Exuberant applause and a standing ovation punctuated the 221st General Assembly (2014)'s Committee on Mission Coordination’s evening business session on June 16 as the committee recommended that Linda Bryant Valentine be confirmed to a third four-year term as executive director of the Presbyterian Mission Agency (PMA).

Valentine’s election is subject to confirmation by the full Assembly. No previous executive director has served more than two terms.

Addressing the committee prior to its vote, Matt Schramm, chair of the PMA Board, explained that the board had conducted an extensive review process for Valentine, whom it elected on April 23. He also used the occasion to highlight Valentine’s significant contributions during her two terms as executive director.

“I believe we’ve made great strides with Linda as our leader,” Schramm said. “We have seen the denomination through some major changes in the last eight years, funding and staff reductions being the most obvious. But we’re now in a position to grow together, to move into a future marked by [the PMA’s] goal areas. Linda’s integrity, intelligence, strategic leadership, willingness to learn and grow, and boundless energy are a gift to the Presbyterian Church.”

Following Schramm’s remarks, teaching elder commissioner Lynn Thompson Bryant from the Presbytery of the Western Reserve moved that a unanimous vote be cast “in strong support of our wonderful director, Linda Valentine.” The motion was approved by a vote of 66-0-2.

Following the vote, Valentine rose briefly to introduce and embrace her husband Chris.