MBCC Blog

A letter of thanks to MBCC

[image: sunside]*

Dear members and friends of Mission Bay Community Church,

I hope this note finds you doing well and enjoying the rhythms of the summer months.

It is hard to believe that only a year ago, I began this journey of being Moderator of the Presbyterian Church (USA).  For many of you who are new, you have heard about this role, many of us have made reference to it and without going into great deal again, I simply want to say "thank you" for all that you all have done to make this past year go well.

To recap a little bit, my role as moderator requires me to travel about 1/3 of the time around the US and abroad to act as a kind of ambassador for the denomination.  This is a two-year term that will last until July, 2010.   MBCC folks liken this position to being the temporary queen: all the pomp and none of the power ;-)  Part of that role for me has been to share our story with the church in ways that honor and embrace the foundations and heritage of our faith while at the same time boldly emerging into what may be. MBCC, in "sharing" me with the denomination impacts the church more than you know, so on behalf of the Presbyterian Church (USA), thank you.

And while we are a church that tries to share leadership well, I know that there have been times when my absence has been hard on staff, members and new folks trying to navigate the cultural life of MBCC.  For this I am sorry.  My hope is that during this time we will discover how MBCC will best live and breath a organization structure and leadership model that will allow us to impact the world and touch lives. 

One of the reasons that I am writing to you now is simple to check-in before a very busy travel time hits this Summer.  I will be away trying to find time for both vacation and moderator travels so will be absent from Sundays more than usual.  As new folks begin to get connected and as we continue to move forward, while I may be away physically, I am only a twitter or eMail away ;-)

Please let me know if you have any questions and I am always up for coffee, we just may have to schedule a little in advance.

Peace,
Bruce

For more info here are a few links:

• Explanation of the Moderator thing, Jan 2008
• Official denominational Moderator page
• Bruce's Moderator Blog
• Mod Squad Facebook Group

* For those of you out there that do not recognize this picture, this is a picture of what is called a "typewriter" ;-)

Candidates Forum, Congregational Meetings and the Romans

Hope everyone is doing well this crisp cool Monday morning.  Once again, thanks to those who have been helping out so much with our transition into 32 Ocean Avenue as well as getting many of our systems up and going so we can run smooth like butter ;-)

A few links for your Monday AM perusal.

DISTRICT 11 CANDIDATES FORUM

We are now located in District 11 where there is a wide open race for supervisor.  The Excelsior Action Group, the local neighborhood association is hosting a forum on Thursday, October 23, 7:00-8:30 and the Mission YMCA.  For more information please contact cristy@eagsf.org or give her a call 415.585.0110. Confirmed candidates include: John Avalos, Mary Goodnature, Eli Horn, Randy Knox, Myrna Lim, Julio Ramos and Ahsha Safai

CONGREGATIONAL MEETINGS

SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 2 - Please mark your calendars for a few important dates coming up that are important to the life of MBCC.  First, on November 2 we will be having a brief congregational meeting to talk about our relationship with the Presbyterian Church (USA) and our ongoing movement towards becoming fully self-sufficient and a chartered congregations.  I know a lot of church-talk, but we'll explain more on the 2nd.

SUNDAY, DECEMBER 14 - If the way be clear from denominational offices, MBCC will be recognized and chartered as an official congregation in the Presbyterian Church (USA).  At this service we will ordain elders, I will be "installed" as the permant pastor and a gret deal of other Presby pomp will take place.  And while for all intents and purposes this will not change the way we engage in being church, it is a step forward in our life as a congregation.

"PEACE . . . OH SHUT-UP"

For those at church this Sunday, here is the clip I used as we explored Matthew 22:15-22 and what we give back to Ceasar.

What a week in San Jose!

OK, before I talk about General Assembly, let be put in a word for our Presbyterian team at AIDS Walk San Francisco.  We are near the cutoff for team table qualification, so we really need a last minute push to get folks to register.  We need 100 walkers signed up early, in order to be assigned the really large table that will help us set up our post-walk BBQ, so go to aidswalksanfrancisco2008.kintera.org/presbyterian and sign up online (one name per registration, so a family of three does 3 registrations, for example)!!  There's no registration fee, no minimum fundraising amount (if by check or cash)

By now, you've probably seen several other posts about this thing called General Assembly.  Because it is seldom on the West coast, many Bay Area folks (including me) wanted to attend many or all of the meetings.   Several of us commuted daily on CalTrain, to leave a smaller carbon footprint.  If I had to choose again, I would instead stay in San Jose the whole time.  There were some meetings that lasted as late as 10:30 or 11:30 PM, which made for a long day.  And, the last train left San Jose at 10:30 PM each night (9:00 PM on Sundays).  While CalTrain's Baby Bullet trains are faster than buses or cars, there were only local trains on weekends, which took about 100 minutes  (instead of 58) one way.  Add in the SF portion of the commute time (on Muni), and one can see how a big chunk of the day was spent in transit, even without covering the late night meetings.

I really enjoyed helping in Bruce's booth on Friday and Saturday.  It was a great opportunity to meet and greet new people, share our story and answer questions.  Plus, we had the BRC4MOD buttons, stickers, and tshirts.  I also reconnected with some folks that I had not seen in years.  Many of the people helping in the booth were from out-of-state, so we were an enthusiastic crowd.  On Saturday night during the election, we had four rows of seats in the observer section, so there was high energy present to support Bruce.  After the election results were announced, we are able to walk up to the stage.  This was powerful, as our presence enabled us to show that "nurtured by our past, embracing our future" was more than just a campaign promise.  On Sunday afternoon, the Moderator's Reception was held at the San Jose City Hall rotunda.  There were hundreds of people lined up to meet the new moderator, and shake hands with Bruce and Robin.

The next couple days were for a huge number of committee meetings, some of which ran pretty long.  In the meantime, there was a huge exhibit hall with booths featuring many programs, vendors, and groups.  Also in the exhibit hall was a global marketplace to go shopping.  By midweek, the exhibit hall displays were taken down, as the general meetings started, led by the moderator and vice-moderator (taking turns).  Each of the committees gave their recommendations, which were discussed and voted on.  Some of these meetings also ran late into the evening. Throughout much of the week, there were technical glitches to be fixed, as the wifi seldom worked, even for the PC-biz system being used (instead of paper) to follow the meetings.  Even the laptops connected to the intranet sometimes had difficulty connecting to the PC-biz system, so there were a lot of paper copies of documents being used throughout the week.

By the time that these meetings all wrapped up, many folks had been in nonstop meetings for over a week, and were probably anxious to get home.  The next General Assembly, two years from now, will be in Minneapolis.

[Join the new Moderator Facebook Group]

MBCC'ers make themselves known at General Assembly

First, thanks for all the support at the General Assembly this year.  It was truly heart-warming to have so many folks there, albeit a little rowdy.  I was not the only one to notice the energy of the MBCC crew as I just stumbled upon this post from Greg Bolt.

I want to talk about my experience. Heidi and I were invited to sit with the MBCC community to watch the election, by Marc Jung, an elder at MBCC, (someone who we had met about an hour before). The moderator election is always tense, but as I listened to the answers of the four candidates I couldn't help but feel inspired by Bruce. The energy around the people I was sitting with was palpable and the joy that they shared with their pastor was a true vision (of what I beleive t0 be) community. Diffferent ages, different interests, coming together for one thing. I thank the MBCC community for allowing Heidi and I to share their joy of the moderator election with them and their pastor. [Read Full Post]

Your support means more than you know.

Peace out - Bruce

BRC4MOD - Election Night Details

Greetings MBCC-types

I hope you are doing well and had a great rest of the day.  As usual the potluck today was great fun and special kudos to Rodney and Marc who stayed the the bitter end to clean-up the kitchen.  Thanks.

As promised, here are some of the details for the election this Saturday PM.  Please feel free to contact myself, Leslie or Abby if you have more questions.  Once you get on-site I will be hard to get in touch with,  so just stop by the booth and we will try to find a place where the MBCC folks can congregate.

First, let me thank you again for the support over the past few months in so many ways.  Elected or not, this has been an amazing journey.  The patience that has been shown by MBCC over the past few months has been wonderful.  Even if folks have not really understood what is going on, you have been willing to be open to walk with me as I have responded to this call. 

Okay, so here is the deal'o.  Pre-apologies.  I am trying to balance a million things in the week leading up to the Election, so please feel free to ping me if I missed something. 

The following information is for the day of the election only.

WHO ELSE IS GOING
To connect with other MBCC'ers who may be headed down, please visit the MBCC'ers at GA Event Page and connect with others who are making the trek down to SJ!

WHAT YOU ARE PART OF
You are coming to the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church, USA.  This is the bi-annual national gathering that represents the 2.3 million members of the denomination.  At this meeting we will discuss and decide upon hundreds of issues, the first of which being the election of the Moderator.  The Moderator runs the meeting for the week and then is the main face/spokesperson for the church over the next two years.  [Official GA Site]

LOCATION
San Jose McEnery Convention Center
150 West San Carlos St.
San Jose, CA 95113
[Parking Info]

TIME TO BE THERE
The election is at 7:00pm and will go until 9:00.  As I mentioned during worship as well, there will be a chance to gather afterwards and info will be available from Abby, Tiffany and/or Leslie on the day of the election.  If there is any chance you can get there earlier, you should take some time to observe the natives and/or hang out in the booth and say nice things about me ;-)

WHAT TO DO WHEN YOU GET THERE
Again, feel free to hang out at the conventions center or head on over to the official BRC4MOD Hospitality Room in the Fairmont, just across the street from the Convention Center.  Tiffany, Abby and/or Leslie will have access info for the room.  If you do get there early, please feel free to stop by my booth and proudly display your BRC4MOD stickers, button and t-shirts! 

PARKING AND REGISTRATION
There is parking at the Convention Center for $18 max [Parking Info]  Officially you must also register for access to the meeting and hall.  The on-site registration is $20 which gives you access to all events for the week, but since you are only there for the day, there may be some leeway.  I have more info if you want to ping me on the side.

HOSPITALITY ROOM
My wonderful sisters will be hosting the hospitality room at the Fairmont beginning at 1:00 on Saturday.  There will be food throughout the day, a place to hang out and rest and dinner at 5:00 if you are around.  Once you get to the site, feel free to stop by the booth and we'll give you instructions for gaining entrance into the suite.   Also, if you happen to be there Thursday and/or Friday, we have a room at the Marriot where you can also hang out and relax.

WHAT YOU CAN EXPECT THAT NIGHT
Unless you have even been to a General Assembly before, it is quite the experience.  The time at the beginning of the meeting is all about the getting commissioners oriented and the election of the Moderator.  I apologize in advance that I probably will not be able to hang out and chat much at all during the day, but hope that you can stay afterwards for some partying and hanging out.  The way the night will work is at 7:00 nomination speeches are made, each candidate makes a statement and then we take questions from the floor.  After a set number of questions are taken, the candidates go backstage and the commissioners vote.  Rounds of voting are done until there is one candidate with a 51% or higher.  The winner then does this traditional walk from the back of the Center w/ his/her family and then commissioned on stage.  If I should not be elected, I return to my seat and wait for our party to start anyway ;-)

POST ELECTION
Again, as I mentioned this AM, we will have details for the after-party that day, so please see Abby, Leslie and/or Tiffany that day for instructions.

I think that is it for now, if you have any questions, please feel free to drop me a note.

Take care,
Bruce

Presbyterian Church (USA) Survey, hey hey

As you may or may not know, MBCC is affiliated with the Presbyterian Church (USA), a denomination of about 2.3 million people.  As with any larger modern institution, we are trying to figure out what denominations will look like in the future.  We know that they will not look the same should they be a part of the larger church, but we also do not wanted to wander into oblivion without some thought ;-)

This survey just showed up on my reader and thought MBCC would be good folks to take it.  It'll take you 5 minutes to fill out.  Let them/us what you think about when you hear "Presbyterian."   
Be nice'ish ;-)
[TAKE SURVEY]

Bruce, MBCC and This Moderator Thing

January 23, 2008

Dear my MBCC Family,

I hope this post finds you doing well.

As you may have heard and/or read, I have recently been endorsed by the Steering Committee of MBCC and the local area of churches to stand for moderator of the Presbyterian Church (USA).  For some of you this means little as you are still getting to know who MBCC is let alone the denomination with which we are affiliated.  And yet for others, this is a big deal in the life of my ministry and the church.  In many ways, depending on one's perspective, it is can be seen as insignificant, momentous and everything in between, much like life I suppose, an adventure of calling and faith.

Still, I want folks to know what this is all about, so let me address a few questions that you may have . . .

What is the Moderator?
The Presbytery Church (USA) is roughly made up of 2.3 million members in the US.  The Moderator presides over deliberations at the General Assembly, a bi-annual national gathering of the denomination.  This year it will be held in San Jose, CA beginning June 21, 2008 at the San Jose Convention Center.  For the following two years the Moderator acts as a kind of spokesperson and emissary for the PC(USA).  This is largely a symbolic position with little policy influence, but is able to help determine some of the focus over the next year. 

Why Bruce, why now?
Over the past year or so I have been in conversation with friends and colleagues throughout our denomination about the state and future of the PC(USA).  We are under no delusions that we have THE answers, but we do believe that there are some conversations that must be had at all levels of the church in order for the denomination to move into whatever it will be next.  And while real change will only come from congregations and grassroots movements, opportunities for meaningful interactions need to be created at the national level of our church.  For a myriad of reasons, my name has floated to the top of some lists as one to step up and into the role of Moderator and help to create some space for these conversations to be had.  Much of that has to do with the type of community we are creating here at MBCC, one vision of what church may look like in the future.  For more information about why, see [WHY BRUCE]. 

What COULD this mean for MBCC?
Should I be elected, there will be a great impact on MBCC.  What it does NOT mean however is that I will leave my position as pastor at MBCC.  My primary calling in ministry is to the local church in general and MBCC in particular.  I LOVE serving with this quirky and faith group known as MBCC.  This is where I am nurtured in my faith, my children are learning about God and we have so much more to do to impact the one another and The City. 
Over the past six months the Steering Committee has been intentional about shifting our leadership model top be more shared.  This was not done in response to my future, but because we have grown and need to adjust to that growth.  If we are to continue to grow AND be healthy, I need to be at the center of fewer and fewer aspects of the church.  Not only is this important for my own ministry but for the long term health and sustainability of MBCC.  Practically, if should become moderator, I will be traveling about 33% of the time.  I will preach about the same number of times, but unlike my current practice, when other folks preach, I will most likely not be present.  We will also receive a small stipend from the denomination to cover any administrative duties that need to be covered.  In terms of pastoral care, I will still interact online from where I am traveling and will plan on a regular monthly schedule to meet with folks face-to-face as needed.  In short, I will still be primarily responsible for pastoral leadership here at MBCC, but this fits in well with some shifts in structure that we have intended to make all along.

What if I want to know more?
If you have more questions, want to talk or are interested in helping out you can always drop me a note or schedule some time to have coffee.  In the mean time If you would like to track developments and find out more about this adventure there are some options.

• Join the Facebook Group
• Subscribe to the new launched Moderator Blog
• Become a Facebook "Fan"
• Donate or Get involved in the Campaign [MORE INFO]
• Blog about why you think this is a good idea, or add some Blog Bling to your Blog
• Mark your calendar for Election Night - June 21, 7:00 at the San Jose Convention Center and hang out with thousands of Presbyterians as we elect the next Moderator.

Over the next few months I will be on road about once a month meeting people throughout the denomination in the hopes to listen to the church and give them an idea about what my moderator term would look and feel like.  This is an incredibly humbling and exciting time for me, my family and I hope the church, so please let me know if you have any questions and/or want to talk more about any of this.

Take care,
Bruce, the pastor.
[eMail me]