Presbytery votes have been tallied and Rev. Dr. Rick Horst will be presented as sole moderator nominee at this year’s General Assembly. The moderator will be affirmed when the church’s highest court convenes on June 5 in London, Ont.
“I consider this a remarkable privilege,” said the minister of St. Andrew’s, Barrie, Ont. “It’s very humbling to know that you’re the choice of presbyters from across the church. And you hope to rise to the challenge and be as faithful a servant of Christ in this role as you can be.”
Horst was born in Hamilton to Dutch immigrant parents who left their predominantly Dutch Christian Reformed Church for a more multicultural Presbyterian congregation. Throughout his youth, he remained heavily involved in church and youth ministries, and was ordained as a ruling elder when he was 21.
“There was always a sense that I was evading and avoiding the ministry,” he said, noting that in his youth he was interested in working in radio and newswriting. “I thought I could be a more helpful lay person in the church than being ordained. But it came to a place where the inner call was confirmed.
“I am a career congregational pastor. I think I bring a really strong perspective of the unequivocal importance of the local congregation as the heart of the church. So that’s the core of what I bring to the moderator’s role. I believe in affirming local congregations and putting focus back on that … I don’t see the church as an institution trying to carry on, but a movement of sharing and caring and healing and hope.”
