You are here
Robert Ervin Wilson oral history.
Primary tabs
Download
- speakerGreat. So I'm just going to sound initially
- speakerbut I hope we can have a fairly informal conversation.
- speakerToday is the 29th of June 2017. My name is
- speakerDavid Staniunas. I'm records archivist at the Presbyterian Historical Society and I'm
- speakerin conversation with Elder Robert Wilson who was moderator
- speakerof the 217th General Assembly. Vice-moderator. I gave you a promotion.
- speakerWell good. Vice-moderator of the 217th General
- speakerAssembly in 2006. Bob
- speakerthank you for taking the time to talk with us. My pleasure.
- speakerI wanted to start by asking you about your childhood growing up in
- speakerGastonia North Carolina.
- speakerYou're sounding. You are sounding kind of in and out on my here..
- speakerI'm sorry about that. I want to ask you about growing up
- speakerin Gastonia. Sort of talk to me about what that was like.
- speakerIt was a time where you know I was born in 39 of course. And. And
- speakerit was a time when
- speakerthings were not as bad as they are now because you know time and
- speakertime causes things to change either positive or negative you know and that type of thing.
- speakerSo but we had a good life living in the south. I had one younger
- speakersister, one younger brother. And. And,
- speakerso for you know when I first
- speakerstarted elementary school I talked
- speakermy, my mom and the school into letting me
- speakerenroll at age 5 in lieu of the North Carolina law, which was age 6.
- speakerAnd then. But. But it worked out. It really did. I had
- speakera good eight years in elementary school, went on to high
- speakerschool and met new friends. You know that type of thing. Growing
- speakerup was a problem in some areas because at that
- speakertime of
- speakerGastonia, North Carolina, you know blacks had to stay in their
- speakerplace and whites had to stay in their place and that type of things. So we had some
- speakercomplications.
- speakerBut but but believe it or not, even back then,
- speakeryou know our home is right behind other homes that
- speakerwere white. You know that type of thing.
- speakerSo but we got along.
- speakerAnd, Gastonia was a good place to be a guest guess you had to have
- speakerthe largest textile mill in the southeast called Firestone.
- speakerAnd that just where you know most most went, men black and white
- speakeryou know worked. As a matter of fact, you know,
- speakerour home village as I called it, for a time anyhow
- speakerwas called Firestone because the mill was only you know about
- speakerhalf a mile away you know and that type of thing so. Well
- speakerI grew up and learned to work at odd jobs as I
- speakeras I grew older and stronger you know that type of thing.
- speakerAnd I joined the church. And the family
- speakerwas at A.M.E. Zion,
- speakerAfrican Methodist Episcopal Zion That type of thing. So
- speakerbelieve it or not as a teenager
- speakerI was asked to become president our men's organization
- speakerwhich I did. And of course, sing in the choir, ushered you know. Did
- speakerthose type of things so it was a good life, a good life.
- speakerI went on to high school and and and
- speakeragain you know my my experience was you know quite positive.
- speakerWe we we we didn't have any other way to get there. Some of us walked to school
- speakerseveral miles in that type of thing. Others of us rode the bus when the when when they when the Gastonia
- speakerdecided to allow the city
- speakerbusses to come to our little village, and you know that type of thing.
- speakerYour neighborhood initially early in high school didn't have city bus
- speakerservice at all?
- speakerNo. Absolutely not. Absolutely not.
- speakerAnd so you enrolled at North Carolina A&T.
- speakerNorth Carolina Agricultural and Technical. It was a college.
- speakerIt was college at the time right.
- speakerYes sir.
- speakerAnd you are a mechanical engineer. What drew you
- speakerto mechanical engineering? Well
- speakeryou know throughout my high school career
- speakerI enrolled in any and every type of technical class I
- speakerwas like in science and I could enroll in. You know and that type of thing. with
- speakerall the math classes and chemistry
- speakerphysics and then took a little of
- speakeroh goodness education where I could learn about engines you know that type of thing
- speakerautomotive. Automotive and that type of thing and I
- speakerknew then that after all the other different types of
- speakerengineering as I learned and looked at books
- speakerin high school and that type of thing. I knew that I wanted to be a mechanical engineer.
- speakerAnd I chose North Carolina A & T because it was in a state
- speakerat that time it had to be the best engineering class and as far as
- speakerAfrican-American colleges and universities were concerned.
- speakerAnd to this day it is number One among Historically Black Colleges and Universities in graduating engineers. So, I had a good college eduaction. The problem that I
- speakerhad was that once I graduated, I went back to Gastonia
- speaker. And, asked some of those so-called engineering
- speakercompanies if I could apply for a job. And, of course, they said, "No."
- speakeryou don't know how to do it. And I can you know and that.
- speakerSo I didn't want to do anything else except be
- speakeran engineer. So I left North Carolina and
- speakerthen moved to New Jersey where I was able to find a job at my first
- speakerinterview.
- speakerYou know I started doing some Yeah.
- speakerThat was the Picatinny Arsenal, correct? That was correct.
- speakerAnd you were, you were in the federal civil service
- speakerfor ? That is correct.
- speakerYeah. Ten years 10 years, For 10 Years.
- speakerAnd I stayed for 10 years only because
- speakerI was promoted every year. But but
- speakerwhen it came time to become a supervisor you know
- speakerI was not accepted to be a supervisor.
- speakerSo I looked elsewhere.
- speakerAnd moved moved to Illinois
- speakerand where I was promoted and became supervisor
- speakerand continuing to continue some other graduate courses, and you know that type
- speakerof thing because it was necessary in order to be
- speakerthe best manager that you could be. Supervisor that you could be. You, you had to kind of
- speakeryou had to.
- speakerThe only way up with to move to another location.
- speakerThat's correct. That is correct.
- speakerMoving was a good thing.
- speakerIt was not for my wife and my family because
- speakeryou know it interrupted her job. She was a. She was a
- speakerprofessor of business education. And for our sons too, you know
- speakerthey had to change schools and that type of thing. but, but
- speakerwe worked hard at it and
- speakereverybody worked hard at it as a family member and that type of thing. and instead of saying
- speakerno we don't want to move because it was best for us as a family.
- speakerAnd so we moved to different states.
- speakerYeah it's a difficult sacrifice.
- speakerI'm the kind of guy who as I haven't been west of the Schuykill River in about two
- speakeryears. So the notion of picking up here.
- speakerIt's pretty extraordinary.
- speakerDo you think did you find
- speakercommunities of nurture in Illinois and in the rest of the places that you
- speakermoved to for your work?
- speakerWhat do you think your family was much more isolated
- speakerthan otherwise they might have been.
- speakerNo. No You know we were we we were not isolated you know.
- speakerWhen we moved North Carolina to New Jersey
- speakerand we remain and by the way my my wife was an A.M.E. Zion member too.
- speakerBut
- speakerwhen we moved in and we we we we
- speakerlived in an apartment, of course. And we wanted to own our own home
- speakerso we looked and looked and looked at in New Jersey we we we found a home that
- speakerwe could afford.
- speakerAnd we bought our first home in a white neighborhood. And
- speakerwe we also found that if there was a Presbyterian church a mile from our home
- speakerSo rather than driving to Morristown New Jersey, which is where we lived
- speakerwhen I was working at Picatinny Arsenal.
- speakerYou know the church was one mile away and we went up and introduced ourselves as a family.
- speakerAnd we, we were accepted. We joined the church. So we became Presbyterian.
- speakerI've seen your names on the Ironia register.
- speakerYes. Yeah. Yes. We were the first black family in that church.
- speakerAnd but we we do we didn't have any problems. And
- speakerour sons loved it because you know he'd go to school with the
- speakermost of his students went to the same church. It was a win win
- speakersituation for us. But it was not without problems
- speakerbecause there were there were some that didn't even live in the
- speakerneighborhood but once they saw that there was a black family living there. You know
- speakerit wasn't pleasant. It wasn't pleasant. But as a
- speakerfamily we prayed about that. Many many conversations with
- speakerour pastor at the time. And to make a long story short, it really worked out. It really did.
- speakerSo eventually you you and your wife kind of,
- speakerand I hope you'll clarify this for me, sort of toward the end of your
- speakercivil service career, your family re- relocates to Huntsville
- speakerAlabama?.
- speakerYes in a way it is. It was a transfer function
- speakeris what it was and I had the opportunity to stay where I was or to
- speakertransfer. and I was ready to
- speakerretire at that time. So you know we moved to
- speakerAlabama.
- speakerI'm sorry I have to hang up this other line. There it went. Okay. Good.
- speakerSorry about that. And so you transferred to
- speakerHuntsville. Yes.
- speakerAnd then of course, Huntsville is Rocket City.
- speakerRocket City. Yea That's the nickname that it has. And it
- speakeris because that is what was being developed. You know
- speakerduring that time it's and still is. So it was a good place
- speakerto be. Matter of fact my wife
- speakerwhen she first came here. Of course, she's without a job and that type of thing.
- speakerBut there was a university here.
- speakerAlabama Agricultural and Mechanical College at the time. Now, it is a university. And,
- speakershe she met with people that she had
- speakerbeen friends with and worked working in the field of education and that type of thing.
- speakerAnd there was a vacancy.
- speakerAnd she was a staff at the local university.
- speakerSo.
- speakerSo you, We both retired from there. So,
- speakeryou and your family joined Fellowship Presbyterian Church.
- speakerThat's right. You know we we we we want to maintain our, our Presbyterianism.
- speakerAnd, Fellowship was
- speakerwe were invited to attend. And when we did
- speakerwe found out that this pastor was Reverend Reverend Dr. John Herndon.
- speakerJohn Herndon and I went to high school together from Gastonia. and guess some oh
- speakerknow what it was. It was a no brainer that we would get you know we
- speakerwanted to join, you know, that particular Presbyterian church. So.
- speakerAnd then John, Dr. Herndon, decided that he wanted
- speakerto become a candidate to be Moderator of the Presbyterian Church
- speaker(U.S.A.) and asked me to serve on his team and
- speakerI did.
- speakerAnd
- speakerI wonder if you can do more about serving on the team. What is
- speakerserving on a moderatorial candidate's team entail? Well. And,
- speakerit provides support, you know, for the
- speakermoderator especially while I was moved from a Presbyterian church and that type of thing.
- speakerAnd, I was an elder. And, while
- speakerhe was traveling to and fro
- speakerbeing a candidate which was which is necessary. I was able to
- speakerhelp out at the church while he was away. You know that type of thing. And
- speakerso I handled things for him.
- speakerYou know. In Huntsville, while he was out
- speakercampaigning and that type of thing. And so,
- speakerduring his period of campaigning leading up to the General Assembly, did the
- speakerteam kind of get into high gear at the Assembly?
- speakerWhat is that? He asked me to. Because there are some things that the candidate can't
- speakercan't do everything. Right. He has to be at
- speakera meeting. He. I say he. The
- speakercandidates had to participate in other activities.
- speakerAnd that type of thing. So we as team members were asked to go to this
- speakermeeting and go to that meeting
- speakerand speak if there an opportunity
- speakeryou know to canvass for their candidates. and that type of thing. So.
- speakerAnd,
- speakerwhen you would speak at a meeting,
- speakerbasically the context would be folks in the meeting would want
- speakerto know what a candidate's opinions were on a given subject and
- speakeryou would speak on behalf of the candidate? Not necessarily on behalf, but
- speakerprovide information
- speakerif it involved their background. You know and that type of thing. What. Where
- speakerthey had served in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and in what
- speakercapacity.
- speakerYou know and that type of thing. And
- speakerso that was the John Herndon's candidacy was the
- speaker2000 General Assembly. That is correct. The Assembly
- speakerultimately elected Syngman Rhee. That is correct.
- speakerBut I forget and I I don't believe I looked up which which
- speakerballot but. So. Overall the
- speakerexperience of participating on Dr. Herndon's
- speakerteam. How do you believe that influenced you thereafter?
- speakerI suppose, in terms of
- speakerthinking about your future service to the church.
- speakerWell I never never thought that I would
- speakerbe interested in becoming a
- speakervice moderator or moderator.
- speakerIt just so happened that Reverend Joan Gray, who was a candidate. She
- speakerlives in Atlanta Georgia and her team at the
- speakertime. She asked her team to help her find a potential vice-moderator.
- speakerAnd one of the team members you
- speakerknow shared my name with her and she
- speakerwas. She was provided my bio. And, I don't don't
- speakerknow how many others she was considering, but ultimately she asked
- speakerme if I would be willing to serve serve as her vice moderator. And, I prayerfully
- speakersaid yes.
- speakerAnd your, your itineration as vice moderator looks pretty
- speakerintense you took a you know I looked at it yesterday,
- speakersomething like 12 trips in the course of the two full years,
- speakercorrect?
- speakerWell me it was more than that. And it was
- speakerso easy. You see. Every church, every presbytery,
- speakerevery synod wants the moderator to visit.
- speakerIt's impossible for the moderator. It was impossible
- speakerfor a team of you know to do that. However,
- speakerReverend Gray would ask me Bob would you be willing to travel.
- speakerAnd of course I said yes because all during my government career that's what I did.
- speakerAnd you know my job my job caused me to travel
- speakerto different states cities and that type of thing
- speakerso I know about.
- speakerI knew about traveling and of course I said yes and that was one of
- speakerjoy the joys of being Vice-Moderator, even though it took me away from my family and commuting
- speakerthat type of thing for those two years.
- speakerBut but the joy I was being able to travel to small churches,
- speakermedium sized churches, large churches and in a lot
- speakerof states and cities you know that type of thing.
- speakerAnd and and and they they were overwhelmed to to
- speakerto have the Vice Moderator or and the Moderator, you know to
- speakervisit to hear about what's going on in the church.
- speakerThey wouldn't have heard it otherwise but to hear directly from the Moderator and Vice Moderator.
- speakerIt was one of the joys of being Vice Moderator. During
- speakeryour term it was the 50th anniversary of the
- speakerPresbyterian Church in Cameroon. That is correct.
- speakerAnd they extended an invitation to
- speakerto the Moderator. And, I was invited
- speakerto accompany her, which I did.
- speakerTraveling is not easy especially if you're going into an
- speakerarea that you've never traveled before. You've read about it in the history
- speakerbooks. You know and that type of thing. But I can
- speakersay that on every trip I took, whether it was national or international,
- speakerwe were overwhelmed and welcomed in
- speakerevery place we visited. What was
- speakertraveling to Cameroon like? Well,
- speakerdifficult in some ways because trying to trying to understand the language and communicate. And,
- speakerwe
- speakerwere fortunate to have someone assigned, you
- speakerknow, to our travelling team while we were in country.
- speakerAnd it helped us immensely to communicate with the
- speakerdifferent churches and villages in that opportunity.
- speakerAnd, how many how many different
- speakercities did you visit? Do you remember?
- speakerI do not. You mean in Cameroon? Yes. I do not.
- speakerI do not because there were more, more villages than cities. How
- speakermany how many days were you in Cameroon?
- speakerWe were in Cameroon, I think it was about two weeks. Goodness. There
- speakerwere times where we were living in cities. And, there were times that we
- speakerwe we lived in the village but outside the cities and that
- speakertype of thing. And so
- speakeryou and Joan Gray and a translators team. About about how
- speakermany people were in sort of your entourage?
- speakerWell, in Cameroon it was five of us.
- speakerIt was Joan, myself, her husband and two other
- speakerpeople, one one from the Cameroon Christian Church
- speakerand someone and
- speakerwe had a representative from from the PCUSA local, who travelled with us also.
- speakerSo there was there was a
- speakercelebration or ceremony for the 50th anniversary? It
- speakerwas. And, what a celebration! Parades.
- speakerEverybody in costume.
- speakerEach one of the villages and that type of thing. And singing
- speakersinging their songs.
- speakerAnd we had an interpreter, so we were able to understand the words that they
- speakerwere saying. Some to some we didn't need and needed did not need an interpretation but
- speakerwhen they when they when they say we sang in native language
- speakeryou know that type of thing then we needed some assistance.
- speakerSo It was joy because
- speakerit was you know hundreds hundreds and hundreds thousands of people that came. Everybody
- speakerloves celebrations, you
- speakerknow. I'm interested in the
- speakerCameroon trip because `in one of your writings
- speakerin your personal papers that are here, you're
- speakertalking about the positives and negatives of the P.C. (
- speakerU.S.A.) And you emphasized
- speakermission as one of the one of the goals
- speakerand what should be positive for the P.C. (U.S.A.)
- speakerDo you think that emerged from seeing the kind of fruits
- speakerof Presbyterian labor abroad? Or is there something deeper than
- speakerthat?
- speakerWell. Not only abroad, because
- speakerduring that particular time, the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)
- speakermade a decision to ordain women. And
- speakerwhich made a
- speakermajor difference in the lives of the P.C. (U.S.A.)
- speakerAnother thing is is
- speakerdisaster assistance program would
- speakerwell was at its highest then and
- speakerother things that were. Diversity within the church.
- speakerYou know our churches do is very diversified. However
- speakerthat diversity is what makes the church what it is today.
- speakerAnother positive thing is that you know is definitely making a difference in churches
- speakeracross the nation.
- speakerThere's a rich theological heritage that
- speakeris continues to be that way. Now we're talking about positive things about
- speakerthe P.C. (U.S.A.) at that time. You know there are a few years ago
- speakerand some some of that some of those are still positive today.
- speakerNow that it's interesting because I have I was really gratified to see
- speakerin your list of positive things about the PC USA in 2007 top
- speakermost is Presbyterian heritage slash Presbyterian history.
- speakerWe really we thank you for that over here at the Presbyterian Historical Society. My pleasure. But
- speakerthat's a fact.
- speakerI don't think I can deny that.
- speakerNow what is what does that mean to you
- speakerwhen you say that Presbyterian history is the good thing about the church?
- speakerwell.
- speakerAnd I made a comment about it being a
- speakerrich theological heritage, you know. Yes. And that's that's how
- speakerwe have grown to be the church we are today.
- speakerThere are. There are churches that that
- speakerno matter what negative things come about, they do not
- speakerleave the denomination. There
- speakerare more that say, "No. We are going to stay with the denomination,"
- speakerthan those that do leave. And, there are
- speakerchurches that, that make a decision that we're going to leave the denomination. It
- speakerhas been done over the years not in not just when you know we were
- speakerthe Moderator, Vice Moderator.
- speakerNo of course.
- speakerAnd so in in in the 2007 list that
- speakerI was looking at. The chief negative at the time
- speakerfor the church you listed as pain or a lack of communication.
- speakerDo you think that's changed at all? Or, do you have a talk negative for 2017?
- speakerI do not. You know the list
- speakeris one I developed as I travelled to and fro. And,
- speakerindividual churches have
- speakera lot of pain a lot of sadness. And, it's not
- speakerthat is not the case for all churches but there are some that do
- speakerhave a lot of pain and sadness. The causes of
- speakerit are probably different for each church. And,
- speakerit's probably because of the the people. Lack
- speakerof communication.
- speakerLack of relationships and partnerships. Everybody wants do their own little thing or
- speakerbig thing. And, that type of thing. And,
- speakerit's been proven that we're better together.
- speakerIt's something that the Stated Clerk [Nelson, J. Herbert] says pretty
- speakerrepeatedly right now, which is that when he's gone to
- speakervisit congregations his quote is there are some
- speakerfolks who don't know that reunion happened. And, it was in 1983 in
- speakerliving memory. And, what he's getting at is that
- speakerthere is a kind of belief that the church ends where the
- speakerchurch building doors close.
- speakerDid you encounter that kind of, you know what. What. To use
- speakerjargon is congregationalism? Do you think that was part of what was going on?
- speakerI didn't I didn't know.
- speakerI don't remember that coming up on my term.
- speakerI suppose I'm asking when you said everybody wants
- speakerto do their own big thing.
- speakerKind of sounded like a congregation taking on
- speakermore significance for the local folks by leaps and bounds
- speakerthan the kind of broader heritage or tradition that they're a part of.
- speakerThat might have been the case at the time. I'm not sure about that right now.
- speakerI'm just I'm just asking you leading questions, Bob, that's all.
- speakerI wanted to back out a little bit. I had a note
- speakerabout 2001. So after you're on
- speakerDr. Herndon's team for his moderatorial candidacy you went on to serve
- speakeras President of National Council of Presbyterian Men.
- speakerIt's interesting that you brought up leading the men's groups at the A.M.E. Zion church as a
- speakerteenager because that sort of that sort of resonates
- speakerlater in life, doesn't it?
- speakerYes, it does. Yes, it does. And when I
- speakersaid I said you know being a teenager you know I said no
- speakerbut but but but I also talked to my grandparents and my parents
- speakerand then. And, they knew
- speakerthe type of person that I was and they knew
- speakerthat they had taught me the best way that they could. And, I had learned
- speakeryou know everything. And I said Yes. And, I
- speakerprayed about it and prayed about it. And, all my prayers were answered.
- speakerSo I said yes, here I am. I was the
- speakerbest I could be.
- speakerAnd that's what I do today.
- speakerI say yes, here I am. I raise my hand and say yes, here I am. and I'm
- speakerI'm not doing it in any any way that the
- speakerothers don't do it too--when we say, here we are.
- speakerI will accept this responsibility to be
- speakersuperintendent or leader of men or sing in the
- speakerchoir.
- speakerUsher you know all those. So,
- speakeras president of Presbyterian Men, you have to travel
- speakeragain.
- speakerYes yes I did. And I. And
- speakeryou know every every every presbytery, every synod,
- speakerhas their own annual celebrations and that
- speakerkind of thing.
- speakerAnd then they extend the invitation to the President of Presbyterian Men. and.
- speakerAnd again, it is one of the responsibilities. You
- speakercan't just stay at home and be president of an
- speakerorganization and that type of thing. You have to go to and fro. And,
- speakeryou have to be able to travel and talk to
- speakerthe congregations officers pastors
- speakerand let them know that you're you know
- speakersupporting them in any way that we can and that type of thing. Was
- speakerthere any one single trip that you
- speakermade as President of Presbyterian Men that was most rewarding to you?
- speakerVisiting the small churches.
- speakerNot not not not any particular one but but. The
- speakersmaller churches were of the opinion that you know they're
- speakerforgotten.
- speakerAnd when the time came for to go to a small church celebration
- speakeryou know I I did not say no.
- speakerI said I will. I will be there! And I. A`nd I.
- speakerI learned that small churches aren't any different from big churches.
- speakerThey did that day. They do the same thing. They do it in a smaller way.
- speakerBut but they're still doing it and they want to be a part
- speakerof the, of the larger you know
- speakerorganization, that type of thing. They're
- speakervery appreciative when once you know someone someone comes to visit and shares
- speakera word from other churches mediusm-sized churches, large churches.
- speakerAnd they learned that you know large churches are a little
- speakerdifferent. But some of them are just different only because they are large. It doesn't mean
- speakerthey're doing anything bigger and better.
- speakerWhich happens in today's environment. So
- speakerI think. I
- speakerprobably. I've probably got time for for one more
- speakerquestion and I'm I'm going to return to the 2006
- speakerGeneral Assembly. It struck me looking back at that G.A. that there are
- speakermany of the same issues that were top of the agenda in 2006
- speakerwere again top of the agenda and certainly in 2010 and
- speaker2012.
- speakerThings may have changed slightly after 12 but that General Assembly
- speakerwas also talking about
- speakerdivestment and positive investment in Israel and Palestine.
- speakerThat assembly was also also presented an authoritative
- speakerinterpretation on ordination standards. And it kept the
- speakerfidelity and chastity requirement. From looking back at
- speakeryour time as moderator of that assembly.
- speakerDo you have any advice to give to the upcoming General Assembly and to future
- speakerassemblies?
- speakerLeaving the denomination.
- speakerAnd some churches are struggling with whether to leave
- speakerand if they do leave, do we leave with or do we leave without property?
- speakerAnd that is big decision the churches have to make, small medium and large churches.
- speakerBut they think they think it may be better you know with or
- speakerwithout being in the P.C. (U.S.A.) And, it's been done over the years. It's
- speakergoing to continue to happen. It may be something very small
- speakerbut with this you know this is their decision to do
- speakerwhat they have to do. And, make the decision they have to make.
- speakerwhen there is some type of reorganization or restructure
- speakeryou know, be it even in the local church or in the presbytery or synod,
- speakerReorganizing and restructuring you know causes some
- speakerdissatisfaction among the congregation. It will split
- speakeryou know the members, you know and that type of thing. Challenges
- speakerand issues are, you know, not easy to
- speakerto say yeah for some and say nay for others. There
- speakerneeds to be a lot of talking and a lot of listen and
- speakerdialogue. You know that there's that but that's
- speakerhow we as a church are where we are.
- speakerWe have to participate in dialogue.
- speakerWe have to continue to understand that if it's God's will.
- speakerSo so so make it be. Each General Assembly
- speakermay have issues and concerns
- speakerthat may not be fixed. And, if they are not
- speakerfixed at that particular General Assembly, then possibly the
- speakernext one. And the next one if
- speakerwe continue the conversation.
- speakerI'm of the opinion that you know things will be all right.
- speakerI was just about to close by asking you what gives
- speakeryou hope about the P.C. (U.S.A.)?
- speakerThat there is peace, there is unity,
- speakerthere is dialogue.
- speakerThere is faith in the Holy Spirit.
- speakerWe are organized that we have certain networks
- speakerthat are available to help with the reorganization restructuring and that
- speakertype of thing.
- speakerAnd don't don't close the dialogue. Continue the dialogue.
- speakerAnd pray until something happens.
- speakerThat's what I will leave you with. All right.
- speakerWell thank you, Bob, for taking the time and I'll follow up shortly
- speakerwith you with a full transcript and hopefully we'll be able to talk more in
- speakerthe future.
- speakerI do too. I look forward to that too.
- speakerAll right. Thank you, Bob. OK. Thank you.
