RICHMOND, June 27 - The line stretched around the second level of the Richmond Convention Center Sunday as members of the Presbyterian Church (USA) queued up to shake the hand of the new moderator of the General Assembly.

Elder Rick Ufford-Chase, a 40-year-old border mission worker from Southside Presbyterian Church in Tucson, AZ, was elected Saturday night. He will be the first PC(USA) moderator to serve a two-year term.

Some of the Presbyterians who attended the

moderator's reception had their pictures snapped with Ufford-Chase and his wife of 12 years, Kitty Ufford. Others simply hugged him or offered congratulations.

"Exhilarating. It's incredible," Ufford-Chase said of his first day in his new post. "There's an energetic spirit alive in the church. I'm getting people from across the church who are giving me a hug and saying, 'Let's do it together.' And that's what this is all about. It's been great."
View video of the reception.

Many who noshed on finger sandwiches and cookies and sipped red punch while advancing through the long line said they were excited by Ufford-Chase's youth, his enthusiasm for mission work and his progressive ideas.

"He's young. I'm excited," said 80-year-old Sara Payne of Greenville, SC. "Maybe this will bring some young people into the church. Maybe they will see that the Presbyterian Church appeals to all people, young and old - and I'm quite old, and I like him."

Payne, an elder and former session member at Greenville's Westminster Presbyterian Church, described Ufford-Chase as articulate and impressive.

She said she also likes the idea of the two-year tour of duty, which is related to the decision of the 214th GA's decision in 2002 to shift to every-other-year Assemblies.

"We should have done this a long time ago, have a two-year session," Payne said.

Ufford-Chase founded BorderLinks, a bi-national organization that tries to connect and educate people of faith on both sides of the U.S.-Mexico border. He has served BorderLinks for 17 years.

Commissioner Lorraine Petrigliano of Long Island, NY, said she believes Ufford-Chase is a good role model for other Presbyterians, showing that it is possible to be a young church leader while raising a family.

"I give him so much credit, for not only understanding that you can do it, but inspiring,
I think, other people, as he says to 'get in the boat,'" said Petrigliano, who said she voted for Ufford-Chase. "I think that's what he's going to do. I think he's going to be a tremendous positive for our church."

Bill Bottomley, an elder commissioner from John Calvin Presbyterian Church in Metairie, LA, said many commissioners liked Ufford-Chase's mission-mindedness.

"I think that from what I have heard people