Presbyterian Church in America

Christian Century, July 12, 2003

* World magazine founder Joel Belz has been elected moderator of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in America. A ruling elder of a church in Asheville, North Carolina, Belz was elected at the opening session of the assembly on June 10 in Charlotte. He started the conservative magazine in 1986; it now has a weekly paid circulation of 130,000.

By a vote of 821 to 545, commissioners at the assembly also ratified an amendment to the denomination's Book of Church Order concerning the way ministers and elders adhere to its doctrinal standards. The amendment requires ministers to declare any differences with confessional standards of the denomination so that a presbytery, or regional court, can determine if the differences are permitted exceptions.