Rhee elected By Paula R. Kincaid The Presbyterian Layman Volume 33, Number 4 Posted August 4, 2000 LONG BEACH, Calif. – Syngman Rhee was elected on the first ballot June 24 as the moderator of the 212th General Assembly. Following the election, Rhee described himself as a third-generation Christian – his grandmother was an evangelist and his father a preacher. “All those years God’s mercy and grace sustained my life,” he said. “God is the power and the source of our strength.” He repeated a phrase he used several times during the question-and-answer period, “In life and death, we belong to God.” Rhee received 257 votes; followed by Jill Martinez with 107 votes; Youngil Cho, 82 votes, and John Herndon, 65 votes. He was nominated by Rebecca McElroy, who said that Rhee “looks for opportunity in every crisis … he understands the importance of the local church in building up the body of Christ.” After his election, Rhee selected McElroy, a director of the Presbyterian Lay Committee, as his vice moderator. “Fifty years ago this Thursday in Korea I became refugee fleeing from North Korea to South Korea,” said Rhee in his nomination address. “In such uncertain days, one thing that has sustained our life was our trust in God. In life and death we belong to God.” He continued, “When you experience the Word of God in such a way, you want to share that amazing grace of God with others. Sharing the witness of Jesus Christ in words and deeds in our communities and throughout the world is as important today as it was 50 years ago.” Mission and evangelism are what Rhee believes are the highest priorities of the church, and the second, he said, is to rekindle the spiritual renewal in our church. When asked during the question-and-answer period, “What do you have to say to those among us that assert that as a denomination we have reached an irreconcilable impasse in our faith?” Rhee replied this was a very difficult issue. “We are not in conflict because we hate each other. We have conflicts because we love our church.” “I do not agree that we have come to an irreconcilable point at all. We may have differences but we have the power of the Gospel to work things out.” Rhee called his understanding of mission a strength which would help him during his year as moderator. “I have been on both sides – as receiving the Gospel from missionaries to sharing the gospel.”

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