{"id":46896,"date":"2024-09-10T11:12:51","date_gmt":"2024-09-10T15:12:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.presbyterianfoundation.org\/?p=46896"},"modified":"2025-01-10T11:08:39","modified_gmt":"2025-01-10T16:08:39","slug":"el-reinicio-de-la-direccion-teologica-aprovecha-la-relacion-de-sabiduria-y-la-energia-de-los-co-moderadores","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.presbyterianfoundation.org\/es\/resources\/news\/reboot-of-leading-theologically-taps-into-the-co-moderators-wisdom-relationship-and-energy\/","title":{"rendered":"El reinicio de \"Leading Theologically\" aprovecha la sabidur\u00eda, la relaci\u00f3n y la energ\u00eda de los copoderadores"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Rev. CeCe Armstrong and the Rev. Tony Larson speak with the podcast\u2019s new host, the Rev. Bill Davis<\/strong><\/h3>\n

As the new host of \u201cLeading Theologically,\u201d the Rev. Bill Davis invited the Co-Moderators of the 226th<\/sup>\u00a0General Assembly to pull their chairs close to the microphone for what would be a 34-minute wide-ranging conversation.<\/p>\n

Davis, the Senior Director of Theological Education Funds Development at the\u00a0Presbyterian Foundation<\/a>, told the Rev. Tony Larson and the Rev. CeCe Armstrong his first day on the job was July 1, the same day commissioners to GA226 voted them into the denomination\u2019s highest elected office.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was so impressed by the ways y\u2019all handled this General Assembly \u2014 the humor, the humility,\u00a0the dancing<\/a>\u00a0and the deep connection with our bodies,\u201d Davis said.<\/p>\n

Larson pointed out that after being elected on a Sunday night, the two were called to begin moderating the following morning.<\/p>\n

\u201cOffice of General Assembly staff did a lot to try to help prepare us and walk us through some of the technical pieces [of moderating],\u201d he said. \u201cBut the prayerful preparation for doing the work was built around the relationship CeCe and I sought to build as we got to know one another,\u201d including \u201ctrying to learn where our different gifts are, utilizing those gifts for the benefit of the body \u2014 and a lot of reliance on the Holy Spirit.\u201d<\/p>\n

The two used the CAR acronym \u2014 for communication, alignment with God\u2019s will and relationships \u2014 as \u201cthe foundation for all of this work,\u201d Larson said.<\/p>\n

While\u00a0the two are members of adjacent presbyteries in South Carolina, they hadn\u2019t known each other long\u00a0before announcing they\u2019d stand together for Co-Moderator<\/a>. \u201cWe immediately established a relationship that I am very proud to say I will never let go of as long as I breathe upon this Earth,\u201d Armstrong said. \u201cThe relationship is what allows us to do the work that God has called us to do.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe biggest piece was the alignment with God \u2014 this reliance on God being able to direct our words, our actions and our deeds,\u201d she said. From the platform at the Salt Palace Convention Center, the home of the in-person portion of the Assembly, \u201cwe couldn\u2019t hear the murmurs and the discussion because everybody wasn\u2019t mic\u2019d. \u2026 So we really truthfully had no other choice but to rely on the presence of the Holy Spirit, who guided us holistically in every aspect as we cared for the General Assembly and for each other, which we could do because we had that relationship.\u201d<\/p>\n

It also helped, she said, that the newly elected Co-Moderators had a stellar crew behind the scenes as well as sage advisors on the platform.<\/p>\n

\u201cDuring some of the moments when I moderated, Tony was very observant of what was happening with me. He might have brought me something to drink or just stood beside me to let me know his presence was there,\u201d Armstrong said. \u201cVice-versa when Tony was up and I thought he was sweating, I\u2019d get a towel and hand it to him. Building that relationship and camaraderie that we wanted for each other was important because of the work but also because we wanted others to see it at work.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOur call was a journey to stand,\u201d she said, \u201cbut now we\u2019re on a journey to serve.\u201d<\/p>\n

Davis recalled Armstrong moderating while \u201ca particularly contentious conversation was taking place. You invited us to do some deep breathing to get out of our heads and into our bodies.\u201d He also recalled Larson helping the body to breathe easier \u201cthrough your disarming manner of joking with us as an Assembly. I give God thanks for the ways y\u2019all have been formed as leaders for such a time as this in our denomination.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Co-Moderators shared some of their travel experiences date, as well as appearances planned for the coming weeks.<\/p>\n

\u201cI love the way you\u2019re describing the collaborative journey. The days of isolation and siloization are hopefully long gone,\u201d Davis told them. He recalled that as a seminarian at\u00a0Columbia Theological Seminary<\/a>, course offerings at\u00a0Johnson C. Smith Theological Seminary<\/a>\u00a0and the\u00a0Interdenominational Theological Center<\/a>\u00a0allowed him to take classes in womanist biblical interpretation, \u201cso I could learn differently how to be a pastor and a leader in God\u2019s church.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have to lead and learn with others to do this work of ministry,\u201d Davis said.<\/p>\n

When Larson thinks about leadership in the church, \u201cmore and more I find it\u2019s trying to hold together the community of disciples God has gathered in this place in a time of deep polarization \u2014 to attend to their needs while feeling the need to push them outside the sanctuary to neighbors and their real problems, to provide charity and listen deeply to figure out what we need to do to make our neighborhood a more graceful and just place for all who live here.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s about balance, Larson said \u2014 the \u201cinternal life of fellowship and the fundamentals of how healthy our congregation is looking \u2026 and how faithful we are being in our theological reflection, our missional engagement and our social witness and advocacy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Seminarians may begin by learning to exegete biblical passages like \u201cLove your neighbor as yourself,\u201d but \u201ccoming out of seminary, I think you need to be able to read that backwards,\u201d Armstrong said. \u201cHow are you first caring for yourself?\u201d Self-care leads to better care of neighbors, she said. \u201cOnce I see I can help my neighbor, then I\u2019m very clear that I love God, because you can\u2019t do those things with all the turmoil and dysfunction in our lives without having a reason to do it.\u201d<\/p>\n

That verse \u201cis in Greek,\u201d she said, \u201cbut maybe we should read it like it\u2019s Hebrew and start at the other end.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cFriends, we don\u2019t do this alone. We don\u2019t lead by ourselves. We lead with one another,\u201d Davis said. \u201cWe lead with God\u2019s grace and mercy and steadfastness.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI give thanks for your work as Co-Moderators of our denomination,\u201d Davis said, \u201cand pray for God\u2019s blessing on your lives as you move and travel and lead faithfully, theologically and groundedly in this world.\u201d<\/p>\n

Listen to Davis\u2019 conversation with Larson and Armstrong\u00a0here<\/a>. Learn more about the work of the Theological Education Fund\u00a0here<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Rev. CeCe Armstrong and the Rev. Tony Larson speak with the podcast\u2019s new host, the Rev. Bill Davis As the new host of \u201cLeading Theologically,\u201d the Rev. Bill Davis […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":46897,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[117],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-46896","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.presbyterianfoundation.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46896","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.presbyterianfoundation.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.presbyterianfoundation.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.presbyterianfoundation.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.presbyterianfoundation.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=46896"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.presbyterianfoundation.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46896\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.presbyterianfoundation.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/46897"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.presbyterianfoundation.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=46896"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.presbyterianfoundation.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=46896"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.presbyterianfoundation.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=46896"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}