Missouri Union Presbytery

On Monday, April 27, Moderator Reyes-Chow visited with students, Westminster faculty and admnistrators, and others from around Missouri Union Presbytery. About 20 attended the informal conversation over breakfast in the Jones Room of the Mueller Leadership (Dining) Hall at Westminster College in Fulton, MO.  Discussion focused around the need for congregations to engage and interact within the context of their community.  For the Moderator, who pastors a millenial church of about 150 members in urban San Francisco, the communication tools to engage and minister to his congregants is very different than those best utilized within the setting of most ministry in Missouri Union. However, the essential work of communicating–asking questions and listening to the responses–is how church leaders discern the ministry God has called their congregation to do. A fundamental aspect of that conversation (and ongoing process) is that church leaders listen to the answers, so they can adapt their witness and services to faithfully live out their lives together in minstry to one another and others.  The conversation was an introduction, rather than a conclusion about the changes necessary for the Body of Christ within the PCUSA to be vital and alive in mission and service to God has called us. Thanks to Rev. Brad Sheppard, Chaplain at Westminster, who organized the event and all who attended. Westminster College is affiliated with the PC(USA) and Missouri Union Presbytery supports campus ministry at the college.