reyes-chow :: MODERATOR

How will we be lead? - A response

Response 4 of 5 for the 2008 Commissioner's Booklet.

Full Booklet (PDF) | My Responses (PDF) | Introduction | Opening Statement | Question #1 | Question #2 | Question #3 |

HOW WILL WE BE LEAD?
What suggestions do you have for identifying new directions for partnership between congregations, presbyteries, seminaries and the General Assembly in preparation for ordained ministry?

I must admit it feels odd to walk into rooms of clergy these days and be one of the “old guys.” At the ripe old age of 38, no longer am I the young turk that I had once been ;-) It is wonderful to see so many young adults starting to move into professional ordained ministry.  These folks are grounded with a solid theological education, open to the movement of spirit and ripe to lead our denomination into the next stage of our life together.

There also seems to be a shadow side to the young clergy experience, aspects of their preparation for ministry that seem somewhat out of alignment with the greater culture from which they have come.  There is a disconnect between who young clergy are culturally and the institution to which they are being called to serve.  In the face of this situation, young clergy are left with few options: change, deal or leave.

Something must give.

Something must change.

I suspect it is the institution.

Over the last few years I have had the privilege of supervising interns, speaking at seminaries and generally hanging out with those who have entered the Presbyterian “care process.” While each seminarian’s experience will obviously be different, it seems like most are trying to reconcile a deep commitment to serve Christ with joy, hope, and relevance and the rapidly changing nature of church, call, and pastoral ministry. 

While seminary nuts-n-bolts training is important, as we prepare folks for ministry I believe that we should focus on providing opportunities for seminarians to develop spiritual disciplines that will allow them to have a high level of pastoral agility in order to thrive in a changing world and church.
When it comes to specific focus areas, I think each entity involved in the process should consider the following:

• Encorage self-reflection by limiting gate-keeping postures and instead exhibiting humility and flexibility throughout the process.

If we are able to do these few things, I am certain, clergy of the future will serve with longevity and joy.

Pittsburgh, Vice-mods, Twitter and other random thoughts

With none really deserving of it's own post, here are few random links, musings and other thoughts as offered up as I continue on this candidate for moderator adventure.

Listening to the church // As part of my hope to get to know the church more fully as we enter the General Assembly time, I will be hanging out with some friends next week in Pittsburgh and Cleveland.  There will be a mix of casual hang out time, some non-GA related conversations and some site seeing in these historic cities.   If you are interested, I wold love to find out more about about the church scene and folks' hopes, dreams and struggles. My itinerary is as follows.

Saturday, May 10 - Pittsburgh Area
3:00pm // meet n' greet The Vault Coffee and Tea Bar

Sunday, May 11 - Pittsburgh Area
11:00am // Mosaic Community Church
1:00pm // meet n' greet place TBA
6:00pm // Open Door Faith Community
8:00pm // meet 'n greet The Union Project

Monday, May 12 - Cleveland Area
3:00-6:00pm // A conversation on new church development sponsored by the Presbytery of the Western Reserve at Trinity Commons at Trinity Cathedral
9:00pm // Theology Pub sponsored by the Phoenix Project at Sullivan's Irish Pub

Tuesday, May 13 - Cleveland Area
9:00-11:00am // meet n' greet at Lakewood PC
1:00-3:00pm // meet n' greet at Pioneer Memorial PC

May 14-16 - Louisville for GA Leadership Training

If you have any questions about the pre-Louisville events, you can contact [Kerri Peterson-Davis] for Cleveland and [Derrick Weston] for Pittsburgh.

Friend Away // With the announcement of Carl's VM, all teams are complete.  This year with the 45 day pre-GA requirement to announce, it will be interesting to see if/how the VM candidates play into the process as a whole.  In any case, all four are on FB!

Peter DeVries, Roger Shoemaker's VM
Tamara Letts, Bill Teng's VM
Diane Givens Moffett, Carl's VM
Byron Wade, Bruce Reyes-Chow's VM

Podcasts //  Just finished my interview with the good folks over at Decently and In Order for their monthly podcast.  If you have not discovered them yet, you should check out their news aggregating website and listen to their podcasts.  They will be interviewing each of the four candidates over the next few weeks and publishing all four podcasts at the same time.  I think they are going to be published pretty much unedited, so I might be in a little trouble ;-)  Should God have this moderator thing in my future, I will certainly need that "How to talk to press" training ;-)

GA Committee Leadership // If you have been to GA you know that the committee leadership may just be the most important part of the GA process.  Committee leadership not only help to build community, but they help to set the overall tone of the week and generally ensure a grace-filled journey through the business of the GA.  Prayers for everyone are certainly needed, but a couple of extras tossed their way might be a good idea.  If you want to see the whole list of committee leadership check out the PNS story.

Twitter'ers // For those that have recently begun using Twitter, I would love to connect.  For those that have not started this micro-blogging format, but are interested in finding out more, here is How I Use Twitter and here is a good overview from Todd Hiestand.  [Follow me on Twitter]

MBCC on YouTube // One of the things that I LOVE about the church I serve is the freedom that exists to be creative.  Here is just one example of how we use technology and the arts in our services.  These are videos that our intern, Abby King Kaiser, has created this year. [CHECK THEM OUT]

USA Today and the Resilient Right

One way you know that you are truly worthy of your Presby-nerd platinum membership status is that you have your google alerts set for things such as "Presbyterian Church (USA)" and/or "PC(USA)"  Lest you mock, if you do not, you run the risk of missing out on the regular rants and musings that make the blogosphere so colorful, but you might also miss some of the mainstream media's coverage of our beloved church.

This morning on my alerts this Monday opinion blog post from USA Today was on the list.  Our own Henry G. Brinton, Pastor of Fairfax Presbyterian Church mused on the image and reality of the religious right in his post, The Resilient Religions right.

Despite the rumors, conservative Christianity is alive and well in the USA, still flexing its moral muscle. And that’s a good thing. For those who might cheer its demise fail to see that religious vitality is actually strengthened by the creative tension between the left and the right.

He raises some interesting points and has generated the expected religious buzz on the comments.  Whether you agree with him or not, he is getting out into the world encouraging some thoughtful reflection on the church.

How we can grow in the spirit of unity - A response

Response 3 of 5 for the 2008 Commissioner's Booklet.

Full Booklet (PDF) | My Responses (PDF) | Introduction | Opening Statement | Question #1 | Question #2

HOW CAN WE GROW?
Our church's Ecumenical Vision Statement reminds us that, "The unity of the Church is both God's real gift and God's effective calling."  How would you work for unity within the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), and how would this contribute to the unity we seek with other churches and Christian communities?

In order to maintain larger Christian unity, let alone denominational commitment, we must approach our communal life in new ways.

We must move towards organic movements of collaboration and away from mechanistic structures of regulation. 
We can no longer structure or legislate our way into community.  At one point in our culture, legislating from above was needed and responded to in concert with grassroots movements, but now the way people perceive authority changes the way people receive and react to mandates from on high.

We must move towards committed relationships built on values and away from mandated loyalties to camps or pre-determined agendas. 
We can no longer rely on loyalty to  ideological camps.  Whereas past generations pledged loyalty to a particular ideology.  We can no longer assume buy-in to one ideological platform. Folks may now be willing to overlook some disagreements IF there is a sense of aligned values, even if it means crossing traditional camp lines.

We must move towards appreciation and interaction with the other and away from tolerance for and debate with the enemy. 
We must move beyond mere tolerance and being nice to our enemies.  What we must be able to do is appreciate/love the other, so much so that we have room to shift in our opinion or at the least, to believe that others discerned their positions with just as much faithfulness as we.  We must listen to one another without first thinking about how to change minds and/or thinking the only reason someone believes something contrary is due to a lack of intelligence.  It goes to the idea of Truth and who holds it.  Too often we believe that it is we, and only we, who hold the truth now and forever.

We must move towards engagement driven by hope and away from reactions based on fear. 
We can no longer operate as if new life and hope are not realities.  Too many of us only know how to feel useful if we are in a climate of fear and desperation.  We only know how to play the role of malcontent and/or gatekeeper and do not know how to operate within a climate of hope. Jesus did not come to bring despair, but hope.  If we, the church, cannot live into the hope that Christ offers, we might as well pack it in and go home.  Movements of hope do not demand ease and smooth sailing, but a common understanding that through struggle and communal hard work, there is new life ahead.

Can we agree to disagree about homosexuality?

With the recent PJC decision ragrding Janie Spahr, I am again left wondering if we can truly agree to disagree about this particular "issue" in the church.

This semantics-driven decision and some of the responses I have seen only emphasize this quagmire that we are in regarding our current denominational health.   I am amazed at the wonderful ministry that is happening even though we expend so much energy navigating around this huge elephant in the room that is asking us to define the nature of our denominational relationship.

I wonder if opposing Biblical understandings and homosexuality and the resulting effects of that belief: ordination, marriage, sexuality, etc. are able to live together under one denominational roof.   Or do the very positions automatically create an atmosphere that neither could/should remain in relationship closer than ecumenical brother/sister in Christ?

Tough questions, but yet isn't this really the BIG questions for all of us?  We certainly cannot be expected to agree on everything, but to what extent can we disagree on some things?

What are we willing to live with?

I say this because of what I feel is the basic issue around homosexuality, it is a sin or is it not.  At it's heart, you either feel that homosexuality is a sin that takes us further from God or a gift from God that should be embraced.  Agreeing to disagree mean that we really felt like either was possible and/or are open to the possibilities.  I am not sure either side really is in that space.

Again, what can we live with?

For some issues I think this is entirely possible.  For me I can live with agreeing to disagree on things such as . . .

• How do we engage in evangelism and mission;
• What language we use for God;
• Our voice/action in regards to the Middle East;
• Positions on a myriad of social issues;

But when it comes to homosexuality, regardless on which side of the aisle you live on, how long can one be engaged in a community where the position is held in the contrary?  Could we agree to disagree about the ordination of women?  Could we agree to disagree about interracial marriage?  I don't think we could, but yet for some reason we believe we can in this case.

This is not a call for folks who disagree either way to get the heck out of dodge, but it is a little nudge out there to see what folks are thinking.  If in the end, it looks like we are headed in a particular direction or if we are already there, would our efforts be better spent in grace-filled disengagement that allows for new life? Do we keep passionately engaged in the discourse trying to reach some kind of resolution?  Do we sit in the middle with a posture of "wait and see" and/or "don't ask, don't tell"?

• What do you think?
• What can you live with? 
• Can we agree to disagree?
• What should we live with?

Would love to hear what folks are thinking about this.  Feel free to comment of course, but would also love to have some folks blog about it, just send a trackback so folks can find ya.

The PC(USA) and future generations - A response

Response 2 of 5 for the 2008 Commissioner's Booklet.

Full Booklet (PDF) | My Responses (PDF) | Introduction | Opening Statement | Question #1

WHO ARE WE BECOMING?
In what new ways can the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and its congregations place a focus on ministry to and with youth and young adults to ensure a church for future generations?

First we must decide if we truly wish to be a church for future generations.  I am not sure that we see our roles as preparers for the future, but rather we are more focused on our role as caregivers of the now.  To be compelling to young folks would require us to admit that others discover, connect with and live out their faith in Christ in ways different than our own.  To be authentic, we must embrace these realities and find joy in the ways future generations experience the church.  Not an easy task, but transformation is not easy.
Here are three realities that we must embody if we are to be a church that is a meaningful place for future generations to grow into all that God intends for them to become.

DISCLAIMER: I offer these few characteristics as general descriptors and not absolute truths.  One of the pitfalls we often fall into in our well-intentioned zeal to reach young people is that we believe that young people are a homogenous lot and there is only one way to share the gospel of Jesus Christ.  We have fooled ourselves into thinking that all we have to do is discover the “secrets” to the lives of young people and they will flood into the church. 

Upholding tradition is not bad, but upholding tradition for tradition’s sake is sure isn’t good.
One of the mistakes we make is to assume young folks do not value tradition, ritual and heritage.  Tradition and ritual are important aspects of one’s faith development, but only if done with meaning and not simply because it has always been done that way.  We lose credibility when we worship tradition more than we worship God.

The internet is not just a method, it is a way of life.
To reach a generation that lives and breathes online, we must abandon the assumption that technology and social networking have no place in discovering, nurturing and/or living out community.  Just as the arrival of the printing press, telephone and automobile changed the culture of church, technology must also be embraced and utilized faithfully.

Respect is given, but authority is earned.
Lastly, we must realize that the church no longer holds authority of faith by simply being the church.  We must earn our authority by living a life consistent with the life Christ.  We must humbly acknowledge the brokenness of our humanity and boldly accept the forgiveness Christ offers to us all.

and they said the internet was a fad ;-)

While there are certainly still some questions about that remain about the validity of a 2.0 Moderator, I think it is safe to say that the online buzz is increasing.  As of this weekend all four if us are now on Facebook.  After getting to know the other three candidates a little better this past weekend, I think it would be valuable to get connected and interact on such platforms as Facebook as whoever is elected will need to continue to find ways to engage with the larger church.

Friend away . . .

Carl Mazza [blog] [facebook]
Roger Shoemaker [website] [facebook]
Bill Teng [website] [facebook]
Bruce Reyes-Chow [other blog] [facebook]

A couple more online places to visit . . .

• And if it did not get even more out of the "norm", the Presbyterians for Renewal GA website - which is one of the best designed - just launched an online mock poll.  Not sure how long it will be open, but if you want to play along visit [www.ga2008.com] and vote on the right side bar. 

• There is a variety of analysis going on about the upcoming GA so here are a few other links to keep up with some of the perspectives out there.  No endorsement of these groups other than they provide a way to get a glimpse of the variety of views and perspectives.
  • GA Junkie - Amazingly thorough recaps, updates and analysis.
  • JustPresbys - this is a collaborative site of six Presbyterian "Progressive" organizations: Voices of Sophia, That All May Freely Serve, The Witherspoon Society, More Light Presbyterians, The Presbyterian Peace Fellowship, The Covenant Network of Presbyterians
  • PresbyBlog - Bob Davis offers analysis and opinion especially regarding the State Clerk election.
  • The Presbyterian Coalition - Basic GA info.

I think this is all incredibly exciting as we move into the final seven week of preparation.  If there are other resources that might be helpful to share, please feel free to leave a comment and I'll check them out.

Reflections on my time at General Assembly Council

Just finished a couple of days hanging out with the General Assembly Council as part of the whole Moderator adventure.  Held at the Brown Hotel in downtown Louisville, it was interesting spending time with this element of the PC(USA) after spending a few years out of the denominational loop.  I think the last time I was at anything like this was as a panel member at one of the Moderators' Conferences during Rick Ufford-Chase's term.

A few reflections . . .

• Low paper production thanks to the online versions of everything!

• We might just be "getting it."  I was pleasantly surprised to hear many discussions about the fluid nature of the world and our need to adapt to it.  While it was VERY clear that some folks really need a more concrete, compartmentalized and structured process and outcome, for the most part it seems like folks are really willing to venture into the unknown with measured optimism!

• Like most institutions, GAC sometimes may get stuck in unhelpful patterns of operating. With that said, it was very clear that the folks gathered here are clearly committed to discerning the will of God as best they can.  The spirit of discernment and passion was evident.  The breadth of issues discussed, the willingness to engage in some conversations and the optimism was wonderful.

• While the hotel ballroom setting is still a little stuffy for my own personal tastes, the general atmosphere and tone were uplifting and optimistic.  It seems like the staff are dedicated and are providing leadership in ways that are freeing and forward thinking.

• It will be interesting to see what happens next as most of the current GAC seem to be rotating off and the new leaner GAC will come into fruition.  It will be interesting to see how the tone and  decisions made carry into the next manifestation of GAC.

• Program/issue highlights for me:  Publishing seems to be rocking the walls with some great new curriculum.  I heard a great report about the work of the National Network of Presbyterian College Women and Racial Ethnic Young Women Together.  The Dallas mission consultation conversation still has some legs and there seems to be some energy around a conversation about how we minister to Presbyterian men.  The Evangelism committee was particularly energizing.

The best part was connecting with long time friends, meeting facebook friends in person and meeting other folks for the first time.  GA strategy/advice was given freely, encouragement was offered and in a few cases, I think a little suspicion was lobbed my way by a few folks,  That' totally cool.  It was interesting that by far, the most common reaction concerning my stand for moderator was my age, with a distant second being my approach to information sharing and technology thus far.

Bloggers present that I know of in no order of anything that my memory ;-)

• Linda Valentine
• Michael Kruse
• Lee Hinson-Hasty
• Eric Hoey
• Jim Berkley
• John Bolt
• Noelle Gulden

That's it for now.  It was a very short time to observe, but overall, it was very positive.  There are some good and faithful folks serving the church in the way, so please be sure to life the GAC up in your prayers.

presbyMEME 5 - Best of

So some of you remember about a month ago I started the PresbyMEME 5 and with surprising aplomb it kind of took off.  So . . . with no other basis other than what I thought was funny, thoughtful or unique here are some of the highlights.

What is your earliest memory of being distinctly Presbyterian?

from Chris Brown
When I was 8, my mom’s next door neighbors were very active Baptists. I had a crush on the girl who lived next door, so I tried to talk her into coming to the Presbyterian church sometime.  She declined.

On what issue/question should the PC(USA) spend LESS energy and time?

from More Cows than People
I'm not sure that I think we should spend LESS energy and time on any particular issue or question, but I do think we should spend a different quality of energy or time on most issues and questions. I think we should spend LESS energy and time drawing lines in the sand and fostering distrust among brothers and sisters in Christ. I think we should spend LESS energy and time on tired debates in which no one involved is actually listening because they have their lines rehearsed and have no intention of changing their minds. I think we should spent LESS energy and time pointing fingers and calling names.

On what issue/question should the PC(USA) spend MORE energy and time?

from Jessica Patchett
Public witness. Presbyterians have a long history of stepping out and making public confessions of faith and comments into political and social life. I understand that the denomination will continue to be stuck in muck if it tries to come up with a denominational “stance” on every issue in American and global public life. But, the church should spend more time teaching one another about the denomination’s rich history in public life, and equipping one another to make public statements of faith about both the “sacred and the profane”. Ongoing war, increasing class disparity, and a housing crisis, among many other things, are too pressing for us to live in ignorance or in fear of what might happen if we do say something.

If you could have the PC(USA) focus on one passage of scripture for a entire year, what would it be?

from Ruth Everhart
Matthew 6:25-34, “Do not worry about your life,” since anxiety is a number one affliction of our denomination.

If the PC(USA) were an animal what would it be and why?

from Will Jackson
Rather than an animal, I have always thought of the PCUSA being more like an old IROC-Z Camaro I once had (prior to marriage and kids). It was a beautiful piece of machinery that had the capability of working like a marvel, except that it always had something wrong with it. Most of the time, the injection system needed tweeking, or the electrical system had a loose connection somewhere, or the computer was acting up. It took a lot of time and work, but when everything was working together, it could cruise at 90 miles an hour with only the slightest effort. We Presbyterians are sort of like this. We spend a lot time working on ourselves, but every now and then we get in sync. In those times we become a marvel of mission that brings great glory to God.

Extra Credit: Jesus shows up at General Assembly this year, what does he say to the Presbyterian Church (USA)?

from Brian Merritt 
I know that Jesus would say something quite profound and moving. Yet, I am positive that we would all be completely confused and bewildered because he would be speaking in Aramaic. Some of us would call him out of order because he was not on the docket and we were talking about the approval of next years budget.

Well done all.  Thanks for playing!

East Coast swing

East Coast** here we come!

After leaving a sick kid with my wife and now sitting here at SFO ready to hop on a red-eye to Louisville, that little voice inside whispers, "Why are you doing this again?"  Seriously.  Then I start thinking about the next few days and I get all giddy - yeah, I said giddy - thinking about what is in store for me.  On this trip I finally meet the other candidates, talk with some of the GAC folks, engage in some formal candidate forums, and generally get to be part of a discernment process for the whole church. 

What a privilege.
What an honor.
What an adventure!

Tomorrow, bright and early, I arrive in Louisville to attend the meeting of the General Assembly Council.  As a moderatorial candidate this is one of those unspoken - you really must go, but not really required - visits that helps folks at the GAC level get to know the candidates a little better.   This is also the place where many of our diverse denominational stake-holders gather to report on the going's on of the GAC, so it behooves all candidates to be there.  My advisers basically said not going was NOT an option, so off to the the big "L" go.  I'll spend some time with the other candidates on Wednesday at the meeting and then Thursday is a day without much planned.  Wild and free in Louisville - woohoo - so if anyone is free for coffee on the 24th, just let me know!

Because I LOVE 6:00am flights, I then leave on the 25th for the New Jersey circuit where there are a couple of all-candidates events.  We start at Bloomfield College in the afternoon and then Lawrenceville Presbyterian Church in the evening.  These events will be the first time we will see one another "in action" so I am sure we are all looking forward to engaging beyond the written word. 

After catching an early AM train to DC on the 26th, it is straight to New York Avenue Presbyterian Church for an afternoon candidate's forum.

Four cities in five days sprinkled with some conversations and meals with friends, old and new, should prove this rapid-fire trip to be rewarding.  Hopefully, if you are near-by you will be able to make one or more of these events.

Again, what a privilege and honor!

** If you did not get the "East Coast Swing" reference or have lost touch with your MotownPhilly groove, it is just a little shout out to Boys II Men.