The Rev. Bruce Reyes-Chow, one of the four candidates for Moderator of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) offered himself for interviews from bloggers. This was his “10 Minutes with Bruce.”
Well, I came up with only one questions for him and he was gracious enough to reply.
My Question:
it came to some of the conflicts between individual churches and higher
governing bodies in the PC(USA). Rick seemed to get involved in some
of the individual controversies while Joan seems to “float above” the
ongoing disputes.
So, if you are elected moderator…
On a
range from “enforcer” being actively involved in particular disputes,
to “Glinda, Good Witch of the North” who sort of floats above all the
commotion, what do you see as your role as the Moderator of the General
Assembly in these matters? Or, do you see the role of the Moderator as
something on a different continuum?
Bruce’s Response:
seriously folks . . . I am actually not sure where I would fit on
the continuum because I think those currently engaged in the battles
are missing the point and/or are missing important voices. I would
much more hope to shake up the discourse by being part of a movement
whose voices are heard above and over the current
denominational conflicts. While some entities in the church at all
levels will thrive only in a culture fed by adversarial relationships,
I think there are a whole lot of folks who could easily move beyond
some of the more divisive issues, find levels of appropriate
disagreement and get on with being the church in the world in as may
ways that may exist today. Right now, these folks may be engaged in
local ministry, but see the larger church conflicts as distracting and
irrelevant. So . . . to better answer the question, I think I would be
one who would help to flatten the hierarchy of the discussion so more
voices are part of the whatever decisions lay at the end.
Thanks Bruce
Now, the link to the incident Rick was involved in is for context only and not necessarily an endorsement. Also, I realize that some of this is a product of the times in which they serve and may not be representative of the two years ahead.
Finally, while Bruce issued the invitation, if any of the other three moderator candidates wish to have a go at it I’d be glad to also post “Ten Minutes with (Bill|Carl|Roger)”
I don’t know about a super-power, but you do get the gavel… it’s not exactly the Hammer of Thor (now that could settle a meeting), but I guess it’s all in how you use it. 🙂
Interesting. Fiddling while Rome burns?
Don’t get me wrong, I like Bruce in many ways, but these are times for lions of the faith, not kitties of the polity.
My 2 cents…