Long-time GA junkies will recall that one of the first acts of the newly-elected Moderator was to choose a Vice Moderator. That often meant that the Vice Moderator was thrust into the spotlight of moderating the Assembly with no preparation other than immediate on-the-job training.
That has now changed. Moderator candidates are asked to choose their Vice Moderators well in advance of the Assembly, in part so that the Vice Moderator candidates can take part in pre-Assembly training.
I’m very pleased that the Rev. Landon Whitsitt, a minister-commissioner from Heartland Presbytery, has agreed to be my candidate for Vice Moderator. Landon is the pastor of First Presbyterian Church in Liberty, Mo. He is a graduate of Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary, and, prior to being called to First, served in campus ministry and as the music director for a postmodern new church development. He is active with Presbymergent, the P.C. (U.S.A.) Ecumenical-Interfaith Network, and has served on our denomination’s Committee on Theological Education since 2008.
One of the strengths that our current Moderator, Bruce Reyes-Chow, and Vice Moderator, Byron Wade, have brought to the church is the emphasis on connecting not just through meetings but through social media. Landon’s skills and experience will help keep that kind of connectionalism happening. He currently produces the weekly podcast God Complex Radio with Carol Howard Merritt and Bruce Reyes-Chow, and is working on a book entitled Open Source Church.
Landon and his wife Jerilyn have four sons.
I’m excited about working with Landon, about continuing to reach out through social media, and, possibly, about being able to understand for the first time what “open source” means.