Thanks for taking the time to find out a little more me! I have been constantly amazed by the number of friends made via the blogosphere so please feel free to leave a comment, drop me a note or just lurk about until the mood strikes!
MY CONTACT INFO
- gMail/gChat: breyeschow at gmail dot com
- vMail: four one five - three seven seven - five nine six nine
- aol/yim: brucereyeschow
- mailing church: mbcc, 32 ocean avenue, sf, ca, 94112
- mailing personal: 1728 ocean avenue, #203, sf, ca, 94112
A FEW POSTS THAT LET YOU IN
- My 40th Birthday Prayers
- Let's Play, "What's My Context?"
- Five Things People Don't Know About Me
- I am emergence
- Blogging as Spiritual Discipline
- 10 Things That Would be Nice to do Before I Die
- A Letter to my Daughters
Despite the painful reality that I am not as cool or hip as I want to be or think I am, I have put together a few ego::blogs filled with links, musings and other outlets for my manic/overactive need to mentally, technologically, politically, culturally, emotionally and theologically spew. I hope you find SOMETHING helpful for the journey.
MY SNARKY BIO
Just trying to make it and help others do the same . . . as I go through life as a husband, father, son, grandchild, brother, third generation Filipino/Chinese American, pastor, mediocre guitarist and drummer, Oakland A’s FANatic, motorcycle enthusiast and total post-modern, culturally creative BOBO-fied Presbyterian follower of Jesus . . . or something like that?
MY CHURCH BIO
An
ordained minister since 1995, this 40+ something California native is
the founding pastor of Mission Bay Community Church. Bruce just loves
Northern California and San Francisco and is excited about the
possibilities for the ministry here in the San Francisco especially in the Excelsior District. He graduated from San Francisco State University
with a special major in Asian American Studies, Sociology, and Religion
in 1990 and from San Francisco Theological Seminary in 1995. He has
served the Presbyterian Church (USA) over the years as a preacher,
worship leader, and keynoter.
As the main speaker / preacher / talking head at MBCC, Bruce believes that a good message is one that is relevant, is compelling, and creates an emotional and intellectual connection between life and faith. He is firmly convicted that life is just chaotic and that the key to finding security amidst the chaos is not to put life in a rigidly controlled box, but to embrace and claim God’s presence in the ambiguity—a difficult way to live, but a way that honors the authenticity of our lives and strengthens our relationship with God.
Bruce has lived in San Francisco since 1989 after growing up in Sacramento and Stockton. He now lives in the Sunnyside district of San Francisco with his wife since 1990, Robin Pugh; and three daughters, Evelyn, Abigail, and Analise. His free time is filled with hanging out in cafes, cheering on those awesome Oakland Athletics, and riding his yellow 2003 Ducati Monster 620ie, Dorabella, "Dori" Ducati.
The Official Bio [Google Doc]
One of the leading voices of postmodern culture and its impact on the Christian church, in June 2008 Bruce was elected to service as Moderator of the 2.3 million member Presbyterian Church (USA) denomination. This is the highest elected office in the denomination and he will serve until July 2010. Bruce is also the founding pastor of Mission Bay Community Church, a young, urban and quirky Church located in the Excelsior District of San Francisco. A Presbyterian Church in San Francisco, MBCC is made up of mostly 20 and 30 somethings and is one of the highest reviewed religious organizations on Yelp.com.
Bruce is particularly passionate about the intersection/s between faith, justice, culture and politics as he continues to work with communities on everything from immigration, labor, racial reconciliation and poverty. While labeled as a "progressive" or "liberal" by some Bruce is part of a generation of church leaders who are eager to see a church that engages in discourse that is not tied to tradition theological, political or ideological bounds. He is also an avid blogger and social networker and has lead numerous worships and keynotes on the intersection between faith, technology and social media.
While you can see what "they" say about him on Wikipedia, here is just a snippet of what others have said about Bruce:
The election was groundbreaking. Not only is Reyes-Chow the first Filipino American to head a major denomination, he is also entrusted with the responsibility of taking the church to the future, of appealing to younger and ethnically diverse demographics, and of putting a new face to a church whose membership has gradually declined. To meet this challenge, the church leader is harnessing the power of the Internet. - Filipinas Magazine, 11.09
Like Obama, Reyes-Chow is young, incredibly smart, a gifted communicator, comfortable with new technologies, a facilitator who knows how to harness the wisdom of the larger group, and completely comfortable in a globalized, diverse, post-racial, post-gender, post-partisan interconnected world. - More Light Presbyterians, 11.08
Part of Reyes-Chow's challenge will be trying to integrate the needs of younger Presbyterians into the traditional leadership of the church. He believes that younger generations are less divided by ideological conflict than in the past, more adept at accepting differences of views within one community - such as over homosexuality. - San Francisco Chronicle, 07.08
His answers to questions sounded direct, not calculated. He brought a big fan club. Members of his church just up the road in San Francisco cheered his microphone moments. Put that altogether, and you get the Obama Effect — that sense that this person, this out-of-the-ordinary person, is signaling a change in direction, a change in identity, a change in tone. Change is in the air, or to be more exact, a yearning for change fills our church’s air like the scent of coffee fills the neighborhood Starbucks. - The Outlook, 07.08
The Rev. Bruce Reyes-Chow is a street smart preacher, a frequent blogger, a five-minute sermonizer and a risk-taker. The question: Has the General Assembly put the future of the Presbyterian Church (USA) at greater risk by electing Reyes-Chow as moderator for two years? The Presbyterian Layman, 06.08
Bruce is also a contributing blogger to The SF Gate, Co-Host of a Weekly Internet Radio Show, God Complex Radio, serves on the board of Public Religion Research and is currently also on a self-publishing adventure, writing his first book, Embracing the Gray: musings on faith, family and the pursuit of an American dream. Most recently he was also appointed by California State Treasurer, Bill Lockyer, to serve on the Toyota NUMMI Blue Ribbon Commission charged with examining the impact of a car manufacturing plant in Fremont, CA. He has also traveled to the Philippines on the behalf of the Presbyterian Church (USA) in support of church communities targeted by government authorities for torture and disappearances and in April of 2010 he will travel to Haiti to see the damage caused by the recent earthquake and meet with local church partners.
More links of interest
- Bruce's reading suggestions on amazon
- Bruce's event slides on slideshare
- Bruce's travel schedule on dopplr
