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218th
General Assembly
2008
Moderator Bruce Reyes-Chow |
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For our index page for GA 2008
For the JustPresbys website |
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The Rev. Bruce Reyes-Chow.
Photo by Joseph Williams,
PNS. |
The Rev. Bruce Reyes-Chow, who
was elected Moderator of the 218th General Assembly, is an energetic
and committed communicator. He has just sent a letter to the
church as a whole, which we share here as a sample of the thinking
he seems to bring to his new role.For more
of his communications, we suggest you visit his
Moderator’s blog at
www.mod.reyes-chow.com.
[7-10-08] |
| A letter from the
Moderator July 9, 2008
Dear Friends,
I just got done reading
a great post on prayer from Jan Edmiston, pastor in the DC area
and her post, Praying for Enemies.
It got me thinking about the first
two weeks* of my term as Moderator.
I don’t know about you, but I may
have reached my post-GA punditry and analysis saturation point.
While I understand the cathartic need to vent and react, I do think
that at some point we must begin moving from where we were to where
we are going. And honestly, we all need a break from some of the
intensity lest we get caught up in our own little bubble and lose
sight of larger issues and/or we begin to actually do damage to the
very things we are trying to build up. I know that as I get to
feeling a little overwhelmed, it usually means that I have been
forgetting to nurture one or more of my spiritual disciplines. I
KNOW that I need to get out and ride more, I can’t wait for my next
spiritual direction appointment and, good golly, I need to ramp up
my prayer life.
Pre-GA, I thought I was in prayer
enough. But I tell ya, with the sheer number of interactions—in
person and online—the need for perspective and many more outright
questions for God, I have been in prayer more in the past few weeks
than would have ever thought needed or possible.
I have prayed for strangers, new
friends, my family, my wife, my daughters, my church and my own
personal mental and spiritual health. At my most thankful, I have
prayed for those who have supported me on my short- and long-term
Christian walk and, when I have been at my best, I have prayed for
those who at some level are my “enemies.” I have found great comfort
from prayer, not only in mine lifted to God, but those lifted up to
God on my behalf. I have found that, of all the gracious words or
actions that people have directed my way, the most meaningful have
been the prayers from those with whom there is some level of
tension. When the words, “I will hold you and your family in prayer”
follows a rational note, comment, or letter explaining why they may
disagree with what I believe or how I have acted, I hold that with
great care because, as we all know, it is hard to pray, truly pray,
for those with whom we disagree.
It is hard to pray for our enemies.
Sure we say we will pray for all of
our brothers and sisters, but when I receive sincere offerings of
prayer, I am given hope. It is not hope in the survival of a
denominational institution or contractual relationship, but hope in
the fellowship of Christ. Even if we think the other is straying
from core beliefs, we can still lift them up to God, hoping that
God’s will will be done in their lives and ours. Our covenant in
Christ is still being honored. Heck, I don't even care if the prayer
is, “God, please change Bruce’s wayward ways,” because even then, I
think there is a level of Christian love that drives the prayer.
Prayer will be one way that we may
be able to move together into who knows what kind of future we will
have as Presbyterians. I would invite you to pray for one another on
your blogs, in your churches, during your quiet time, or if you are
a Facebooker, join the Moderator Facebook Group and lift up the many
prayers that are being offered up in our Prayers of the People . . .
discussion group.
If you believe some of the
commentary out there, you would think that there is absolutely
nothing we can come together around. I just do not think this is
true and prayer lifted up for one another is a good place to begin
proving it.
Pray on, my friends, pray on.
Bruce Reyes-Chow
Moderator, 218th General Assembly
(2008)
* GA 2010 in Minneapolis, 4th of July
Weekend, about 100 weeks away ;-)
Visit my Moderator’s blog at
www.mod.reyes-chow.com
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Visit
our lively
new website! |
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GA actions
ratified (or not) by the presbyteries
A number of the most important actions of the 219th
General Assembly have now been acted upon by the presbyteries,
confirming most of them as amendments to the PC(USA) Book of Order.
We provided resources to help inform the
reflection and debate, along with updates on the voting.
Our three areas of primary interest have been:
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Amendment 10-A,
which removes the current ban on
lesbian/gay/bisexual/transgender persons being considered as
possible candidates for ordination as elder or ministers.
Approved! |
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Amendment 10-2,
which would add the Belhar Confession to our Book of
Confessions. Disapproved, because as an amendment
to the Book of Confessions it needed a 2/3 vote, and did not
receive that. |
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Amendment
10-1, which adopts the new Form of Government
that was approved by the Assembly. Approved. |
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Some blogs worth visiting |
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PVJ's
Facebook page
Mitch Trigger, PVJ's
Secretary/Communicator, has created a Facebook page where
Witherspoon members and others can gather to exchange news and
views. Mitch and a few others have posted bits of news, both
personal and organizational. But there’s room for more!
You can post your own news and views,
or initiate a conversation about a topic of interest to you. |
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Voices of Sophia blog
Heather Reichgott, who has created
this new blog for Voices of Sophia, introduces it:
After fifteen years of scholarship
and activism, Voices of Sophia presents a blog. Here, we present the
voices of feminist theologians of all stripes: scholars, clergy,
students, exiles, missionaries, workers, thinkers, artists, lovers
and devotees, from many parts of the world, all children of the God
in whose image women are made. .... This blog seeks to glorify God
through prayer, work, art, and intellectual reflection. Through
articles and ensuing discussion we hope to become an active and
thoughtful community. |
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John Harris’ Summit to
Shore blogspot
Theological and philosophical
reflections on everything between summit to shore, including
kayaking, climbing, religion, spirituality, philosophy, theology,
politics, culture, travel, The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), New
York City and the Queens neighborhood of Ridgewood by a progressive
New York City Presbyterian Pastor. John is a former member of the
Witherspoon board, and is designated pastor of North Presbyterian
Church in Flushing, NY. |
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John Shuck’s Shuck and Jive
A Presbyterian minister, currently
serving as pastor of First Presbyterian Church of Elizabethton,
Tenn., blogs about spirituality, culture, religion (both organized
and disorganized), life, evolution, literature, Jesus, and
lightening up. |
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Got more blogs to recommend?
Please
send a note, and we'll see what we can do! |
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