Randolph “Randy” Branson, a Texas minister who is standing for moderator of the 2012 General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), has selected a teaching elder from the Des Moines Presbytery as his vice moderator candidate.
Branson’s running mate will be Shamaine Chambers King, pastor of Windsor Presbyterian Church in Windsor Heights, Iowa, in suburban Des Moines.
According to her Facebook page, King is a graduate of Trinity University in San Antonio and earned a master of divinity from Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary. King’s Facebook entry also says she served as an intern at Presbyterian churches in Fort Worth and Austin, and as a pastoral assistant for a Virginia congregation.
The Windsor congregation, where she now serves, is a small congregation that, according to its website, saw about half its members leave in late 2006 as part of a congregational split. King became pastor in 2007.
Branson, pastor of First Presbyterian Church in Graham, Texas, has been endorsed by Palo Duro Presbytery. His selection of King means that all five announced candidates for moderator have now chosen vice-moderator candidates, as follows:
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Robert Austell Jr. of Charlotte Presbytery selected Hope Italiano Lee of Peace River Presbytery;
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Janet Edwards of Pittsburgh Presbytery (standing without endorsement) chose Jeffrey Krehbiel of National Capital Presbytery;
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Susan Davis Krummel of Great Rivers Presbytery selected Sanghyuan James Lee of Trinity Presbytery; and
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Neal D. Presa of Elizabeth Presbytery chose Tara Spuhler McCabe of National Capital Presbytery.
All five people standing for moderator and all five vice-moderator candidates are teaching elders.
The 2012 General Assembly is scheduled to vote on its moderator on June 30, the day it convenes for business in Pittsburgh.
