Born in Alabama and raised in Wilcox County, I am a product of Presbyterian mission schools and colleges, graduating from both Mary Holmes College and Johnson C. Smith University. My graduate degrees are from Atlanta and Nova Universities.

I spent 33 years at Sheldon Jackson College in Sitka, Alaska, and have served the church at all levels: two terms as moderator of the Presbytery of Alaska; vice-moderator of the Synod of Alaska Northwest; several committees, including the Presbyteries' Cooperative Committee on the Examination of Candidates and the Special General Assembly Committee on Presbytery and Synod Boundaries. In 1978, I served as commissioner to the 190th General Assembly, and have attended several PW Churchwide Gatherings, where I assisted with staffing the resource room(s). For other church gatherings, I have conducted numerous workshops and provided special music.

An advocate for justice and equity, I participated in voter registration and civil rights activities of the 1960s. I have been inspired to a life of stewardship and service because of the influence of the Presbyterian Church. I continue to be active in ministries to the homeless. I try to listen to God's voice in everything I do as I strive to live a life of faith and service. I am committed to the causes for which Christ came and am an advocate for the powerless and the dispossessed.

Over the years my life and faith have grown together. As a youth, I attended Sunday school and church camp, and realized that Jesus Christ was central to my life. In my church school teaching, I have tried to pass that truth on to students.

In college, I met my husband who became a Presbyterian pastor. All of the congregations we served welcomed me in loving nurture and service. Being chosen by fellow members to serve as a deacon in a ministry "of sympathy, witness, and service after the example of Jesus Christ" was a humbling experience for me.This high call is a primary inspiration for me within and beyond the community of faith.

My service in the church as a deacon: visiting parishioners, helping with dinners and delivering flowers, extended into the community. I have chaired bloodmobiles, taught CPR, and served as a Girl Scout leader and on community boards.

I am active in Presbyterian Women (PW) and have been privileged to serve at all levels of the organization.The Synod of The Trinity PW asked me to become synod representative to the Churchwide Coordinating Team. I am currently completing a term as chair of the national PW Search Committee.

What a blessing all this has been! Presbyterian Women, my congregation, my husband and four children, have nurtured, supported and encouraged me as I have attempted to step out in faith to serve Christ. God has helped me accomplish things that I never thought I could do and has blessed me by introducing me to wonderful people of faith all over the world.

I was born in Pittsburgh and graduated from Westinghouse High School and attended Point Park College for one year, pursuing a degree in computer science. In 2002, I began attending Carlow College's Accelerated Adult Degree Program and, God willing, plan to continue working toward a bachelor's degree this fall. Currently, I am employed at Gateway Health Plan.

On November 10, 1996, I was saved and later baptized while uniting with Grace Memorial Presbyterian Church. I was ordained as a deacon in 2001 at Grace Memorial where I currently serve as moderator. I am a Sunday school teacher, serve on the Music and Worship Committee, and actively participate in Bishara Bible study and the FRESH Ministry. I am truly honored to serve God in this capacity and am blessed to know that God can use even me!

Nearly 10 years ago, I assumed custody of four nieces, ages 10 to 20. During this time my sister and I nursed our ailing mother until God called her home in 2000. During this time I never questioned God, but rather thanked God for allowing me to honor/grant all of my mother's final wishes. Out of gratitude for all that God has done not just in my life but also in the lives of my family members, I commit my life to Christ and to giving God the three "T's"—time, talents and treasures.

When I look back over my 39 years, I can say unequivocally that I know I am blessed. My good days outweigh my bad days, so I won't complain! I continue to pray that God's will, not mine, be done for God has done great things for me. And, so, I will continue to serve the Lord with gratitude.

A third generation Presbyterian, I was born and raised in Shanghai, China. My Korean parents moved to China in the 1920s as a result of Japan's colonization of Korea. In 1945, my family returned to North Korea.There we discovered an intolerable communist regime with no freedom of worship.The family escaped to South Korea.

We settled in Seoul where I enrolled in Seoul National University.The Korean War broke out in 1950; the North Korean Army invaded South Korea. We narrowly escaped. I hid in the countryside for two months until UN Forces retook Seoul. We returned to Seoul, and I volunteered at an orphanage to care for the young people there. I reenrolled at Seoul National University and received a bachelor of art's degree in education. I immigrated to the United States in 1962 and married Luke, a psychiatrist, in Buffalo, New York. After moving to California, I received a master's degree in human development and educational counseling at Cal Poly State University in San Luis Obispo, California.

I taught school for 24 years at Davis Senior High School in Davis, California, and retired in 1996. I developed a curriculum in family life, focusing on interpersonal relations and personal growth (life skills, human sexuality, substance abuse, and so on). Before and during retirement, I became actively involved in church activities and community service.

Until moving to Los Angeles three months ago, I was an elder at Davis Community Church, PC(USA). I served on the PC(USA) General Assembly Nominating Committee, and I was active with Asian Presbyterian Women and the Ethnic Concerns Committee of Sierra Mission Partnership in the Synod of the Pacific.

Throughout the years, I have held leadership positions in a variety of organizations and causes: vicechair of the National Defense Committee to Save Chol Soo Lee; president of the Sacramento Korean American Community Association; and board member/adviser for organizations such as CAPITAL (a coalition of organizations in Northern California), Korean Adoptee & Adoptive Family Network, and the Korean American Coalition.

I have worked as a weekly columnist for ethnic Korean newspapers and as coeditor of Currents (a newspaper serving the Asian Pacific Islander community). Luke and I have two sons and four grandchildren. My faith journey has been inspired and strengthened by Jesus' command: love your neighbor as yourself, including those who are poor, sick, voiceless, marginalized and oppressed.

I was born in Monahans,Texas, to a mother who was a school teacher and a father who was a school principal, and was baptized in the Presbyterian Church as an infant. After college, I taught elementary and middle school for 10 years before going to seminary. My first call was to pastor a congregation in Iowa Park,Texas, after which I served as associate for Evangelism and the Small Church in Greater Atlanta Presbytery. Since 1997, I have served Mid-Kentucky Presbytery as general presbyter.

My undergraduate degree is from Trinity University. I hold a master of education degree from the University of Texas, a reading specialist degree from Southwest Texas State, and a master of divinity degree from Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary.

For 21 years, I have served the PC(USA) in evangelism, spirituality and congregational development. I have been moderator of Palo Duro Presbytery; served as a commissioner to the General Assembly; worked on General Assembly and synod committees in congregational redevelopment; and served on the General Assembly Task Force that wrote the Racial Ethnic Congregational Development Paper. I am currently working on a four-year study on missional presbyteries funded by the Louisville Institute, an arm of the Lilly Foundation.

My focus since my ordination to minister of Word and Sacrament in 1984 has been the formation of disciples who are sent from congregations into the world to join the risen Christ in transforming the world. Abundant life is for all. Congregations are to help people, both inside and outside the church, locally and worldwide, know the love and grace that has been theirs forever.

Who am I? I am a child of God, a woman, a daughter, a mother, a grandmother, a sister, a wife, a friend, a pastor and a teacher. All of these roles define me, identify me and at the same time speak about my relationship with my neighbor. My life is and has been an answer to each of those roles that God has given me.

I was born and raised within a Presbyterian family in Puerto Rico, the second of four daughters. Since I can recall, church has been an important part in the life of our family. I hold a bachelor of arts degree and master of arts degree in secondary education/history from the University of Puerto Rico. I completed all courses and requirements for a doctorate in Latin American Studies (ABD) from the Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico. From 1975–1981, I worked as professor of history and humanities at the University of Puerto Rico.

In the 1970s I faced challenges, struggles and conflicts. During those difficult times, the faith I inherited from my parents had a personal meaning for me, and I felt the real presence of Christ within my heart. I came to realize that Christ was talking to me through my intellect, through my political ideals, through my feminism. I felt the need to give myself to the service of the Lord. At age 35, with a six-year-old son, I abandoned my career as a university professor and entered McCormick Theological Seminary. I graduated in 1984.The Presbytery of Chicago ordained me on August 27, 1984, making me the first Hispanic woman ordained in that presbytery.

I have held pastorates in Illinois (Chicago) and in New Jersey. On March 31, 2005, I completed 17 years as the pastor of the Iglesia Presbiteriana Principe de Paz in, Asbury Park, New Jersey, a church chartered in 1993 under my leadership. I have served the Presbyterian Church on different committees at the presbytery, synod and General Assembly levels.

I live my life in community, community with God, community with myself, community with those who surround me.