February 12, 2009
by Bethany Furkin and Jerry L. Van Marter

LOUISVILLE – The Office of the General Assembly has released biographical information on the nine-member special committee charged by the 218th General Assembly (2008) to prepare a "a comprehensive study, with recommendations, that is focused on Israel/Palestine within the complex context of the Middle East."

Membership of the committee – which was selected by Moderator Bruce Reyes-Chow and his two immediate predecessors, the Rev. Joan Gray and Elder Rick Ufford-Chase – was announced by Reyes-Chow last week.

The Assembly said the study "should include an evaluation of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)'s mission and relationships, including an assessment of the future for the Christian presence and witness in the Middle East; an overview of the complex interactions among religions, cultures, and peoples that characterize the region; an analysis of U.S. policies that impact the area; and steps to be taken with our partners in the Middle East and the United States to foster justice, improve interfaith relations, and nurture the building of peace toward a secure and viable future for all."

This Special Committee to Prepare a Comprehensive Study Focused on Israel Palestine is also to report back to the 219th General Assembly (2010).

The bios:

The Rev. Susan R. Andrews: is general presbyter of Hudson River Presbytery. She previously served as a parish pastor for 32 years, most recently at Bradley Hills Presbyterian Church in Bethesda, MD. Andrews has also served as moderator of two presbyteries and was chair of the General Assembly Call System Task Force from 1986-1990. She was moderator of the 215th General Assembly (2002).

Elder Frederic W. Bush: is a retired professor of Ancient Near Eastern Studies and Old Testament at Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, CA. As a professor, he directed a summer program that took students to Israel to study biblical Hebrew. Bush holds a bachelor's degree from the University of Washington, a Master of Divinity from Fuller Theological Seminary and a Ph.D. from Brandeis University.

Elder Nahida H. Gordon: is a biostatistics professor at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland. A Palestinian-American, Gordon and her family emigrated to the United States when she was young. Gordon was a Fulbright scholar at Birzeit University in Palestine in 1997. She is a member of the PC(USA)'s Israel Palestine Missionary Network and gives talks about Palestine around Northeast Ohio.

The Rev. John Huffman: is pastor of St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church in Newport Beach, CA. He is on the boards of World Vision U.S. and Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary and is chairman of the board of Christianity Today International. Huffman chaired the PC(USA) delegation to the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A. from 1992-2000 and served on the Mission Initiative: Joining Hearts and Hands national steering committee.

Elder Lucy Janjigian: A painter, Janjigian has volunteered as a short-term mission worker with the Armenian Missionary Association of America and introduced crafts to coordinate with Bible studies and vacation Bible schools in Armenia, Georgia and Ngorn Kharabakh. Janjigian was born of Armenian descent in Jerusalem and worked with the United Nations Relief Works Agency among Palestinian refugees.

The Rev. Rebecca Reyes: is the project coordinator for the Latino Health Project at Duke University Hospital in Durham, NC. An ordained minister for 28 years, Reyes has served the PC(USA) as a pastor, campus minister, global recruiter and General Assembly staff associate. She has also led several global faith seminars in such countries as South Africa, Nicaragua, Mexico and Canada.

The Rev. Marthame Sanders: has served as pastor of Oglethorpe Presbyterian Church in Atlanta since 2005. Before that, he and his wife served as PC(USA) mission volunteers in the Palestinian Christian village of Zababdeh. They also produced a documentary film series, "Salt of the Earth: Palestinian Christians in the Northern West Bank." Sanders is a graduate of Yale University and the University of Chicago's Divinity School.

The Rev. Ronald L. Shive, chairman: is pastor of First Presbyterian Church in Burlington, NC. He previously served at several churches in South Carolina. A commissioner to the 218th General Assembly (2008), Shive served on the Assembly Committee on Peacekeeping and International Relations which proposed the special committee. He was the convener and organizer for the first Peru Mission Network meeting and serves on the board.

The Rev. John W. Wimberly Jr.: has been for 25 years been pastor of Western Presbyterian Church in Washington, DC. He has served as moderator of National Capital Presbytery and the Synod of the Mid-Atlantic Synod. Wimberly is co-founder of numerous social justice/service programs that have focused on such issues as battered women, rape victims and the homeless. He has also helped build a congregation in Ghana and a health care ministry in Ethiopia.

Information about all of the General Assembly special committees named to date is available online at http://www.pcusa.org/oga/newsstories/ga218-spec-cmtes/.

Presbyterian News Service