Bruce Reyes-Chow is an American Teaching Elder (minister) of the

Presbyterian Church (USA) The Presbyterian Church (USA), abbreviated PC(USA), is a mainline Protestant denomination in the United States. It is the largest Presbyterian denomination in the US, and known for its liberal stance on doctrine and its ordaining of women and ...

. Reyes-Chow received his BA in Asian American Studies, Sociology and Religion from San Francisco State University in 1990 and received his Masters of Divinity in 1995 from San Francisco Theological Seminary. He was the pastor of Covenant Presbyterian Church in San Francisco from 1995 to 1999 and from 2000 to 2011 he served as the founding pastor of Mission Bay Community Church in the SOMA District San Francisco, California, described as a new kind of start-up. In 2011 he was given an honorary Doctor of Divinity degree from Austin College and that same year was named the 2011 San Francisco Theological Seminary Distinguished Alumnus. He has also served as Transitional Pastor and Head of Staff at Valley Presbyterian Church in Portola Valley, CA (2017-2018)and Broadmoor Presbyterian Church in Daly City. CA (2018-2019). He is currently the Pastor and Head of Staff at First Presbyterian Church of Palo Alto (CA) and a Senior Consultant and Coach with The Center for Progressive Renewal, a non-profit, Atlanta-based church development organization. He currently blogs for the religion, parenting, and technology sections of '' The Huffington Post'' (2011–present) and formerly for the progressive Christians section for Patheos (2011–2014) and the City Brights on SFGate (2009–2012), the online publication for the '' San Francisco Chronicle''. Reyes-Chow was elected Moderator of the 218th General Assembly of the

Presbyterian Church Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland by John Knox, who was a priest at St. Giles Cathedral (Church of Scotland). Presbyterian churches derive their nam ...

.Official Biography
/ref> He was elected on June 21, 2008, from a field of four candidates, receiving 48 percent of the vote on the first ballot and 55 percent of the vote on the second ballot.
/ref> He was at the youngest Moderator ever elected at 39 years old, and considered to be a representative of the liberal parts of the church, America Passes the Torch to the Joshua Generation -- What it means for the PC(U.S.A.)
while some on the conservative church questioned, "Has the General Assembly put the future of the Presbyterian Church (USA) at greater risk by electing Reyes-Chow as moderator for two years?"Is risk-taker moderator a risk for denomination?
He has been characterized as a

radical centrist Radical centrism (also called the radical center, the radical centre or the radical middle) is a concept that arose in Western nations in the late 20th century. The '' radical'' in the term refers to a willingness on the part of most radical ce ...

thinker in '' USA Today''. He ended his time as Moderator on July 3, 2010, when his successor, Elder Cynthia Bolbach was elected at the 219th General Assembly.Cynthia Bolbach elected Moderator on fourth ballot
Reyes-Chow is a blogger and has a large social networking presence.
/ref> He believes blogging is a spiritual practice
/ref> and that technology is essential to a young church. In 2018 Reyes-Chow, a vocal supporter of immigrant and refugee rights, along with 30+ other faith leaders, was arrested at the US Mexico Border as part of an action by the

American Friends Service Committee The American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) is a Religious Society of Friends (''Quaker'') founded organization working for peace and social justice in the United States and around the world. AFSC was founded in 1917 as a combined effort by Am ...

's protest against the militarization of the board and the treatment of refugees.Vandermillet, Cherie (12 December 2018).
Clergy Protesting US Immigration Policies Arrested at US-Mexico Border
. ''Pulpit & Pen''. In 2010 Reyes-Chow was named to th
NUMMI Blue Ribbon Commission
by CA State Treasurer,

Bill Lockyer William Westwood Lockyer (born May 8, 1941) is a retired American politician from California, who held elective office from 1973 to 2015, as State Treasurer of California, California Attorney General, and President Pro Tempore of the California ...

tasked with convincing the Toyota Motor Corporation not to close their manufacturing plant in Fremont, CA.

Works

*''In Defense of Kindness: Why It Matters, How It Changes Our Lives, and How It Can Save the World'' (Chalice Press, 2021) *''Rule #2: Don't Be an Asshat: An Official Handbook for Raising Parents and Children'' (Bacosa Books, 2016) *''40 Days, 40 Prayers, 40 Words: Lenten Reflections for Everyday Life'' (Westminster John Knox Press, 2015) *''But I Don't See You as Asian: Curating Conversations about Race'' (Kickstarted, Self-Published, 2013) *''The Definitive-ish Guide for Using Social Media in the Church'' (Shook Foil Books, 2012) *''Insights from the Underside: An Intergenerational Conversation of Ministers'' (Broad Mind Press, 2008) Contributing author

References

External links

Patheos blog

The Virtual Pastor

Stockton Native to Lead Church

New moderator seeks to unite

Living people American bloggers American people of Filipino descent Presbyterian Church (USA) teaching elders Protestant religious leaders People from Stockton, California San Francisco State University alumni HuffPost writers and columnists Radical centrist writers San Francisco Theological Seminary alumni Year of birth missing (living people) {{US-Christian-clergy-stub