Commissioners to the 226th General Assembly have chosen two South Carolina pastors, the Rev. CeCe Armstrong and the Rev. Tony Larson, to be the next Co-Moderators. They will serve a two-year term and are the fifth straight team of Co-Moderators to win election.
Armstrong and Larson were elected Sunday night by a vote of 249 to 171 during an evening plenary in the Salt Palace Convention Center in Utah. Soon afterward, they were installed by their predecessors, the Rev. Ruth Faith Santana-Grace and the Rev. Shavon Starling-Louis, who received a standing ovation for their service and gave the victorious team a glimpse of what lies ahead.
“You will have the privilege and the burden of representing the Presbyterian Church, at home and abroad, speaking with the church and to others outside the church, all of this that Christ might be glorified and made more fully known,” Santana-Grace said.
The team had enthusiastically stumped for votes the previous night at a downtown reception and pledged to continue serving their local congregations while also serving the greater church as Co-Moderators. Larson is pastor of Trinity Presbyterian Church of Southside Beach and Armstrong is associate pastor of St. James Presbyterian Church on St. James Island.