PASTOR'S PEN
The Future of Asian American Leadership in the Church
“Let no one despise your youth, but set the believers an example in speech and conduct, in love, in faith, in purity…Do not neglect the gifts what is in you, which was given to you…” - I Timothy 4:12, 14
As I celebrated my ??th birthday this past
June, it really hit me hard that I am no longer as young as I used to be.
Now, I know that some of you who know me are thinking, “What in the
world is she talking about!!???” With all due respect to those that are more
mature and wiser than I am (which I realize is many of you!), it is a true
reality to me nonetheless. I feel my physical energy declining daily, I
have glimpses of ‘mid-life crisis’ and I definitely cannot do an
‘all-nighter’ anymore! Makes me wonder what my week in Chicago coming up
with the young adults is going to be like…
From July 1-7, I spent a week with about ten
Asian American young adults as a ‘mentoring pastor’ at McCormick Theological
Seminary. These young adults came from different parts of the country,
from various theological backgrounds and diverse experiences. But they
are all gathering together because they are Asian Americans, and they are
interested in becoming effective leaders in the church.
These young adults experienced the ‘Taste of
Seminary’ – a week-long seminary-like experience with ‘real’ seminary classes,
field experiences and worship. The ‘mentoring pastors’ were with
them the entire time, going to classes and doing field work with them. (I
was actually required to do all the readings for the classes – yikes!) At
the end of the week, the students were paired up with a ‘mentoring pastor’ and
throughout the next year, this ‘mentoring pastor’ will assist the students in
discerning which direction they will head next. Some of them may hear the
call to go to seminary and pursue professional ministry. Some of them may
choose other ways of doing ministry. Either is wonderful, as they truly
seek to live out God’s call for them.
I am honored to be a part of the AADVENT
(Asian American Discipleship for Vocational Empowerment, Nurture and
Transformation) program – of which ‘Taste of Seminary’ is one component of – as
one of the ‘mentoring pastors’. The AADVENT program, in its 3rd year,
seeks to offer resources and opportunities for young Asian American adults for
their leadership development in the church and their communities. It also
gives people like me an opportunity to walk alongside with younger, emerging, Asian/Asian-American
church leadership – what an exciting thing to be a part of!
As I was growing up, I remember being given the
guidance, opportunities and resources to serve God in various ways – and I am
what I am today because of it. And today, I believe that investing in the
leadership of our young people is one of the important things God calls us to
do. Here at CUPC, we continue our quest to nurture our youth/young adults
and to equip them with the necessary tools for effective leadership. I,
personally, have been given the privilege to work with young adults outside
these church walls as well. I consider this an additional blessing!
There are wonderful things about being younger –
more energy, passion, able to do all-nighters (and still be function-able the
next morning!), creativity, and definitely NO ‘mid-life crises’! But
oftentimes, younger persons are not as appreciated because of their lack of
‘maturity’ or ‘life experience’. Timothy, as we can see in the above
Bible passage, must have had those experiences as well. But the apostle
Paul (Timothy’s mentor), in writing to Timothy, encourages him to not give up,
and to fully use the gifts that God had given him.
I believe that we are all called to be like this
apostle Paul. To help nurture and support the gifts that God has given -
to everyone, including the younger persons. They are our future, and so
investing in them and their leadership is investing in our own futures.
So as I spent a week with the young adults at
McCormick, I am inviting you to think and pray about ways that you, personally,
and we, as a church are called to be a part of the leadership development of
our younger persons. Then I invite you to go and take the first step in
doing it – come share your ideas with the session or myself, come get involved
with us, become like Paul with us! I am looking forward to hearing from
you…
Summer blessings!
DEACONS' REPORT
As I write this report on the 4th of July, I am
reminded to be thankful to God for living in this wonderful country and for the
freedom that we have. My only hope is that we find peace throughout
the world.
The Deacon’s next meeting is July 15th. I
invite anyone who is interested to please join us.
Coffee Fellowship
The
Deacons would like to thank the individuals who have contributed to the coffee
fellowship during the month of June. The Deacon’s are aware there are others
who do not sign up on the list, but contribute. We would like to thank
you all. Also, if you haven’t signed up recently, I encourage you to sign
up on the bulletin board next to the social hall. Thank you in advance.
Irene Woo, Vice Moderator
ARTICLES OF INTEREST
Summer Camp Moment
My name is Rachelle Hata and I am 18 years
old. I am entering my sophomore year at City College of San Francisco
this fall and majoring in Education. To be honest, I wasn’t expecting to
work at camp this year. I was originally going to go to summer school and
continue my job at Banana Republic. But I told myself that if I started
to hate my job for any reason, I will quit and work at CUPC. And look
where I am now, working at CUPC and no job at Banana Republic. But this
wasn’t the only reason why I came to work this year. It was partially
because others were working, and of course the kids.
I’ve been coming to camp since the 4th grade and
have been a leader for six years, which will make this year my eleventh year at
CUPC. This year I am the oldest leader, if you count by grades, but if
not, then I am the second oldest leader. It is pretty interesting to see how
many younger leaders there are at camp this year. They seem so exhausted
at the end of the day during afternoon seminar and complain about how their
campers would not listen and tell stories how a kid falls in the mud and we all
would laugh hysterically.
This week, we finished our first week of camp and
it seemed like the longest week of camp I have ever spent here at CUPC. I
don’t know why but I am pretty sure most of the leaders would agree with me
that this week was long and exhausting. My week was pretty eventful, I
had gotten a real bad sunburn on my arms, which are still burning now, I cooked
the hardest cookout I had ever done, believe me, chicken skewers are harder
then they sound, they would stick to the foil, take too long to cook, and sharing
half of two grills was not the best cookout idea I’ve had, but I must say they
were pretty tasty; it was also track and field day where the campers would
compete in teams through numerous events that include relay races, soccer
games, playing jug baseball, penguin football, volleyball with the biggest
beach ball I had ever seen that had to be flown up manually, and going through
the amazingly hard obstacle course that another leader and I had made up.
And most of all, the thing I would remember the most from this week was that on
the way back from the park, I had accidentally picked up a backpack that was
not even a campers’.
I would say that camp gives me so many memories
that will last for a long time. I can still remember how camp was like
when I was in the 4th grade with the current ED as my leader. The bonds
we make here, the friendships we make here, they all will last a lifetime for
most of these leaders and campers.
Gay Families in the Church
The weekend of June 24 in San Francisco was the
celebration of the Gays and Lesbians in their annual parade on Market
Street. We saw brightly colored and flamboyant costumes worn by the
participants in a joyful and celebratory mood as they danced and paraded in
front of thousands of admirers and supporters.
For myself, having lived in this open and
tolerant city, I felt we had passed the stage of drawing attention to the gay
and lesbian communities in such a visible manner.
Having said that, I would like to focus on the
churches of San Francisco, and Christ Church, in particular. As yet, we
as a church, haven’t openly stated our affirmation and acceptance for those who
are gay or lesbian. We haven’t held a forum or discussed this subject in
any organized way. I don’t know how our members think, but I believe that
as a church we are open to all peoples, no matter what their racial, gender,
age, and sexual orientations are.
There’s a film, “In God’s House: Asian
American Lesbian and Gay Families in the Church” which is now being shown among
the church groups. The film attempts to promote greater tolerance and
acceptance in the church for gays and lesbians. I’ve been told by those
who had seen it, that the film is powerful and thought-provoking.
I am recommending that Christ Church, through one
of its committees or boards, sponsor a study group on this subject, to view the
film and to share our thoughts on this vital concern.
I believe it’s time that we openly discuss and
hopefully affirm our acceptance of the gays and lesbians in our midst.
God loves us all!
Kathy Reyes
