Rev. Anita Bernhardt elected as our next General Presbyter

Rev. Anita Bernhardt will be our next General Presbyter

At a special meeting January 5 with 50 in attendance, Lake Erie Presbytery elected our next General Presbyter. The Rev. Anita Bernhardt will take this leadership/transformational role for our 57 congregations starting February 1. Prior to her current work as temporary pastor at Emmanuel Presbyterian Church in Erie, she carried out extensive work and multi-denominational ministry in local congregations and regional networks, including Western North Carolina Presbytery.

The nominating committee recommended her to us, bringing “compassion and caring. She nurtures relationships, has a collaborative work style, and will foster hope and respect. Anita has a particular gift of nudging congregations toward the future.”

Anita will start her service in this role February 1, 2021.

Thanks also goes to the eight persons on the nominating committee:  Emily Zeig Lindsey, Art Amann, Don Hall, Matt McCullough, Katherine Randall, Ronee Christy and Dan McEldowney. We also appreciate the extra work since David Oyler’s retirement carried out by our office staff, transition team, committee moderators and others who stepped up in the interim.