The wonderful people who contribute to the nuts and bolts
Bruce Reyes-Chow, Pastor
An ordained minister since 1995, this 30-something California native is the founding pastor of Mission Bay Community Church. Bruce just loves Northern California and San Francisco and is excited about the possibilities for the ministry in the Mission Bay and Potrero Hill districts of the city. He graduated from San Francisco State University with a special major in Asian American Studies, Sociology, and Religion in 1990 and from San Francisco Theological Seminary in 1995. He has served the Presbyterian Church (USA) over the years as a preacher, worship leader, and keynoter.
As the main speaker / preacher / talking head at MBCC, Bruce believes that a good message is one that is relevant, is compelling, and creates an emotional and intellectual connection between life and faith. He is firmly convicted that life is just chaotic and that the key to finding security amidst the chaos is not to put life in a rigidly controlled box, but to embrace and claim God's presence in the ambiguity--a difficult way to live, but a way that honors the authenticity of our lives and strengthens our relationship with God.
Bruce has lived in San Francisco since 1989 after growing up in Sacramento and Stockton. He now lives in the Oceanview district of San Francisco with his wife since 1990, Robin Pugh; and three daughters, Evelyn, Abigail, and Analise. His free time is filled with hanging out in cafes, cheering on those awesome Oakland Athletics, and riding his Triumph Bonneville T-100, "Trixie Triumph."
Blog | MySpace | del.icio.us | Yahoo/AIM: brucereyeschow | Skype: reyes-chow
Tiffany Flaming, Worship Arts Coordinator
Tiffany Flaming has lived in the Bay Area for the past 8 years and feels, to quote Woody Allen's opinion of New York, "people who live anywhere else must be, in some sense, kidding." She is, however, originally from Phoenix, Arizona. Tiffany grew up in the home of her self-employed parents, Jim and Betty, and takes a good deal of credit for the way her younger brother Todd has turned out. She and her family were all very active in their local church, her father serving as a deacon and her mother, brother, and herself being very involved in various church music ministries.
Upon her graduation from high school, Tiffany took a rather circuitous path to a Bachelor's Degree in Creative Arts in Worship from Grand Canyon University in Phoenix. Following that, she served as the Children's Arts Coordinator for a church in Phoenix. Tiffany first came to California when she was asked to serve a summer as the female singer in the band Everybodyduck at Hume Lake Christian Camps. In September of 1998, she took a position as the Children's Ministry Director at First Baptist Church of San Francisco. During her time there, she attended Golden Gate Baptist Theological Seminary where she earned a Master's Degree in Worship Leadership in December, 2001.
Tiffany has served in various music and worship ministries all over the Bay Area, and is now overseeing The Rock, a monthly worship gathering now housed at MBCC. While her love for San Francisco is deep and abiding, she still enjoys making frequent trips back to the desert southwest to visit her beautiful and perfect niece and nephew. And she enjoys piña coladas and taking walks in the rain.
Leslie Veen, Parish Associate
Leslie Veen grew up in rural Southern Michigan the daughter of an
engineer and an Emergency Room nurse and the youngest of three children.
Throughout her grade school years, Leslie and her family were deeply involved
in the life of their local Baptist church. Upon graduating from high school,
Leslie followed in her older sister's footsteps and attended Calvin College in
Grand Rapids, MI. There she pursued a degree in teaching Spanish and Music.
During her years at Calvin, Leslie learned of the Reformed faith and found it
to be a good spiritual home. So she joined a local Christian Reformed Church.
A desire to continue her studies took Leslie to the University of California at Santa Barbara where she earned an M.A. in Spanish and Latin American Literature as well as doing the necessary course work to get a California teaching credential. With this credential, Leslie moved to San Francisco and oversaw the Spanish program for grades 1-8 at San Domenico Schools in San Anselmo, CA. The move to San Francisco brought with it a search for a home church. This search led Leslie to Calvary Presbyterian Church. She became a member of this church soon after moving to the city and became involved in the life and work of ministry there. After six years of overseeing the Spanish program at San Domenico, Leslie realized that teaching wasn't the path that God had laid out for her.
After a period of discernment, she applied and was accepted as a student at SFTS. She enjoyed her time as a student there and graduated with an M.Div. in 2005. Leslie had a strong desire to stay in the San Francisco area so she took her time seeking a call to allow positions to open up there. She recently joined the staff of SFTS as the Director of Vocational Formation and Placement and she is seeking to be ordained to that position. Leslie is excited to join in worship and ministry with the Mission Bay Community Church.
Steering Committee:
The Steering Committee is the primary decision-making body of the church. As a New Church Development within the Presbyterian Church (USA), we will one day have what is called a Session which is made up of Elders who are laymembers called to serve in a specific way within the life of the church. In the mean time, in order to be faithful to what we hope to become, the SC operates as if they were an official Session.
The areas of service are directly related to our Mission and Vision Statement
- Spiritual Growth
- Outreach
- Mission and Service
- Worship
- Administration
- Clerk