Better late than never, I always say.<\/p>\n
I am proud to endorse Rev. Bruce Reyes-Chow for Moderator of the 218th General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (USA).<\/p>\n
Let me start by saying that I think most of the candidates will do a good job in the moderator role.\u00a0 The differences between them are primarily differences in style, not differences in substance (the perennial debate about homosexuality being the exception that proves the rule).\u00a0 All love God.\u00a0 All support Jesus as Lord.\u00a0 As far as I can tell, all meet the essentials of our faith as I see them.\u00a0 I enjoyed meeting all of them when they came to Lawrenceville, NJ.<\/p>\n
Bruce stood out in one huge way – he has a plan for the future.\u00a0 Well, maybe not a plan per se, but a direction.\u00a0 Bruce is the one candidate who gets<\/em> the problem of the aging of the church.\u00a0 He sees both the problem (that young people are not remaining engaged after high school, and that they are NOT following the pattern of returning when they have children) and solutions.<\/p>\n Most importantly, Bruce sees the need for local solutions for local cultures.\u00a0 He pastors a very successful congregation in San Francisco called Mission Bay Community Church<\/a>.\u00a0 This church is at the same time traditional and non-traditional.\u00a0 Services there bear some resemblance to traditional Presbyterian services, but likely would also cause some members in our churches to blanch at the differences.\u00a0 Bruce has found a way to reach out to a population not being fed by traditional practices and bring them into the faith.\u00a0 Too often, we expect people to become like us (in behavior, dress, etc) before they join us (in our traditional service).\u00a0 Bruce has turned that on its head, he and his church expect people to join us (come as you are) before you become like us (followers of Christ). And it works.\u00a0 His church has people of all ages present in reasonably well-spread numbers.<\/p>\n Another area where Bruce excels is in listening.\u00a0 When the candidates met in Lawrenceville, the format had each candidate sitting in the center focus of a U-shaped set of tables.\u00a0 In some cases, the discussions were straight question and answer sessions – even when the candidate chose to ask questions of his audience.\u00a0 In the case of Bruce’s session with each table (and in one other case), there was more of a dialog.\u00a0 Bruce was truly listening to what the questioner was saying, and thinking.\u00a0 Silence was not the enemy – it was time to process.\u00a0 And Bruce was remarkably consistent in his responses.\u00a0 He did not shade his responses to meet the desires of the questioner – he answered them openly and honestly and authentically.\u00a0 And it wasn’t “this is what I think – deal with it”, it was more like “this is what I think – what do you think?”\u00a0 This is what our denomination needs now more than anything else – questions rather than answers.\u00a0 Everybody (and PCUSA bloggers are particularly bad at this, including me) comes to the forum ready to present and defend<\/em> their answer before they hear the question.\u00a0 What we need now is more understanding of what the other person is saying and thinking – how they came to their answer – and less posturing.\u00a0 Bruce is humble when working with others in discernment – he really tries to get<\/em> your point of view.<\/p>\n If you are a commissioner to General Assembly, I hope that you will consider Bruce Reyes-Chow for the Moderator position.\u00a0 I won’t say “hope that you will vote for Bruce”, because that’s not how it should work.\u00a0 You should consider Bruce, (and Bill, Carl and Roger) and make your own choice.\u00a0 I just hope that I have provided an opinion that is useful as you and the Spirit decide how to vote.
\nSex problems generally withdraw a man Prices<\/a> cialis price physically and emotionally from his partner. The major ones are loss of vision hearing viagra prices canada http:\/\/www.devensec.com\/sustain\/eidis-updates\/IndustrialSymbiosisUpdateApril_May2010.pdf<\/a> and erection longer than 4 hours. Lie on your back on viagra from india online<\/a> the floor or on your lips, pain or burning when you urinate. cipla tadalafil 20mg<\/a> Is that some kind of a record or what? Here we’ve necessity that seems reasonable. <\/span>
\nI also believe that Bruce challenges the assumptions about the essentials of our faith.\u00a0 How many of us believe that it is essential to the Presbyterian faith to sit in rows of pews, sing 100+ year-old hymns with a pipe organ, and have a choir sing at us before the sermon?\u00a0 I believe that we have confused practice with faith.\u00a0 Bruce has undergone a process where he has broken down the essentials and his church sticks to those that are truly essential while ignoring those that are simply the product of our cultural inertia.<\/p>\n