Presbytery of San Francisco
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Wreck This Church
This is my article I wrote for July issue of Presbyterians Today Magazine . . . I can only go a few days without kimchi—at most a week. Then my body begins to crave it. Just saying the word kimchi tickles my salivary glands and makes my mouth water. Kimchi is a staple Korean dish.…
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Bridge Worship & Meetings through Prayer
Here is a prayer activity idea that can be easily incorporated in presbytery meetings or any church meeting. This will require lots of preparation on the organizer’s part so I would recommend planning way in advance. This is what I did at a presbytery meeting I was organizing. The Presbytery of San Francisco has 76…
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Interactive Way to Pray in Worship
At a presbytery-wide worship service (In the Presbyterian Church U.S.A. denomination, churches are geographically grouped into presbyteries), the theme of worship was around the concept of love. The Rabbi Judy Shanks from Temple Isaiah in Lafayette, CA, was the guest preacher. She preached a beautiful sermon that wove in verses from the song, Seasons of Love from…
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UNCO Your Church, Presbytery, and Denomination
Originally posted on The Presbyterian Leader on August 9, 2012 . . . I recently wrote a blog post about age and power which seemed to have touched a nerve. First, let me clarify and reiterate what the blog post was about and what it wasn’t about. “young” – again, I wasn’t just referring to…
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In the Middle: Intersection between Age & Wisdom
Photo by Dan Meyer I am a member of the Committee to Review Biennial Assemblies. This committee was tasked to research and suggest changes to the 220th General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church U.S.A. We surveyed hundreds of past General Assembly commissioners and staff, asking them what message would they like to convey to this…
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Hey PCUSA, Stare Death in the Face!
Originally post on 2 Friars and a Fool on June 20, 2012 . . . In 1982, Steven Callahan set out to cross the Atlantic Ocean in his boat, Napoleon Solo. As he planned his trek, there was a 2 percent chance of a gale at that time of year. Callahan was mentally and physically…
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Building a Plane While Flying
Originally posted on The Presbyterian Leader on June 14, 2012 . . . Growing up, I used to hang out with my dad at the airport. This wasn’t the kind of airport that you go to when catching a flight. This was a small airport where airplanes were built and tested. My dad was a mechanical engineer…
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A Moderator’s Instruction Manual
Originally posted on The Presbyterian Leader on May 17, 2012 . . . Depending on your presbytery, the job of the moderator can vary. However, we are living in a time when most of our presbyteries are facing some serious challenges: financial, church dismissals, staff restructures, struggling congregations, and more. In many cases, it has…
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Urban Ministry: Making the Switch
It seems that parish ministry is a challenging line of work these days, whether you are in a rural, suburban, or urban context. Parish ministry gets even more interesting if you are serving a church that is considered a new development, a redevelopment, or in transition of figuring out what their future is. At some…
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What If Churches Were Missional Outposts?
In March, we were able to hold our 2nd Urban Legacy Gathering, where twenty-two San Francisco PCUSA churches gathered together. This time we were able to gather ALL 22! Since this was the second gathering, we wanted to continue the energy and excitement from the last gathering. While the first gathering focused on getting to…
Still Waters 