Keynote Slides from PYWA 2025 National Gathering

These are the slides I used at the 2025 Presbyterian Youth Worker Association's National Gathering. We focused on the four-fold nature of Jesus in the context the current rise in Christan nationalism.

1. Jesus
Come to the Water
Presbyterian Youth Workers Association
October 6-8, 2025

2. GOD’S GATHERED
Created in the image of God, I choose to join p178

3. CREATED IN THE
IMAGE OF GOD
Faith Montage p178

4. Created in the image of God, I
choose to join with others as God’s
GATHERED.
We are the body gathered,
beautiful, powerful, holy
bodies.

5. These bodies are of all shapes, sizes,
abilities, and hues.
These bodies move through
the world
loving and loved,
desiring and desired,
healing and healed.

6. These bodies hold tightly and
tenderly the complexities of being:
Attractions, peeves,
passions, scars, successes,
traumas, triggers, desires,
rejections, revelry, heartbreak,
intentions, rage, rapture, miscues,
magnificence, contradictions,
courage, determination,
discombobulation, dwelling,
doubt.

7. Beautiful and complicated creatures
seeking and being sought,
committed and compelled
humans navigating the
complexities of the world,
and people loved beyond our
imagination by the One who
beckons us forth.

8. By dirt roads and oceans vast,
across concrete highways
and infinite skies,
by coercion and by consequence,
by circumstance, and by choice—
our journeys converge.
Amen.

9. Jesus I
Come to the Water
Presbyterian Youth Workers Association
October 6-8, 2025

10. Our Time with
all the Jesuses
●Introductions
Four-fold Jesus
Pastor: What is Happening?
●Prophet: Are you Kidding Me?
●Priest: Hold Me Back.
●Poet: Snaps.
AMA/Q&R at the start/end of sessions

11. SLIDES
www.slideshare.net/breyeschow

SOCIALS
@breyeschow on everything

AMA/Q&R
writing, palestine, faith, church,
race, technology, culture, politics,
baseball…

12. INTRODUCTION
setting my social location
PYWA Come to the Water
October 6-8, 2025

15. ABOUT BRUCE

16. ABOUT BRUCE
●Generation X, “Whatever"

17. ABOUT BRUCE
●Generation X, “Whatever"
●Chinese/

18. ABOUT BRUCE
●Generation X, “Whatever"
●Chinese/Filipino rooted in
organizing and activism

19. ABOUT BRUCE
●Generation X, “Whatever"
●Chinese/Filipino American
History Month (October)

20. ABOUT BRUCE
●Generation X, “Whatever"
●Chinese/Filipino American
History Month (October)

21. ABOUT BRUCE
●Generation X, “Whatever"
●Chinese/Filipino American
History Month (October)

22. ABOUT BRUCE
●Generation X, “Whatever"
●Chinese/Filipino rooted in
organizing and activism
●Ordained PC(USA) since '95

23. ABOUT BRUCE
●Generation X, “Whatever"
●Chinese/Filipino rooted in
organizing and activism
●Ordained PC(USA) since '95
●Vocation: Writer

24. ABOUT BRUCE
●Generation X, “Whatever"
●Chinese/Filipino rooted in
organizing and activism
●Ordained PC(USA) since '95
●Vocation: Writer

25. ABOUT BRUCE
●Generation X, “Whatever"
●Chinese/Filipino rooted in
organizing and activism
●Ordained PC(USA) since '95
●Vocation: Writer, Talker

26. ABOUT BRUCE
●Generation X, “Whatever"
●Chinese/Filipino rooted in
organizing and activism
●Ordained PC(USA) since '95
●Vocation: Writer, Talker

27. ABOUT BRUCE
●Generation X, “Whatever"
●Chinese/Filipino rooted in
organizing and activism
●Ordained PC(USA) since '95
●Vocation: Writer, Talker,
Coach-Sultant

28. ABOUT BRUCE
●Generation X, “Whatever"
●Chinese/Filipino rooted in
organizing and activism
●Ordained PC(USA) since '95
●Vocation: Writer, Talker,
Coach-sultant, Zephyr Point

29. ABOUT BRUCE
●Generation X, “Whatever"
●Filipino/Chinese rooted in
organizing and activism
●Ordained PC(USA) since '95
●Vocation: Writer, Talker,
Coach-sultant, Zephyr Point
Church: Growth & Impact

30. ABOUT BRUCE
●Generation X, “Whatever"
●Filipino/Chinese rooted in
organizing and activism
●Ordained PC(USA) since '95
●Vocation: Writer, Talker,
Coach-sultant, Zephyr Point
Church: Growth & Impact
Activism,

31. ABOUT BRUCE
●Generation X, “Whatever"
●Filipino/Chinese rooted in
organizing and activism
●Ordained PC(USA) since '95
●Vocation: Writer, Talker,
Coach-sultant, Zephyr Point
Church: Growth & Impact,
Activism, Convenor of People

32. ABOUT BRUCE
●Generation X, “Whatever"
●Filipino/Chinese rooted in
organizing and activism
●Ordained PC(USA) since '95
●Vocation: Writer, Talker,
Coach-sultant, Zephyr Point
Church: Growth & Impact,
Activism, Convenor of People

33. ABOUT BRUCE
●Generation X, “Whatever"
●Filipino/Chinese rooted in
organizing and activism
●Ordained PC(USA) since '95
●Vocation: Writer, Talker,
Coach-sultant, Zephyr Point
●Church: growth & impact,
activism, convenor of people
●Spouse to Robin

34. ABOUT BRUCE
●Generation X, “Whatever"
●Filipino/Chinese rooted in
organizing and activism
●Ordained PC(USA) since '95
●Vocation: Writer, Talker,
Coach-sultant, Zephyr Point
●Church: growth & impact,
activism, convenor of people
●Spouse to Robin

35. ABOUT BRUCE
●Generation X, “Whatever"
●Filipino/Chinese rooted in
organizing and activism
●Ordained PC(USA) since '95
●Vocation: Writer, Talker,
Coach-sultant, Zephyr Point
●Church: growth & impact,
activism, convenor of people
●Spouse to one; Dad to three

36. ABOUT BRUCE
●Generation X, “Whatever"
●Filipino/Chinese rooted in
organizing and activism
●Ordained PC(USA) since '95
●Vocation: Writer, Talker,
Coach-sultant, Zephyr Point
●Church: growth & impact,
activism, convenor of people
●Spouse to one; Dad to three
●Joys: ⚽

37. ABOUT BRUCE
●Generation X, “Whatever"
●Filipino/Chinese rooted in
organizing and activism
●Ordained PC(USA) since '95
●Vocation: Writer, Talker,
Coach-sultant, Zephyr Point
●Church: growth & impact,
activism, convenor of people
●Spouse to one; Dad to three
●Joys: ⚽ ??????

38. ABOUT BRUCE
●Generation X, “Whatever"
●Filipino/Chinese rooted in
organizing and activism
●Ordained PC(USA) since '95
●Vocation: Writer, Talker,
Coach-sultant, Zephyr Point
●Church: growth & impact,
activism, convenor of people
●Spouse to one; Dad to three
●Joys: ⚽ ?????? ??????

39. ABOUT BRUCE
●Generation X, “Whatever"
●Filipino/Chinese rooted in
organizing and activism
●Ordained PC(USA) since '95
●Church: growth & impact,
activism, convenor of people
●Vocation: writer, talker,
coach-sultant
●Spouse to one; Dad to three
●Joys: ⚽ ?????? ?????? ⛪

40. ABOUT BRUCE
●Generation X, “Whatever"
●Filipino/Chinese rooted in
organizing and activism
●Ordained PC(USA) since '95
●Church: growth & impact,
activism, convenor of people
●Vocation: writer, talker,
coach-sultant
●Spouse to one; Dad to three
●Joys: ⚽ ?????? ?????? ⛪ ??????

41. INTRODUCTIONS
who is in the room?
PYWA Come to the Water
October 6-8, 2025

42. WHO ARE YOU?
Plane
Train
Auto
Public Transportation
First time to West Coast?
First time to California?
First time to PCUSA event?
First time to a PYWA event?

43. WHO ARE YOU?
Childhood faith tradition?
●Presbyterian
●Other “mainline” flavor
Episcopal, UCC, UMC, ELCA,
●Non-Denominational
●Catholic
●Other faith tradition
●None

44. WHO ARE YOU?
How seasoned are you?
●18+
●25+
●30+
●40+
●50+
●60+
●70+
●80+

45. WHO ARE YOU?
How long have you been in some
form of youth work/ministry?
●Less than a year?
●More than a year?
●More than 3 years?
●More than 5 years?
●More than 7 years?
●More than 10 years?
●More than 15 years?
●More than 20 years?

46. Not the Jesus I Know
The Need for A Better Version of Faith
PYWA Come to the Water
October 6-8, 2025

47. What is the
narrative about
Christianity in
the world
today?

48. We must claim
and live a better
way, a better
gospel of Jesus
Christ?
p6

49. And ministry in
these times is
physically,
emotionally, and
spiritually
overwhelming.

50. What we will do?
I cannot offer you tactics
for youth ministry, I can
offer you ways to think
about faith and the one
we call Jesus in ways that
are beautifully complex,
expansively healing, and
lovingly just.

51. THE FOUR-FOLD
NATURE OF JESUS
PROPHET | PRIEST | PASTOR | POET
PYWA Come to the Water
October 6-8, 2025

52. Four-Fold Jesus
Prophet: tables
Priest: prayer
Pastor: well
Poet: 5,000

53. The Prophetic Jesus
Activist | Instigator | Truth Teller| Disruptor
Too Angry | Too Aggressive | Too Much
PYWA Come to the Water
October 6-8, 2025

54. Prophetic Jesus
a table-turning activist,
political troublemaker,
and cultural provocateur
who challenges the
world to align with God's
hopes with righteous
indignation, passion, and
courage.

55. The Priestly Jesus
Academic | Ritualist | Tender of The Spirit |
Out of Touch | Afraid of Change | Rigid

PYWA Come to the Water
October 6-8, 2025

56. Priestly Jesus
a going-off-to-pray
miracle worker and
spiritual teacher who
curates holy spaces,
nurtures spiritual
discipline, tends our
histories, and invites us
into ritual as ways to
connect to God.

57. The Poetic Jesus
Artist | Creator | Inspirer Of Dreams | Naive |
Too Out There | Unrealistic | Impractical

PYWA Come to the Water
October 6-8, 2025

58. Poetic Jesus
as a “more questions
than answers” sculptor of
words, ideas, and actions
and one who pries open
the human imagination in
order to see the
possibilities that God has
for the world.

59. The Pastoral Jesus
Sweet Baby Jesus, We Need Your Help.

PYWA Come to the Water
October 6-8, 2025

60. Pastoral Jesus
a “giving the benefit of the
doubt” convenor of
relationships, instigator of
belonging, and unapologetic
bridge builder who yearns
for us to cross cultural,
economic, and theological
divides as a way to know the
expansiveness of God's
created.

61. Pastoral Jesus
Relater | Curator |
Convener Of Voices |
Party Planner | Too
Nice | Soft | Sell Out

62. So they went out
and got into the
boat and they
experienced
scarcity through
abundance again
and not for the last
time.

63. We Need the
Pastoral Jesus
In gathering we
can experience
belonging, grace
humanity, healing,
hope, and rest.

64. Bad Pastor

65. ASK ME
ANYTHING
QUESTION &
RESPONSE
writing, palestine, faith,
church, race, technology,
culture, politics, baseball…

66. FOR REFLECTION PASTORAL
●Who would your community say you embody
most: Prophet, Priest, Pastor, or Poet?
●When have you recently experienced the
Pastoral Jesus?
●When have you yearned for or needed to
experience the Pastoral Jesus
●When have you been Pastoral Jesus for others?

67. Jesus II
Come to the Water
Presbyterian Youth Workers Association
October 6-8, 2025

68. BUT THESE
CALLED,
SACRED,
GATHERED
BODIES ARE
HURTING.
Faith Montage p181

69. But these called, sacred,
gathered bodies are
HURTING.
From ancestors and saints past to
misfits and strangers of today, we
live in a world that feeds on
destruction, rewards hatred,
reinforces oppression, dismisses
grief, denies accountability, and
manipulates vulnerability— and
often in the name of God.

70. We have lost our way.
We have turned and been turned
away from God’s intentions and
hopes for humanity. We have
brought pain upon my body, your
body, our bodies. Born from anger,
disappointment, and mourning,
God weeps with and for me,
with and for you, with and
for us.

71. As we desecrate the earth, God weeps.
As we equate light as good and dark as bad, God weeps.
As we pursue profit and perpetuate poverty, God weeps.
As we criminalize suffering and incarcerate siblings to invisibility, God
weeps.

72. As we legislate bodies and deny human agency, God weeps.
As we mock emotions and renounce empathy, God weeps.
As we choose individualism and abandon the common good, God weeps.
As we worship “normal” and demonize difference, God weeps.
As we benefit from unjust systems and justify their existence, God weeps.

73. As we deny privilege and default to indifference, God weeps.
As we choose apathy and forsake the body politic, God weeps.
As we profit from disparity and blame others for their
desperation, God weeps.
As we deny the sins of our past and reinforce institutions of oppression,
God weeps.

74. And as we embolden violence upon bodies who bear darker skin, who
go unheard, who believe differently, who love who they love, who
are deemed weak, who are silenced, who are unarmed, who are
not in control, who broaden gender, who are gifted to our care, who
are the “enemy,” who are different,
God weeps.

75. We resist and refuse to
lament and confess to that
which holds us back from
fully knowing God.
Born again and again from anger,
disappointment, and mourning,
God weeps.
And yet . . .

76. ASK ME
ANYTHING
QUESTION &
RESPONSE
writing, palestine, faith,
church, race, technology,
culture, politics, baseball…

77. Our Time with
all the Jesuses
●Introductions
Four-fold Jesus
Pastor: Help.
●Prophet: What is Happening?
●Priest: Hold Me Back.
●Poet: Snaps.
AMA/Q&R at the start/end of sessions

78. Four-Fold Jesus
Prophet: tables
Priest: prayer
Pastor: well
Poet: 5,000

79. The Prophetic Jesus
Jesus, do you see what is happening?
PYWA Come to the Water
October 6-8, 2025

80. Prophetic Jesus
a table-turning activist,
political troublemaker,
and cultural provocateur
who challenges the
world to align with God's
hopes with righteous
indignation, passion, and
courage.

81. Prophetic Jesus
Activist | Instigator | Truth
Teller| Disruptor
Too Angry | Too
Aggressive | Too Much

82. He said, “Throw your
net on the right side
of the boat and you
will find some.” When
they did, they were
unable to haul the net
in because of the
large number of fish.

83. We Need the
Prophetic Jesus
In the prophetic
Jesus we are given
a vision of God’s
intentions and
hopes for humanity

84. We Need the
Prophetic Jesus
We can respond:
ignore, defy,
midwife, flee

85. We Need the
Prophetic Jesus
What are some of
the prophetic
truths you believe
God is speaking to
the world today?

86. Empathy for
thy Enemy

87. HEALED
Faith Montage p183

88. Let us pray . . .
And yet we know what it is
to be HEALED.

To be healed is to be whole.
To move toward healing is
to move toward holiness.

In mind. In body. In gut.
In heart. In spirit. In soul.

89. You cannot be healed if I am still
hurting.
I cannot know wholeness if
you are still in agony.

We cannot experience either
while neighbors and
strangers suffer still.

90. My wholeness is intricately and
intrinsically woven
together with yours and
yours with mine.

Healing is mine is yours is ours.
Wholeness is ours is yours
is mine.

91. Yet we cannot know healing and
wholeness
without the One who loves
us into being.

God loves healing into the world.
In whispers.
In whimsy.
In wonder.

92. In exhale.
In excitement.
In euphoria.

In solitude.
In silence.
In subtlety.

93. In all of these things,
in God’s good time,
in unexpected ways,
God’s healing and
wholeness is a mighty balm
for our bone-tired bodies,
for our
compassion-fatigued
hearts, and for our weary,
weary souls. Amen.

94. ASK ME
ANYTHING
QUESTION &
RESPONSE
writing, palestine, faith,
church, race, technology,
culture, politics, baseball…

95. FOR REFLECTION PROPHETIC
●Who are people in your life or in the world who
embody the Prophetic Jesus?
●When have you recently experienced the
Prophetic Jesus?
●When have you yearned for or needed to
experience the Prophetic Jesus
●When have you been Prophetic Jesus for others?

96. Jesus III
Come to the Water
Presbyterian Youth Workers Association
October 6-8, 2025

99. Vespa the Bully
August 6, 2025

100. MISFITS AND STRANGERS
uniquely gathered like no place other. p180

101. Ancestor and saints
generation's past
generations of today
and generation's yet to come,
We arrive, we mingle,
and we observe
We step forward, we step back
We pause, we try again

102. We engage in a divine dance,
these bodies, the body,
all in a space that is God’s,
These bodies embody the depth
and texture of the Divine,
seen and unseen,
known and unknown,
addressed and avoided.

103. These bodies are not always in
control,
minds betraying,
bodies breaking down,
emotions in disarray,
mind, body, and spirit,
swirling, swirling, swirling.

104. Misfits and strangers uniquely
gathered like no place other.
Gathered by love,
gathered to love,
gathered even when we are unable
to love,
and gathered especially
when we feel undeserving of
love.

105. Woven together in moments
momentary and lingering
to worship God,
to know what it is to belong,
to celebrate the jubilance of
life,

106. to grieve when life is loss,
to lament and to confess,
to forgive and to be forgiven,
to worship, to pray, to
march, to nap,

107. to argue, to ponder, to weep, to
laugh,
to discern the mind of Christ and the
will of God,
to love the other as the world
would not want us to love
ourselves,
to affirm and proclaim that we
belong to one another,
and in turn we belong to God.
AMEN.

108. ASK ME
ANYTHING
QUESTION &
RESPONSE
writing, palestine, faith,
church, race, technology,
culture, politics, baseball…

109. The Priestly Jesus
Jesus, Hold Me Back, Hold Me Back.

PYWA Come to the Water
October 6-8, 2025

110. Priestly Jesus
a going-off-to-pray
miracle worker and
spiritual teacher who
curates holy spaces,
nurtures spiritual
discipline, tends our
histories, and invites us
into ritual as ways to
connect to God.

111. Priestly Jesus
Academic | Ritualist |
Tender of The Spirit |
Out of Touch | Afraid
of Change | Rigid

112. Priestly Jesus
Life of prayer,
reflection, worship,
spiritual discipleship,
rooted in the
Spirit,divine calling,
integrity of faith

113. Listening for the
Spirit by seeking the
voice of God within
you

114. Listening for the
Spirit by seeking
perfection in our
imperfection

115. Listening for the
Spirit by seeking
communal
discernment

116. Group Sharing
Where do you find
most life and joy:
prophet, priest,
pastor, poet?

Listeners, What did
you observe?

117. Listening to the Spirit

118. The STORIED revealing of God’s
hopes and intentions is intricately
woven in and through our
interactions with God—
a delicate conversation
between Creator and created.

119. The Spirit moves through prayer:
Not a checklist but a
conversation.
Not performance but release.
Not to control but to
relinquish.
Not to manipulate but to listen.
Not with words but also with
words.

120. The Spirit moves through
community:
Not to demand but to discern.
Not to fix but to encourage.
Not to confine but to compel.
Not to detach but to engage.
Not to seek perfection but to
love perfectly.

121. The Spirit moves through the Bible:
Not an indifferent collection but an
anthology of human
experience.
Not a contract to be enforced but a
covenant to be honored.

122. Not a map to be followed but an
adventure to be embraced.
Not a literal set of rules but
evolving truths to be revealed.
Not a weapon of faith but a
wellspring of liberation.

123. The Spirit moves in the in-between:
Not always knowing where
but trusting God is present.
Not always knowing how but
trusting God is active.

124. Not always knowing when but
trusting God is near.
Not always knowing why but
trusting God is faithful.
Not always knowing but
trusting that God is.

125. Through these windows we meet
ourselves, we meet others,
our understanding of God is
expanded,
the movements of God are made
real,
and the revealed and revealing
story of God is made known.
Amen.

126. ASK ME
ANYTHING
QUESTION &
RESPONSE
writing, palestine, faith,
church, race, technology,
culture, politics, baseball…

127. FOR REFLECTION PRIESTLY
●Who are people in your life or in the world who
embody the Priestly Jesus?
●When have you recently experienced the
Priestly Jesus?
●When have you yearned for or needed to
experience the Priestly Jesus
●When have you been Priestly Jesus for others?

128. Jesus IV
Come to the Water
Presbyterian Youth Workers Association
October 6-8, 2025

129. THE BIBLE p82

130. Baptism Litany

131. In baptism we are RENEWED.
Renewed, refreshed, and
reminded by the water of life,
the flowing waters of our ancestors,
the living water of future
generations.

132. Baptized not as a transactional act
that purchases God’s favor,
but as a response to what God
is doing in our lives and the
world.

133. Baptized not to settle for a future
bound by scarcity,
but to see dreams realized
that are fueled by the
abundance of God.

134. Baptized not as a private gesture to
prove our purity of faith,
but as a public act to proclaim
our devotion to one another.

135. Baptized not as a final destination on
our journey to know God,
but as a commitment to return
over and over again to the
place where the waterfalls,
rivers, and streams of living
water flow unrestrained.
Amen.

136. ASK ME
ANYTHING
QUESTION &
RESPONSE
writing, palestine, faith,
church, race, technology,
culture, politics, baseball…

137. The Poetic Jesus
Snaps.

PYWA Come to the Water
October 6-8, 2025

138. Poetic Jesus
as a “more questions
than answers” sculptor of
words, ideas, and actions
and one who pries open
the human imagination in
order to see the
possibilities that God has
for the world.

139. Poetic Jesus
Artist | Creator |
Creative | Inspirer Of
Dreams | Naive | Too
Out There |
Unrealistic |
Impractical

140. Poetic Jesus
Not about artistic,
but about being
creative and
imaginative, and
resisting stagnation
and calcification.

141. Poetic Jesus
Not always about
good at x, but about
allowing God to
move in new and
renewing ways:
structures, program,
other gifts & talents

142. A LANGUAGE
OF FAITH p10

143. Poetic Jesus
Where are you
already creative and
imaginative in life?

Where might you
mine more creativity
and imagination?

144. Poetic Jesus
You can try anything.
You may be good at
some things.
You will not be great
at all things.

145. Poetic Jesus
Not all things have to
be public.
Not all things have to
be commodified.
Not all things have to
be saved.
All things are for God

146. As we go . . .

147. We go with minds and hearts that
are HUMBLE
to share a faith strengthened
by always seeking God.

148. We go with hands and feet that are
JUST
to take part in God’s healing
of a hurting world.

149. We go with souls and spirits that are
KIND
to tell God’s story of dignity,
empathy, and love.

150. And we go LED by the God who
sends us,
calls us back,
and sends us again
to be and become more than
we could ever dream for
ourselves.
All these things I choose to
believe. Amen.

151. ASK ME
ANYTHING
QUESTION &
RESPONSE
writing, palestine, faith,
church, race, technology,
culture, politics, baseball…

152. Books
If your church reads any, I’ll zoom in for an hour.

153. ALL THE LINKS
All the Slides:
www.slideshare.net/breyeschow
on the Socials:
@breyeschow on all the things
eMail:
[email protected]
My Stuff all on the Table
Sign-up for my Newsletter