Rev. Dr. Dave Sutherland will stand as sole nominee for moderator at this year’s General Assembly. This is the first time there has been only only one candidate for moderator of the church’s highest court.
“It’s been overwhelming,” Sutherland told the Record on Dec. 4, the day after the announcement. He said only 10 days before he’d been asked if he would allow his name to appear on the ballot for moderator. “Usually I’d have four months to settle into the idea that this may happen.”
Candidates must be nominated by at least two presbyteries. Normally, more than one person receives the necessary nominations and ballots sent to presbyteries in December. The votes are then tallied in April and a sole moderator nominee is announced. This year Sutherland was the only person to be nominated by two presbyteries and no election will take place.
Sutherland is expected to be installed as moderator when the 139th General Assembly meets on May 31 in Toronto.
“I’m honoured,” said the minister of St. Andrew’s (“the Kirk”) in St. John’s, Newfoundland. “We made a little history this year. … I’ve always been someone who has trusted the process. I think presbyteries are very diligent about how we go about things. We plan well, we set out a framework to do things well. What happened this year is not likely to happen again. It’s part of the system and I accept the system.”
“I’m glad to represent the church here to the rest of Canada. Sometimes it can be very isolating here on the rock.”
Sutherland was raised in Pictou County, N.S., and has served congregations in Central Newfoundland, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick. He has taken on many roles with the Synod of the Atlantic Provinces and with three Maritime presbyteries.
An “avid outdoor enthusiast,” Sutherland enjoys fishing, hunting, hiking, canoeing and snowmobiling in “some of the best landscape in the world.” He and his wife, Irma, have two grown children and are “enjoying grandparenting,” he said. “[Becoming moderator] is another step in the adventure.”
“My experience of the last General Assembly was the most exciting of my ministry and I’ve been a minister for about 35 years,” he said. “I’ve seen very positive developments. I know just by the circumstances of the changing Canadian demographics, we’re going to go through a season of transition from what we’ve been to what we need to be in the future. I was delighted to see the strength—not only in what we are—but in the young leadership that’s emerging. It’s an exciting time to be in the Presbyterian Church.
“The hardships of today won’t be wasted. There’s a tremendous future; this is a part of building towards it. … In the Presbyterian Church, one of the strengths I celebrate is our wonderful diversity of experience and theology and personality. When we meet together most times, grace, kindness, gentleness and tender loving care take the forefront. That’s outstanding. I believe that how we do things is just as important as what we do. I think that’s part of my thrill of the last assembly. How much respect and care was expressed in the midst of differing opinions.”
