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Mansa Musa was the ruler of the Mali Empire in West Africa. Details recorded here should be sourced; unknown information is left blank.
MORE →Reflects the personal views, recollections, and perspective of the author, Mike Davis.
This is a personal recollection on the Move fire on May 13, 1985
The moderator of the General Assembly is the chairperson of a General Assembly, the highest court of a Presbyterian or Reformed church. Kirk sessions and presbyteries may also style the chairperson as moderator. The Oxford Dictionary states that a Moderator may be a "Presbyterian minister presiding over an ecclesiastical body".[1]
Presbyterian churches are ordered by a presbyterian polity, including a hierarchy of councils or courts of elders, from the local church (kirk) Session through presbyteries (and perhaps synods) to a General Assembly. The moderator presides over the meeting of the court, much as a convener presides over the meeting of a church committee. The moderator is thus the chairperson, and is understood to be a member of the court acting primus inter pares. The moderator calls and constitutes meetings, presides at them, and closes them in prayer. The moderator has a casting, but not a deliberative vote. During a meeting, the title moderator is used by all other members of the court as a form of address, but this may not be continued outside the meetings. Thus this convention expresses deference to the authority of the court rather than an honour for the moderator as an individual.
Many moderators act as ambassadors for their general assembly when it is not sitting, and visit many of the local churches in their denomination.
A principal example of a Moderator of the General Assembly is that of the Church of Scotland, the current Moderator of the General Assembly is Rosemary Frew. According to the Church of Scotland:[2]
"The Moderator—who moderates, or chairs, the annual General Assembly—is nominated by a committee which consists of 15 representatives elected by the General Assembly. The Moderator must also be formally elected by commissioners at the start of the Assembly. The honorary office is held for one year only. Following the week of the General Assembly, the Moderator acts as an ambassador for the Church of Scotland, frequently being invited to represent the Church at official events at home and abroad."
Additionally, within the Church of Scotland, there are individual positions for Moderator at Kirk and Presbytery level (see Moderators and clerks in the Church of Scotland).[3]
In another example, in the Presbyterian Church in Ireland, the Moderator of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland is nominated and elected by the Church's 19 regional presbyteries.[4] The official role involves acting as the Moderator or Chairman of the General Assembly, overseeing the debates and allowing resolutions to be put to the church house for voting.[4] The Moderator serves as the primary public representative for both the General Assembly and the entire church.[4]
Other national examples, with equivalent elected chairs in united churches with Presbyterian roots, include the Moderator of the United Church of Canada and the President of Assembly of the Uniting Church in Australia.
In each of the united Churches of South India, of North India, of Pakistan and of Bangladesh (which all have Presbyterian roots), one of the diocesan bishops is elected Moderator of the Synod (i.e. the national governing body) for a fixed term; another is elected Vice-Moderator. The Moderator (for their term) is ranked with Moderator of the General Assembly in the Presbyterian Churches and with the national primates of Anglican churches. It is styled The Most Reverend.
Lists of moderators of the General Assembly:
Source: Wikipedia. Article content is retrieved live through the MediaWiki API.
The moderator of the General Assembly is the chairperson of a General Assembly, the highest court of a Presbyterian or Reformed church. Kirk sessions and presbyteries may also style the chairperson as moderator. The Oxford Dictionary states that a Moderator may be a "Presbyterian minister presiding over an ecclesiastical body". Presbyterian churches are ordered by a presbyterian polity, including a hierarchy of councils or courts of elders, from the local church (kirk) Session through presbyteries (and perhaps synods) to a General Assembly. The moderator presides over the meeting of the court, much as a convener presides over the meeting of a church committee. The moderator is thus the chairperson, and is understood to be a member of the court acting primus inter pares. The moderator calls and constitutes meetings, presides at them, and closes them in prayer. The moderator has a casting, but not a deliberative vote. During a meeting, the title moderator is used by all other members of the court as a form of address, but this may not be continued outside the meetings. Thus this convention expresses deference to the authority of the court rather than an honour for the moderator as an individual. Many moderators act as ambassadors for their general assembly when it is not sitting, and visit many of the local churches in their denomination.
The moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland is the minister or elder chosen to moderate (chair) the annual General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, which is held for a week in Edinburgh every year. After chairing the Assembly, the Moderator then spends the following year representing the Church of Scotland at civic events, and visiting congregations and projects in Scotland and beyond. As the Church of Scotland is a presbyterian church, meaning it has no bishops or other such religious leaders, the Moderator is one of the highest figures of authority in the Church of Scotland, arguably alongside the Lord High Commissioner to the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland. The current Moderator is The Rt Revd Gordon Kennedy, minister of Craiglockhart Church in Edinburgh.
The moderator of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland is the most senior office-bearer within the Presbyterian Church in Ireland, which is Northern Ireland's largest Protestant denomination.
The Church of Scotland (CoS; Scots: The Kirk o Scotland; Scottish Gaelic: Eaglais na h-Alba) is a Reformed denomination of Christianity that holds the status of the national and established church of Scotland. It is one of the country's larger denominations, having 229,000 members in 2025, or 4% of the Scottish population. In the 2022 census, 1,108,796 people, or 20% of the Scottish population, claimed affiliation with the church. The Church of Scotland is Presbyterian in structure, meaning that is governed by presbyters or elders, selected from the body of the church. There is no one person who acts as the head of the faith, as the church believes that role is the "Lord God's". It is known familiarly as "the Kirk", this being the Scots equivalent of "church". The Church of Scotland was principally shaped by John Knox in the Reformation of 1560, when it split from the Church of Rome and established itself as a church in the Reformed tradition. The Church of Scotland celebrates two sacraments, baptism and the Lord's Supper, as well as five other ordinances, such as confirmation and matrimony. The church adheres to the Bible and the Westminster Confession of Faith and is a member of the World Communion of Reformed Churches. The annual meeting of the church's general assembly is chaired by the Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland.
Before the 1921 destruction of Tulsa’s Greenwood District, Black residents had created a remarkable center of business and community life. The district included stores, professional offices, entertainment venues and homes owned by Black citizens. Understanding Greenwood means learning what was built—not only what was burned.
MORE →Joe Louis.