In 2014, Ministry Education and Support within the Office of the General Assembly established a recurring monthly column called Regarding Ruling Elders which sought to address the particular responsibilities, experiences, and needs of those called to serve the church as ruling elders. Now, Regarding Ruling Elders celebrates its 10th year, a notable achievement amidst an ever-revolving door of resources, initiatives, and projects developed to support churches in the intervening years.
In the late ’90s, Vilmarie Cintrón-Olivieri became a member of a Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) congregation in Puerto Rico with a membership of fewer than 20 people. The congregation, the co-moderator of the 223rd General Assembly (2018) recalls, had gone through a schism, and her spouse, the Rev. José Manuel, was called to be its redevelopment pastor. When the couple arrived, they discovered that there was no session, no deacons, no Christian education programs and no musicians. “Church” consisted of Sunday worship only. An administrative commission appointed by the presbytery served as the session.
