Rev. Rebecca Luter & Rev. Chris Peters
Prepare to Emerge
So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation:
everything old has passed away; look, new things have come into being!
- 2 Corinthians 5:17, NRSVUE
Rev. Rebecca Luter and Rev. Chris Peters are answering God's call
to stand for co-moderators at the 227th General Assembly of the PC(USA).
Rev. Rebecca Luter
Pastor, Farmington Presbyterian Church of Germantown, Tennessee and past Moderator of the Presbytery of the Mid-South
Rev. Chris Peters
Pastor, Westminster Presbyterian Church of Lincoln, Nebraska
WHY A CHRYSALIS?
The Presbyterian Church (USA) is not just in a time of transformation; we are experiencing metamorphosis. The 225th General Assembly established a Unification Committee to bring together the Presbyterian Mission Agency and Office of General Assembly as one entity. Much like a caterpillar that has entered the chrysalis stage, we wait with hope for what will emerge. Within a chrysalis, metamorphosis is happening. The caterpillar has become vulnerable as it shed its skin and is undergoing internal restructuring that will allow it to emerge stronger and endowed with new abilities as a butterfly. As Moderators of the General Assembly, we will call the church locally and denominationally to persevere toward wholeness much as a caterpillar in its chrysalis stage prepares to emerge. As we engage with the church, we will consistently raise the question, “How do we anticipate, facilitate, and celebrate the metamorphosis that God is effecting?"
In this time, we believe God is calling the church to be vulnerable in sharing our joys, our needs, our concerns, and our hopes as we persevere toward wholeness.
ABOUT
REBECCA
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I grew up in a family with deep generational roots in the Cumberland Presbyterian (C.P.) Church. We moved frequently and with each move, my family became active in a new C.P. congregation. When I matriculated at Rhodes College in Memphis, TN, I began attending services and singing in the choir at Evergreen Presbyterian Church. My sophomore year, I transferred my membership to Evergreen and the PC(USA). At the same time, I began to question my plan to attend medical school. The summer following my junior year, I spent many sleepless nights until one night I said aloud, “OK, God, I will.” What followed was person after person affirming that they had been waiting for me to answer God’s call to seminary.
After graduating with a B.A. in Biology and a minor in Religious Studies, I moved to Richmond, VA, in 1996 to attend Union Presbyterian Seminary. While in seminary, I married my college sweetheart, Chris Luter, and in my final year served a small, rural PC(USA) congregation as Solo Pastor Intern. My husband is a high school theatre teacher, and after seminary we wanted to move back to Memphis where he had relationships in the arts community. Once we moved back, I accepted a position as Minister to Children and Families in a large United Methodist congregation. The Presbytery of the Mid-South recognized that position as a call and ordained me to labor outside the bounds of Presbytery. After two years in that initial role, I moved into an Associate Pastor position in the same church to serve as Pastor for Spiritual Formation. I served this 3500+ member congregation for a total of 14 years (2000-2014), the last six as Lead Associate.
During the 14 years of my first call, we rejoiced in the births of our son Nic (now 21 and entering his senior year at Ringling College of Art and Design) and our daughter Lizzie (now 18 and entering her first year at Oklahoma City University’s Ann Lacy School of American Dance and Entertainment). We also lamented the onset of Stage II breast cancer when I was 37 years old. I underwent a bilateral mastectomy and aggressive chemotherapy and persevered through sepsis from a staph infection.
The final three years of my first call were focused on providing a bridge between a retiring beloved Senior Pastor and his successor. As that work was nearing completion, I was asked to fill the pulpit for Farmington Presbyterian Church several times during the first months of 2014. The congregation was faced with dwindling numbers and vitality and had begun to discuss closing. Members of the Session began to explore with the Commission on Ministry the possibility of my serving the congregation as a Temporary Pastoral Supply with a 1-year contract. My call to Farmington Presbyterian Church began with that arrangement on Palm Sunday 2014. On Pentecost Sunday 2016, I was installed as Pastor of Farmington Presbyterian Church where I continue to serve a congregation that has stabilized and is now reaching out to serve others in our community and the world. Since 2019, Farmington Presbyterian has been recognized by Presbyterian Hunger Program as a Hunger Action Congregation.
I have been active in service to our local community, completing Leadership Germantown in 2011 and serving on the local hospital’s Community Board. In 2018, I was appointed by the Board of Mayor and Alderman to fill a vacant position on the Germantown Municipal School Board. I was then elected and served as Chairperson in 2019 and 2020. As a newly-established district, we set procedural norms, engaged in visioning, and established a strategic plan. Also in the fall of 2019, I was diagnosed with a recurrence of breast cancer with a tumor in my lymph nodes. I again underwent surgery and chemotherapy and have been cancer free since.
I have served on the Presbytery of the Mid-South’s Committees on Mission, Outdoor Ministries, Preparation for Ministry, and Commission on Ministry (Vice-Chair), as Alternate Commissioner to the 223rd General Assembly (2018) and Commissioner to the 224th General Assembly (2020), as Moderator of the Presbytery of the Mid-South (2022), and as Commissioner to the Synod of Living Waters (2025-2026).
I stand for co-moderator at the 227th General Assembly humbled that God has equipped me with experience in church administration, congregational revitalization, visioning and strategic planning in emerging entities, and deep commitment to ministry in the local church for this particular time in the life of the PC(USA) as we anticipate, facilitate, and celebrate the transformation toward wholeness God is unfolding.
ABOUT
CHRIS
In many ways my life’s direction and identity have been shaped by the best of our denominational life and witness, and for that I give thanks!
I was born and raised near Charleston, South Carolina and blame my more oddball tendencies on being an only child. My Mom followed her own sense of call by teaching art at Second Presbyterian Church, Charleston’s Preschool while my Dad worked in construction. Some of my earliest and fondest memories of childhood “vacations” were trips to Montreat Youth Conferences, where my parents served as volunteer youth group leaders.
I was confirmed at Second Pres in May 1994. I know this date thanks to the vibrant ‘early 90’s teal’ Bible (red letter edition!) that I was given at the end of Confirmation. It now sits on a bookshelf with a wide variety of other Bibles as a reminder of where I have been and the people who nurtured me.
It was as a freshman at the University of South Carolina - Columbia where I found ‘my people’ at the Presbyterian Student Association (PSA), now UKirk South Carolina. With PSA, I served as Student President and represented our organization with the SC Statewide PSA while majoring in Religious Studies.
Following graduation, I split time working as Campus Ministry Intern at PSA and as a Part-Time Youth Director before taking the role of Youth and Young Adult Director at Forest Lake Presbyterian Church, Columbia, SC. While in SC, I led eight Presbyterian Disaster Relief trips to the Gulf Coast and spent many joyful hours playing elbow tag with volunteers and youth.
I attended Columbia Theological Seminary, Decatur, GA from 2011-2014. In fall 2011 I was called to re-launch the youth ministry of Morningside Presbyterian Church, Atlanta, as Part-Time Youth Director. While at Columbia, I completed Clinical Pastoral Education at St. Joseph’s Hospital in the Emory University system and served as a Scripture Reading Practicum Teaching Assistant. I participated in the former Company of New Pastors program through the PC(USA)’s Office of Theology and Worship my senior year through my first five years of ordained ministry. In 2012, those childhood “vacations” came full circle, as I served as a Montreat Youth Conference Co-Director, overseeing all things “outside” - small groups, registration, and recreation events. I have also led recreation and music at Massanetta Middle School Conferences.
In 2014, I began a call as Associate Pastor at Trinity Presbyterian Church, Fairhope, AL. A favorite experience was co-leading a delegation trip to revise and renew a partnership agreement between the Presbytery of South Alabama and the Presbitero Chisec-Quiche in Coban, Guatemala and surrounding areas, as well as multiple partnership trips from 2015-2019. I served on several presbytery committees and moderated the Disaster Response Commission, while working with other pastors to begin Path to Peace, an interdenominational effort for racial reconciliation and justice in Baldwin County, AL. I also served as a commissioner to the Synod of Living Waters and as an ordination exam reader during that time.
In September 2020, I took a call as Senior Pastor at Westminster Presbyterian Church, Lincoln, NE. My first two years were an intentional season focusing on leading us toward more solid-ground following significant challenges during the height of the pandemic. In following years we renewed our connection with the Covenant Network of Presbyterians and continued our work as an Earth Care Congregation. I moderated the former Presbyterian Disaster Assistance Committee before it was enfolded into the “Ministry for Extraordinary Times” Team, which I now moderate while serving on our version of a Presbytery Council, the “Steering the Ship” Team. I also serve on the Lincoln Interfaith Community Thanksgiving Service planning team and interface regularly with a variety of community partners for Westminster.
My spouse, Rev. Lauren Peters, and I met at Columbia Seminary. Lauren is an ICF Associate Certified Coach and founder of Feasting Table LLC, which provides ministry leader coaching and congregational consulting. We find joy with our toddler, Wilder, along with two wonderfully rambunctious rescue dogs, Mobi and Jubilee. I am glad to share the unique origin stories of all of their names in conversation!
I picked up playing guitar my freshman year of college and lean into that hobby for renewal and respite. I also enjoy hiking, cooking, biking, reading, a variety of tv shows and movies, following sports including the NBA, NFL, and college football, and cheering for all South Carolina Gamecock teams with equal joy… and, often, heartache.
OUR VISION
THE ROLE OF CO-MODERATOR
We see the role of a co-moderator, at its heart, as the role of a steward at Christ’s Table. It is a calling to offer gracious hospitality and ensure that all are welcomed, included, heard, and served. During General Assembly, the stewardship is guided by standing rules and parliamentary procedure. Between assemblies, the work stewardship continues as the co-moderators serve as ambassadors, storytellers, and intercessors continually engaging the church in two essential questions, “Who is God calling us to be?” and “How is God calling us to live in the world?”
As ambassadors, the co-moderators, along with the Stated Clerk, communicate the work of the Spirit through the previous General Assembly and engage in conversations about ways the church is moving toward God’s wholeness and flourishing. The co-moderators connect with those at the table with respect for the dignity of every person, the worth of all voices, and a spirit of gentleness and calm. And they invite others to the table to seek mutual understanding and foster cooperation.
As storytellers, the co-moderators follow the Eucharistic pattern of taking and blessing the gifts of God for the people of God. They lift up and give thanks for the joyful stories of the ways God’s Spirit is moving and shaping the life of the church and her ministries. Then they share the ways that ministries are bearing fruit, celebrating that God is at work among us.
As intercessors, the co-moderators are called to pray for the church, to proclaim the Gospel, and to inspire the church, as Christ’s Body in the world, to serve in ways that ensure all are fed by Christ’s love and grace.
Within the church there can be, at times, a misunderstanding that the General Assembly’s purpose is “top/down,” that decisions are made at the highest levels to then be implemented at mid-council and local levels. The work of the General Assembly in our experience, though, is “top/out” as decisions are made as a unified body concerning the witness God is calling the church to share in the world. The questions before every assembly are “Who is God calling us to be?” and “How is God calling us to live in the world?” Between assemblies, as ambassadors, storytellers, and intercessors, the co-moderators draw the church into conversation around these questions as we continue to persevere together toward God’s vision of wholeness.
