UKirk National Gathering 2024 from Bruce Reyes-Chow

Slides used at the 2024 UKirk National Gathering. Centered on the book, "Everything Good about God is True: Choosing Faith" (Broadleaf Books, 2024)

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

2. GOOD GOD
UKirk National Gathering
Ferncliff Conference Center
June 11-14, 2024

3. AGENDA
Session 1
●Intros and Context Setting
●Intro to Everything Good about
God is True: Choosing Faith
●Exercise: How God is Good…
●AMA/Q&R

Session II
●Table Check-in
●Exercise: But if God is Good…
●Exercise: Yes, God is Good…
●AMA/Q&R

4. SLIDES
www.slideshare.net/breyeschow

SOCIALS
@breyeschow on everything

AMA/Q&R
Faith, Book, Church, Ministry,
PCUSA, Palestine, etc.

5. INTRODUCTION
Setting my social location
UKirk National Gathering
June 11-14, 2024

7. ABOUT BRUCE

8. ABOUT BRUCE
●Generation X, “Whatever"

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

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

11. ABOUT BRUCE
●Generation X, “Whatever"
●Filipino/Chinese rooted in
organizing and activism
●Ordained since 1995

12. ABOUT BRUCE
●Generation X, “Whatever"
●Filipino/Chinese rooted in
organizing and activism
●Ordained since 1995
●Ministry: growth

13. ABOUT BRUCE
●Generation X, “Whatever"
●Filipino/Chinese rooted in
organizing and activism
●Ordained since 1995
●Ministry: growth, activism,
and polarity management
●

14. ABOUT BRUCE
●Generation X, “Whatever"
●Filipino/Chinese rooted in
organizing and activism
●Ordained since 1995
●Ministry: growth, activism, and
polarity management
●

15. ABOUT BRUCE
●Generation X, “Whatever"
●Filipino/Chinese rooted in
organizing and activism
●Ordained since 1995
●Ministry: growth, activism, and
polarity management
●Tentmaker: podcaster

16. ABOUT BRUCE
●Generation X, “Whatever"
●Filipino/Chinese rooted in
organizing and activism
●Ordained since 1995
●Ministry: growth, activism, and
polarity management
●Tentmaker: podcaster, writer

17. ABOUT BRUCE
●Generation X, “Whatever"
●Filipino/Chinese rooted in
organizing and activism
●Ordained since 1995
●Ministry: growth, activism, and
polarity management
●Tentmaker: podcaster, writer,
speaker

18. ABOUT BRUCE
●Generation X, “Whatever"
●Filipino/Chinese rooted in
organizing and activism
●Ordained since 1995
●Ministry: growth, activism, and
polarity management
●Tentmaker: podcaster, writer,
speaker, leadership coach,

19. ABOUT BRUCE
●Generation X, “Whatever"
●Filipino/Chinese rooted in
organizing and activism
●Ordained since 1995
●Ministry: growth, activism, and
polarity management
●Tentmaker: podcaster, writer,
speaker, leadership coach
●Spouse to Robin; Dad to three

20. ABOUT BRUCE
●Generation X, “Whatever"
●Filipino/Chinese rooted in
organizing and activism
●Ordained since 1995
●Ministry: growth, activism, and
polarity management
●Tentmaker: podcaster, writer,
speaker, leadership coach
●Spouse to Robin; Dad to three

21. ABOUT BRUCE
●Generation X, “Whatever"
●Filipino/Chinese rooted in
organizing and activism
●Ordained since 1995
●Ministry: growth, activism, and
polarity management
●Tentmaker: podcaster, writer,
speaker, leadership coach
●Spouse to one; Dad to three

22. ABOUT BRUCE
●Generation X, “Whatever"
●Filipino/Chinese rooted in
organizing and activism
●Ordained since 1995
●Ministry: growth, activism, and
polarity management
●Tentmaker: podcaster, writer,
speaker, leadership coach
●Spouse to one; Dad to three
●Joys: Soccer

23. ABOUT BRUCE
●Generation X, “Whatever"
●Filipino/Chinese rooted in
organizing and activism
●Ordained since 1995
●Ministry: growth, activism, and
polarity management
●Tentmaker: podcaster, writer,
speaker, leadership coach
●Spouse to one; Dad to three
●Joys: Soccer, Plants

24. ABOUT BRUCE
●Generation X, “Whatever"
●Filipino/Chinese rooted in
organizing and activism
●Ordained since 1995
●Ministry: growth, activism, and
polarity management
●Tentmaker: podcaster, writer,
speaker, leadership coach
●Spouse to one; Dad to three
●Joys: Soccer, Plants, OTF

25. WHO ARE YOU?
Name/Pronouns
Ministry Context
What are you reading, listening
to, or watching these days?
What is something that has
recently brought you joy?

26. EVERYTHING GOOD
ABOUT GOD IS TRUE
Choosing Faith
UKirk National Gathering
June 11-14, 2024

27. DECONSTRUCTION
Faith is more about asking
questions than claiming certainty
Engaging in Social Justice is a
faithful witness to the Gospel
Women can be ordained into
pastoral leadership
LGBTQIA+ Siblings are affirmed in
the fullness of the church
God is should be described with
expansive and inclusive language

28. FIRST
REACTION/S

Smugness & Arrogance
or Sorrow & Lament

WE HAVE NOT TOLD THE
STORY WELL ENOUGH

29. Rise of White
Conservative
Christian
Nationalism as
the Dominant
Christian
Narrative

30. A BETTER VERSION
Ancestors and Saints of the Faith

31. ORIGIN STORY
A Faith Montage was written
A idea was rejected and an accessible
primer on the Christian faith was requested
A version of faith not centered one what we
don’t believe, but on what we do is offered
A faith of individual, communal, faith,
justice, love, invitation, complexity is woven
A resource for individual/group reminding
reconstruction, renewing is created.

32. CLASS OF 1987
Luther Burbank High School, Sacramento, CA

33. ABOUT WHAT IS
“GOOD” ABOUT GOD
Introduction p9

34. SO LET’S SHARE
AND SEEK OUT
WHAT WE
BELIEVE IS
GOOD ABOUT
GOD

35. PRACTICING
STARTING WITH
GOODNESS
●Vision: How God is Good
●Obstacles: But if God is Good
●Directions: Articulating that,
yes, God is good.

36. PROCESS
ASSUMES
●Faith
●Wisdom
●Empathy
●Curiosity
●Conviction

37. PROCESS
STEPS
●Three Minutes of
Brainstorming
●Pass until back to original
●Discern the top three good
things about each area
●Report Back

38. SEVEN AREAS
1.THE PEOPLE GATHERED
2.PAIN, GRIEF, AND LAMENT
3.CONFESSION AND
FORGIVENESS
4.MOVEMENT OF THE SPIRIT
5.THE RESURRECTION OF JC
6.THE SACRAMENTS
7.GOD’S CALLING

39. GROUP SHARE
●What were your top three?
●Were there others that
almost made the cut?
●Any interesting comments,
thoughts, reactions, etc.

40. You are known by God.
You are loved by God.
That is enough.
You are enough.
p174

41. GOOD GOD
UKirk National Gathering
Ferncliff Conference Center
June 11-14, 2024

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

43. GOOD GOD
UKirk National Gathering
Ferncliff Conference Center
June 11-14, 2024

45. AGENDA
Session 1
●Intros and Context Setting
●Intro to Everything Good about
God is True: Choosing Faith
●Exercise: How God is Good…
●AMA/Q&R

Session II
●Table Check-in
●Exercise: But if God is Good…
●Exercise: Let us pray
●AMA/Q&R/Values/Prayer
●Let us pray

46. SLIDES
www.slideshare.net/breyeschow

SOCIALS
@breyeschow on everything

AMA/Q&R
Faith, Book, Church, Ministry,
PCUSA, Palestine, etc.

47. CHECK-IN
Share something that no one at
your table knows or would be
surprised to know about you: skill,
experience, event, passion, etc.
Name something that has fed
your soul, heart, mind over the
past 36 hours at this event.

48. CALL FOR
A BETTER WAY
Introduction p5

49. THOUGHTS?
REACTIONS?
EXAMPLES?

HOW HAVE YOU
RESPONDED?

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

51. 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.

52. 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.

53. 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.
As we legislate bodies and deny human agency, God weeps.
As we mock emotions and renounce empathy, God weeps.

54. 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.
As we deny privilege and default to indifference, God weeps.
As we worship “normal” and demonize difference, God weeps.
As we benefit from unjust systems and justify their existence, God weeps.

55. 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.

56. 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.

57. 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. Amen.

58. OBSTACLES
Revisit three Good things
and transfer to new sheet.
What are the social, cultural,
political, theological,
institutional, or personal
barriers to these good things
being known more fully?
2:00 rotations

59. GROUP SHARE
●What were your top three?
●Were there others that
almost made the cut?
●Any interesting comments,
thoughts, reactions, etc.

60. THE LANGUAGE
Introduction p10

61. PRAYER
CRAFTING
For your particular area and
to the people you serve, craft
a prayer that articulates the
faith claims made.

62. ASK ME
ANYTHING
QUESTION &
RESPONSE

63. LAST THINGS
●What values were expressed
and experienced today?
●For whom and what shall we
prayer for today?

64. Let us pray . . .
The People Gathered
Pain, Grief, and Lament
Confession and Forgiveness
Movement of The Spirit
The Resurrection of Jesus Christ
The Sacraments
God’s Calling
. . . AMEN

65. ALL THE LINKS
Today’s Slides:
www.slideshare.net/breyeschow
on the Socials:
@breyeschow on all the things
eMail:
[email protected]
Blatant Shilling of My Stuff
Venmo: @BRCOfficial