A ruling elder and management consultant from upstate New York, Arthur K. Fullerton, has joined the group of those seeking to lead the 2020 General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.).
Fullerton is planning to stand for moderator of the 2020 General Assembly, which will be held virtually in June. He has informed the Office of the General Assembly of his intent to stand for the office— although his presbytery, Albany Presbytery, has not formally endorsed him.
The presbytery had been planning to vote on endorsing Fullerton at its meeting March 17, but that meeting was canceled because of the COVID-19 pandemic, with the next meeting not scheduled until May 30. Julia Henderson, interim director of assembly operations for the PC(USA), wrote that “while it is customary for presbyteries to endorse commissioners standing for moderator it’s not required,” and that by Fullerton formally stating his intention to stand for the office, “he is a candidate.”
Fullerton has not yet named the vice moderator who would stand with him.
A lifelong Presbyterian, he’s an elder at Westminster Presbyterian Church in Albany who has been involved in work on LGTBQIA+ issues in the PC(USA). From 2017 to 2018, Fullerton served as moderator of Albany Presbytery, and from 2016 to 2017 as its vice moderator. He’s also served as chair of the presbytery’s Board of Trustees and chair of the ad hoc Budget Committee, and currently serves on the presbytery’s Permanent Judicial Commission.
Fullerton has written that “I am standing for moderator not because I have all the answers, but because I have the skills in fundraising, communication, strength spotting and problem solving that our church needs in this time of transition.”
For more than a decade, he has worked as a management consultant providing services to nonprofits and coaching for executives. Previously, he worked as a volunteer and later on staff as a volunteer coordinator and development director for Covenant House Inc., which provides shelter for homeless, runaway and trafficked young people.
A graduate of Tulane University, Fullerton earned a master’s in business administration from Harvard University and a master of applied positive psychology from the University of Pennsylvania; he has served as an adjunct professor at a number of universities.
Previously, two other teams have announced they will stand to serve as co-moderators of the assembly – Moon Lee and Sandra Hedrick, and Gregory Bentley and Elona Street-Stewart. The election will be held online June 19.
