I want to second the … letter of my friend James Kim about the primacy of qualifications for General Assembly commissioners beyond race, gender, age, and disabilities. I would even extend his argument to include those elected to any church office. My experience as an elder, presbytery committee member and chair, presbytery moderator, and General Assembly commissioner repeatedly draws me to Acts 19:32. The verse lies in the middle of the story of the riot at Ephesus. The assembly was in confusion: Some were shouting one thing, some another. Most of the people didn’t even know why they were there. This verse rang even louder after I actually stood in the giant amphitheater where the riot took place. The top qualification for church office should be matching God-given skills to particular places of service. This is why nominating committees at any level play such a key role in our Presbyterian polity if it is to work as intended. If more elected officers were in place through a sense of call by God to use their particular skills, I believe there would be less shouting, and more work would be accomplished for the kingdom. Why? Because most would know in their hearts and minds why they are there.
