It is hot!  It's humid!  It's muggy!  It's Texas, and at 4 p.m., the the Rev. Dr. Douglas W. Oldenburg, moderator of the 210th General Assembly (1999) convened the meeting of the 211th General Assembly at the Fort Worth Convention Center.  San Jose Presbytery's commissioners (pictured on the right) were present and ready for the day's business to begin.  From left to right, our commissioners are Elder Ted Brown (Elder member of Union Presbyterian Church of Los Altos, the Rev. Dr. Richard Spencer (Pastor of the Saratoga Presbyterian Church, and Youth Advisory Delegate Scott Monroe (a member of the Presbyterian Church of Los Gatos).

The commissioners then participated in an orientation session and heard the reports of the Moderator Oldenburg and of Stated Clerk Cliff Kirkpatrick, before recessing for dinner.

At 7:30, the commissioners reconvened to elect a moderator who would preside over this years meeting of the General Assembly.

Four candidates were nominated to the office of Moderator, those candidates being The Rev. Frank Diaz, Elder Freda Gardner, Elder Dr. Charles W. Kim, and the Rev. Dr. Walter J. Ungerer.

The Rev. Frank Diaz resides in Lewisville, Texas, and is presently serving as Interim Associate Executive for Racial Ethnic Ministries for the Synod of the Sun.  Following a career in engineering, the Rev. Mr. Diaz entered Austin Theological Seminary, graduating in 1982.  After serving congregations in Texas, he joined the staff of the General Assembly Council in 1991, and in 1996 was named Interim Executive of the General Assembly Council, a position he held until 1998.

Elder Freda Gardner presently resides in Princeton, New Jersey.  After serving as an elementary school teacher, Elder Gardner attended the Presbyterian School of Christian Education in Richmond, Virginia.  She then served for 4 years as Director of Christian Education of the Crescent Avenue Presbyterian Church in Plainville, NJ.  In 1961 she joined the faculty of Princeton Theological Seminary, retiring in 1992 as the Thomas W. Synnott Professor of Christian Education and Director of the School of Christian Education.

Elder Dr. Charles W. Kim resides in Setauket, New York.  Following a distinguished service in Public Health and teaching, he retired from the position of Professor, Microbiology and Medicine, School of Medicine, State University of New York, Stoney Point.  He has served a in a host of leadership positions in his Presbytery, Synod and General Assembly.

The Rev. Dr. Walter Ungerer, is Pastor and Head of Staff of the first Presbyterian Church in Kokomo, Indiana a congregation he has served for the past twenty two years.  He served as a member of the General Assembly Council from 1991 to 1997. He has also served his Synod and the Presbytery of Wabash Valley in a variety of posts.

Following the nominating speeches, each candidate made brief remarks.  They then responded to questions from the General Assembly Commissioners.  After an extended period of questioning, the Commissioners began the voting process.  A majority vote is required to elect a moderator.  In this case the number required to elect is 260.  The vote on the first ballot gave the lead to Freda Gardner.  The vote on that ballot was as follows:
 

 On the second ballot, the vote was:
 

Elder Freda Gardner was elected moderator of the 211th General Assembly on the second ballot.  Upon returning to the hall, to a standing ovation, she was installed by the immediate past moderator, the Rev. Douglas W. Oldenburg.  Following her installation the General Assembly recessed for the night to reconvene with the Opening Service of Worship and Communion to be held on Sunday at 9:30 a.m.  Thanks for checking in at our San José Presbytery web site.  I'll keep you posted on what is happening here at Fort Worth.

Paul J. Masquelier, Jr.
Executive Presbyter
San José Presbytery