair for First Presbyterian Church, Hollister, Calif.  She is also chairperson of the presbytery’s committee on preparation for ministry and secretary for the nominating committee.  A retired teacher, Johnson serves on a local school board and is active with myriad community groups.

The Reverend Jason H. Ko (Los Ranchos Presbytery) is pastor of Community Presbyterian Church of La Mirada, Calif. He serves on the presbytery’s strategic coordinating team, which has responsibilities to coordinate, support, develop, and broker resources for missional objectives amongst the ministries and churches in Los Ranchos.

From the 2010 Mid Council Commission:

Ruling Elder Warren B. Cooper (Philadelphia Presbytery) is a member of the Third, Scots and Mariners (Old Pine Street) Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia. He has served as a ruling elder for more than ten years and at the presbytery, synod and General Assembly levels for almost four decades. Cooper is a media, broadcast, and ministry professional; a worship specialist and sacred jazz recording artist; and executive producer for Music Media Ministry, pioneering new pathways into church health, ministry growth and worship-focused evangelism.

The Reverend Lemuel Garcia-Arroyo (Salem Presbytery) is the director of alumni and church relations at Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary. He has served as an elected member on various General Assembly committees, including the advisory committee to the office of Hispanic congregational support, the Advocacy Committee for Racial Ethnic Concerns, the Committee on Ecumenical and Interfaith Relations, and the National Multicultural Network. Garcia-Arroyo is a fourth-generation Presbyterian, originally from the National Presbyterian Church of Mexico.

The Reverend Liza Hendricks (Western Reserve Presbytery) is the general presbyter for Western Reserve Presbytery. She has served as a campus minister, a parish pastor, and a staff member for Chicago Presbytery. Active in the Urban Presbytery Network, she is a past moderator of the General Assembly’s Committee on Theological Education and also has experience on synod and presbytery committees.

Ruling Elder Jane D. Smith (Riverside Presbytery) is a member of First Presbyterian Church in San Bernardino, Calif. She is a former moderator of the Synod of Southern California/Hawaii and served as a member of the Administrative Commission appointed by the 219th General Assembly. Jane is a retired school superintendent and an elected trustee of the Yucaipa-Calimesa joint unified school district.

From the Committee on the Office of the General Assembly:

The Reverend Eileen W. Lindner (Palisades Presbytery) is pastor of the Presbyterian Church at Tenafly, N.J. She has served congregations in Illinois and New York. Formerly the deputy general secretary of the National Council of Churches, Lindner continues to edit The Yearbook of American and Canadian Churches, an annual compilation of denominational membership and financial reports of over 200 denominations. She is the author of numerous books and articles and a frequent preacher at PC(USA) and ecumenical events.

The Reverend Jerrod B. Lowry (Utah Presbytery) is pastor of Community of Grace Presbyterian Church in Sandy, Utah. He served previously as pastor of St. Paul Presbyterian Church in Louisburg, N.C., and as associate for specialized ministries for the Presbytery of New Hope.

The Reverend Marcia Mount Shoop (New Hope Presbytery) is a freelance author and theologian living in Chapel Hill, N.C. She is the author of Let the Bones Dance: Embodiment and the Body of Christ. A former moderator of the national board of the Presbyterian Multicultural Network, Mount Shoop has pastored congregations in Chicago, Ill., and Oakland, Calif., and has served three congregations as theologian in residence.

Ruling Elder James Wilson (Scioto Valley Presbytery) is a member of Broad Street Presbyterian Church in Columbus, Ohio. He is an antitrust litigator at the law firm Vorys, Sater, Seymour, and Pease; a past chairperson of the American Bar Association's Section of Antitrust Law; and teaches antitrust law at the Moritz College of Law at Ohio State University. Wilson has served the Presbytery of Scioto Valley as moderator and stated clerk, and his congregation as clerk of session, confirmation teacher, and member of a variety of committees.

From synod executives:

The Reverend Landon Whitsitt (Heartland Presbytery) is executive and stated clerk of the Synod of Mid-America. He served as Vice Moderator of the 219th General Assembly (2010). Whitsitt is the author of Open Source Church: Making Room for the Wisdom of All. He seeks to continue working with Presbyterian seminaries as they discern the best way to train candidates for the future of ministry.

220th General Assembly young adult advisory delegate observer:

Ruling Elder Christopher McCloskey (Southern New England Presbytery) is a member of First Presbyterian Church in New Haven, Conn. He is a senior at Clark University in Worcester, Mass., where he is completing his bachelor’s degree in psychology, philosophy, and ancient history. He plans to attend seminary in the fall of 2013. McCloskey was a member of the General Assembly Procedures Committee at this year’s General Assembly.

Staffing the commission is the Reverend Jill Hudson, coordinator for mid council relations (Office of the General Assembly and the Presbyterian Mission Agency) and Andrew Yeager-Buckley, program assistant (Office of the General Assembly).

Members of the Middle Governing Bodies Commission

219th General Assembly, Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)

Staffing

Jill Hudson
Coordinator/Middle Governing Bodies

The Reverend Daniel Saperstein
Representative from the Advisory Committee on the Constitution

Andrew Yeager-Buckley
Senior Administrative Assistant