Susan Rose, Moderator Elect – Notes from ModCom
New presbytery moderators are invited to attend a conference that is just for them. Our Moderator Elect did that this past week, along with almost 150 others! When asked to share something about the experience, the Rev. Dr. Susan Rose provided this encouraging report. Susan is a parish associate at Memorial Presbyterian Church in St. Augustine and the founder of Diakonos Solutions, a non-profit organization serving women in ministry leadership and a validated ministry of the presbytery.
The Moderator’s Conference 2022 (ModCom) was held on November 11th and 12th in Louisville at the PC(USA) headquarters. This is the first time the conference returned to in person since Covid. They offered online attendance as well.
I was excited to attend in person… until Hurricane Nicole created travel disruptions. I was able to switch to online attendance the day before the conference started. It was interesting to participate in the hybrid conference.
The first day was geared towards hybrid in the way we have normally participated in hybrid activities. It was in-person centric with zoom participants watching. However, the second day, it was zoom-centric, with the in person participants watching the plenary online in the home office auditorium. Both days, zoom participants were broken up into small groups for discussion. It that way, I met several incoming moderators from around the country. I was also able to participate in workshops via zoom. While they weren’t my original workshop choices, they were excellent.
Approximately 140 incoming moderators participated in the conference, 60% in person and 40% online. Furthermore, the home office, with all their tech equipment and personnel, experienced the same technical issues we have while we move forward with hybrid meetings.
I was incredibly grateful for the opportunity to attend the conference, even though it wasn’t the way I initially intended. It was like drinking from a fire hose. I’ve bookmarked links and ordered my spiral bound 12th edition of Robert’s Rules of Order. The conference is a down payment on learning to lead as moderator next year.
If you would like to email a note of encouragement to our Moderator Elect as she prepares to take office at the end of the Winter Stated Meeting on February 4, you may reach her here.