The Amalgamation with Bruce Reyes-Chow

Episode 90 of The Amalgamation Podcast — A Conversation with Co-Moderator Candidates Chris Peters and Rebecca Luter

This episode is part of a four-part Amalgamation Podcast series profiling the teams standing for co-moderator of the 227th General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (USA).

All four candidate interview episodes, along with background info and links, drop on Saturday, June 27, so be sure to subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, Podbean, or wherever you listen to podcasts.

For immediate access to all four interviews and future episodes, become a paid subscriber.

In each episode, we discuss the future of the church, faith leaders and direction action, Christian Nationalism, ICE and Immigration, Christian Zionism, Artificial Intelligence, the debates about marriage, and more. You will also learn about the nerdiest parts of their lives, what they are watching, reading, or listening to, and each gets a chance to ask me one big question.

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In this episode, I sit down with Chris Peters, a member of Homestead Presbytery and the pastor at Westminster Presbyterian Church in Lincoln, Nebraska, and Rebecca Luter, a member of the Presbytery of the Mid-South and the Pastor at Farmington Presbyterian Church in Germantown, Tennessee. They talk through how their partnership came together almost by accident, what it means to "stand" rather than run for office, and how they're each thinking about power, influence, and burnout as they enter a high-visibility two-year term. The conversation moves through some of the thorniest live questions in the denomination right now — Christian nationalism, immigration, the church's role in protest, AI in ministry — before closing out with a rapid-fire round on Enneagrams, Dave Matthews Band, and what's currently streaming in their living rooms.

Chris and Rebecca bring different temperaments (an Enneagram 7 and a 9, as they'll happily tell you) and different entry points into this calling, but a shared instinct toward transparency, gratitude, and staying grounded in the "roots" of congregational life. It's a candid, often funny, occasionally moving conversation with two people about to take on a job neither of them expected to want.

Thanks for spending time with The Amalgamation, and I hope you enjoy my conversation with Co-Moderator Candidates: Rebecca Luter and Chris Peters.

Co-Moderator Candidacy Website: www.preparetoemerge.org/

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The Amalgamation Podcast, paired with The Amalgamation Newsletter, focuses on social justice, pop culture, digital community, left-leaning faith, and more. With humor, kindness, and conviction, each episode shares passions and projects and invites the listener to join Bruce and his guests to co-conspire for good.

The Amalgamation Podcast is hosted by Bruce Reyes-Chow, produced by Emmie Hix, edited by Dessiree McFarland, with music by Merissa Magdael-Lauron.

Show ideas and inquiries can be sent to The Team.

Thanks for listening!

Episode 89 of The Amalgamation Podcast — A Conversation with Co-Moderator Candidates Sean Chow and Frances Lin

This episode is part of a four-part Amalgamation Podcast series profiling the teams standing for co-moderator of the 227th General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (USA).

All four candidate interview episodes, along with background info and links, drop on Saturday, June 27, so be sure to subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, Podbean, or wherever you listen to podcasts.

For immediate access to all four interviews and future episodes, become a paid subscriber.

In each episode, we discuss the future of the church, faith leaders and direction action, Christian Nationalism, ICE and Immigration, Christian Zionism, Artificial Intelligence, the debates about marriage, and more. You will also learn about the nerdiest parts of their lives, what they are watching, reading, or listening to, and each gets a chance to ask me one big question.

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In this episode, I sit down with Sean Chow, Executive Director of the Presbytery of San Diego, and Francis Lin, Presbytery Leader in the Presbytery of Riverside — two mid-council leaders who want the church to lead with stories of resilience rather than anxiety about decline.

Sean and Francis come at their shared candidacy from different angles — a church planter who describes himself as a "nice introvert hiding under the radar," and a presbytery executive who will cheerfully tell you her primary calling is to bring the party in. Together they talk about the real anxiety running through denominational staff during restructuring, what a 20-person desert church in Westmoreland taught them about vital ministry, and why they believe theology has to outrank ideology every time. The conversation moves from communion at the U.S.-Mexico border to personal experiences of racial discrimination during COVID, from the consolidation of General Assembly bodies.

Thanks for spending time with The Amalgamation, and I hope you enjoy my conversation with Co-Moderator Candidates: Frances Lin and Sean Chow.

Co-Moderator Candidacy Website: www.gods-abundance.com

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The Amalgamation Podcast, paired with The Amalgamation Newsletter, focuses on social justice, pop culture, digital community, left-leaning faith, and more. With humor, kindness, and conviction, each episode shares passions and projects and invites the listener to join Bruce and his guests to co-conspire for good.

The Amalgamation Podcast is hosted by Bruce Reyes-Chow, produced by Emmie Hix, edited by Dessiree McFarland, with music by Merissa Magdael-Lauron.

Show ideas and inquiries can be sent to The Team.

Thanks for listening!

Episode 88 of The Amalgamation Podcast — A Conversation with Co-Moderator Candidates Bill Myers and Barbara Barkley

All four candidate interview episodes, along with background info and links, drop on Saturday, June 27, so be sure to subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, Podbean, or wherever you listen to podcasts.

For immediate access to all four interviews and future episodes, become a paid subscriber.

This episode is part of a four-part Amalgamation Podcast series profiling the teams standing for co-moderator of the 227th General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (USA).

In each episode, we discuss the future of the church, faith leaders and direction action, Christian Nationalism, ICE and Immigration, Christian Zionism, Artificial Intelligence, the debates about marriage, and more. You will also learn about the nerdiest parts of their lives, what they are watching, reading, or listening to, and each gets a chance to ask me one big question.

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In this episode, I sit down with co-moderator candidates Barbara Barkley and Bill Myers for a conversation that moves between mock town-hall questions and genuinely personal reflection on crossing political and racial divides, the role of protest in the church, immigration, AI in ministry, and what keeps two pastors from very different corners of the country (a Bay Area congregation and a small church in Charleston, West Virginia) on the same ticket. Along the way they trade origin stories, talk through where they disagree with denominational decisions, and somehow end up discussing Bill's audition for a community theater production of Mamma Mia.

It's a candid, often funny, occasionally moving look at two people asking to lead a divided denomination through a hard moment by staying at the table with them.

Barbara is a member of the Presbytery of San Francisco and is the Pastor of Clayton Valley Presbyterian Church in Walnut Creek, CA whose ministry centers on bridging political and racial divides, both within her own congregation and at the presbytery level.

Bill is a member of the Presbytery of West Virginia and the pastor at First Presbyterian Church in Charleston, West Virginia, where his ministry has focused on community life with young people aging out of foster care and on lifting up the stories of overlooked rural congregations.

Thanks for spending time with The Amalgamation, and I hope you enjoy my conversation with Co-Moderator Candidates: Bill Myers and Barbara Barkley

Co-Moderator Candidacy Website: www.firstpresby.com/general-presbyter-election

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The Amalgamation Podcast, paired with The Amalgamation Newsletter, focuses on social justice, pop culture, digital community, left-leaning faith, and more. With humor, kindness, and conviction, each episode shares passions and projects and invites the listener to join Bruce and his guests to co-conspire for good.

The Amalgamation Podcast is hosted by Bruce Reyes-Chow, produced by Emmie Hix, edited by Dessiree McFarland, with music by Merissa Magdael-Lauron.

Show ideas and inquiries can be sent to The Team.

Thanks for listening!

Episode 87 of The Amalgamation Podcast — A Conversation with Co-Moderator Candidates Marta Pumroy-Cordero and Kris Schondelmeyer

This episode is part of a four-part Amalgamation Podcast series profiling the teams standing for co-moderator of the 227th General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (USA).

All four candidate interview episodes, along with background info and links, drop on Saturday, June 27, so be sure to subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, Podbean, or wherever you listen to podcasts.

For immediate access to all four interviews and future episodes, become a paid subscriber.

In each episode, we discuss the future of the church, faith leaders and direction action, Christian Nationalism, ICE and Immigration, Christian Zionism, Artificial Intelligence, the debates about marriage, and more. You will also learn about the nerdiest parts of their lives, what they are watching, reading, or listening to, and each gets a chance to ask me one big question.

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In this episode, I sit down with Kris Schondelmeyer, a member of the Presbytery of East Iowa and the Pastor of First Presbyterian Church of Davenport, Iowa, and Marta Pumroy-Cordero, a Ruling Elder in the Tres Rios Presbytery and the Border Ministry Coordinator for the Tres Rios Border Foundation.

Their partnership began with a dream Kris had on election night 2024, a phone call in January 2025, and a shared return to Revelation 22, "the leaves of the tree of life for the healing of the nations", months before they learned that exact passage would become the assembly's theme. From there, the conversation opens into a wide-ranging town hall covering the limits of the moderator's office, immigration, Christian nationalism, AI in ministry, and the church's conversations on marriage and covenant. Closing with reflections on joy as resistance and a belief that the Spirit is still moving.

Thanks for spending time with The Amalgamation, and I hope you enjoy my conversation with Co-Moderator Candidates: Kris Schondelmeyer and Marta Pumroy-Cordero.

Co-Moderator Candidacy Website: www.betheleaves.org

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The Amalgamation Podcast, paired with The Amalgamation Newsletter, focuses on social justice, pop culture, digital community, left-leaning faith, and more. With humor, kindness, and conviction, each episode shares passions and projects and invites the listener to join Bruce and his guests to co-conspire for good.

The Amalgamation Podcast is hosted by Bruce Reyes-Chow, produced by Emmie Hix, edited by Dessiree McFarland, with music by Merissa Magdael-Lauron.

Show ideas and inquiries can be sent to The Team.

Thanks for listening!

Here is the trailer for Episode 90 of The Amalgamation Podcast — A Conversation with Co-Moderator Candidates Chris Peters and Rebecca Luter

This episode is part of a four-part Amalgamation Podcast series profiling the teams standing for co-moderator of the 227th General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (USA).

All four candidate interview episodes, along with background info and links, drop on Saturday, June 27, so be sure to subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, Podbean, or wherever you listen to podcasts.

For immediate access to all four interviews and future episodes, become a paid subscriber.

In each episode, we discuss the future of the church, faith leaders and direction action, Christian Nationalism, ICE and Immigration, Christian Zionism, Artificial Intelligence, the debates about marriage, and more. You will also learn about the nerdiest parts of their lives, what they are watching, reading, or listening to, and each gets a chance to ask me one big question.

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The Amalgamation Podcast, paired with The Amalgamation Newsletter, focuses on social justice, pop culture, digital community, left-leaning faith, and more. With humor, kindness, and conviction, each episode shares passions and projects and invites the listener to join Bruce and his guests to co-conspire for good.

The Amalgamation Podcast is hosted by Bruce Reyes-Chow, produced by Emmie Hix, edited by Dessiree McFarland, with music by Merissa Magdael-Lauron.

Show ideas and inquiries can be sent to The Team.

Thanks for listening!

Here is the trailer for Episode 89 of The Amalgamation Podcast — A Conversation with Co-Moderator Candidates Frances Lin and Sean Chow.

This episode is part of a four-part Amalgamation Podcast series profiling the teams standing for co-moderator of the 227th General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (USA).

All four candidate interview episodes, along with background info and links, drop on Saturday, June 27, so be sure to subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, Podbean, or wherever you listen to podcasts.

For immediate access to all four interviews and future episodes, become a paid subscriber.

In each episode, we discuss the future of the church, faith leaders and direction action, Christian Nationalism, ICE and Immigration, Christian Zionism, Artificial Intelligence, the debates about marriage, and more. You will also learn about the nerdiest parts of their lives, what they are watching, reading, or listening to, and each gets a chance to ask me one big question.

----------

The Amalgamation Podcast, paired with The Amalgamation Newsletter, focuses on social justice, pop culture, digital community, left-leaning faith, and more. With humor, kindness, and conviction, each episode shares passions and projects and invites the listener to join Bruce and his guests to co-conspire for good.

The Amalgamation Podcast is hosted by Bruce Reyes-Chow, produced by Emmie Hix, edited by Dessiree McFarland, with music by Merissa Magdael-Lauron.

Show ideas and inquiries can be sent to The Team.

Thanks for listening!

Here is the trailer for Episode 88 of The Amalgamation Podcast — A Conversation with Co-Moderator Candidates Bill Myers and Barbara Barkley

All four candidate interview episodes, along with background info and links, drop on Saturday, June 27, so be sure to subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, Podbean, or wherever you listen to podcasts.

For immediate access to all four interviews and future episodes, become a paid subscriber.

This episode is part of a four-part Amalgamation Podcast series profiling the teams standing for co-moderator of the 227th General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (USA).

In each episode, we discuss the future of the church, faith leaders and direction action, Christian Nationalism, ICE and Immigration, Christian Zionism, Artificial Intelligence, the debates about marriage, and more. You will also learn about the nerdiest parts of their lives, what they are watching, reading, or listening to, and each gets a chance to ask me one big question.

----------

The Amalgamation Podcast, paired with The Amalgamation Newsletter, focuses on social justice, pop culture, digital community, left-leaning faith, and more. With humor, kindness, and conviction, each episode shares passions and projects and invites the listener to join Bruce and his guests to co-conspire for good.

The Amalgamation Podcast is hosted by Bruce Reyes-Chow, produced by Emmie Hix, edited by Dessiree McFarland, with music by Merissa Magdael-Lauron.

Show ideas and inquiries can be sent to The Team.

Thanks for listening!

Here is the trailer for Episode 87 of The Amalgamation Podcast — A Conversation with Co-Moderator Candidates Marta Pumroy-Cordero and Kris Schondelmeyer

This episode is part of a four-part Amalgamation Podcast series profiling the teams standing for co-moderator of the 227th General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (USA).

All four candidate interview episodes, along with background info and links, drop on Saturday, June 27, so be sure to subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, Podbean, or wherever you listen to podcasts.

For immediate access to all four interviews and future episodes, become a paid subscriber.

In each episode, we discuss the future of the church, faith leaders and direction action, Christian Nationalism, ICE and Immigration, Christian Zionism, Artificial Intelligence, the debates about marriage, and more. You will also learn about the nerdiest parts of their lives, what they are watching, reading, or listening to, and each gets a chance to ask me one big question.

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The Amalgamation Podcast, paired with The Amalgamation Newsletter, focuses on social justice, pop culture, digital community, left-leaning faith, and more. With humor, kindness, and conviction, each episode shares passions and projects and invites the listener to join Bruce and his guests to co-conspire for good.

The Amalgamation Podcast is hosted by Bruce Reyes-Chow, produced by Emmie Hix, edited by Dessiree McFarland, with music by Merissa Magdael-Lauron.

Show ideas and inquiries can be sent to The Team.

Thanks for listening!

Rev. Bruce Reyes-Chow is a 3rd Generation, GenX, Filipino/Chinese American and an active speaker, writer, coach, and podcaster on topics of faith, leadership, activism, culture, race, and technology. An ordained minister in the Presbyterian Church (USA), he also works with organizations on immigration, decarceration, and Palestinian liberation. He is the author of six books, most recently Everything Good about God is True: Choosing Faith with his next book, "Prophets, Priests, Pastors & Poets: Being and Becoming the Ressurected Christ," due out in Fall 2026. You can subscribe to his newsletter and podcast, The Amalgamation at www.reyes-chow.com and connect on most social platforms via @breyeschow. He and his wife live a thriving empty-nesting life in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Oliver Ma is a civil rights lawyer, democratic socialist, and candidate for California Lieutenant Governor. He grew up in an immigrant family in Southern California, and a defining moment came in middle school when his grandmother was racially profiled and detained by federal agents on a morning walk — making Oliver, a kid, the one filing paperwork and finding bail. That experience sent him to UC Berkeley, then Harvard Law, then the ACLU of Southern California.

When the first Trump-era immigration raid swept through Bakersfield — and a federal court injunction to stop it was simply ignored — Oliver concluded the courts alone can't protect people. So he's running for office.

This episode covers a lot of ground: the surprisingly substantial powers of the Lieutenant Governor's office, immigration and ICE detention, Palestine and divestment, housing justice, reproductive rights, trans rights, campaign finance reform, and what's actually wrong with the Democratic Party. Oliver is the first candidate in California history endorsed by the California DSA for a statewide race, and he is exactly who you hope he'll be.

You'll also find out about his deeply nerdy Total War habit and the seven-hour Spanish playlist a coworker made him.

Connect with the campaign:

• oliverma2026.com
• https://www.mobilize.us/olivermaforlieutenantgovernor/event/836954/
• https://secure.actblue.com/donate/electoliverma

Connect with Oliver on the Socials:

• TikTok: OliverMa2026 - https://www.tiktok.com/@oliverma2026
• Instagram: OliverForCa - https://www.instagram.com/oliverforca/
• Facebook: OliverMa2026 - https://www.facebook.com/oliverma2026/
• YouTube: OliverMa2026 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nE2VHOs41sE

The Amalgamation Podcast, paired with The Amalgamation Newsletter, focuses on social justice, pop culture, digital community, left-leaning faith, and more. With humor, kindness, and conviction, each episode shares passions and projects and invites the listener to join Bruce and his guests to co-conspire for good. It is hosted by Bruce Reyes-Chow, produced by Emmie Hix, and edited by Dessiree McFarland, with music by Merissa Magdael-Lauron. The Amalgamation Podcast Bookshop Bookstore and all show inquiries can be sent to: [email protected].

#TheAmalgamationPodcast #TheAmalgamation #brucereyeschow #election2026 #oliverma #democraticsocialist

Here is the trailer for Episode 86 of The Amalgamation Podcast — A Conversation with Oliver Ma, Candidate for CA Lt. Governor

Because elections are coming soon, we are releasing both the highlight ASAP! Be sure to subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, Podbean, or wherever you listen to podcasts. To gain immediate access to all episodes and for early access to all future episodes, become a paid subscriber today.

Oliver Ma is a Civil Rights Lawyer and Democratic Socialist running for California Lieutenant Governor. Growing up in an immigrant family in Southern California, one of his most formative memories is his grandma getting racially profiled and almost sent to an immigration detention center. He learned then that justice and change is something you have to fight for. So, to fight for his families, he went to UC Berkeley for his undergrad, and Harvard where he studied to become a lawyer. Since then, he has fought for working people in and out of the courtroom, representing families against their slumlords, training thousands of volunteers to fight ICE, and litigating lawsuits to stop illegal immigration raids in California.

Connect with the campaign:

• oliverma2026.com
• https://www.mobilize.us/olivermaforlieutenantgovernor/event/836954/
• https://secure.actblue.com/donate/electoliverma

Connect with Oliver on the Socials:

• TikTok: OliverMa2026 - https://www.tiktok.com/@oliverma2026
• Instagram: OliverForCa - https://www.instagram.com/oliverforca/
• Facebook: OliverMa2026 - https://www.facebook.com/oliverma2026/
• YouTube: OliverMa2026 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nE2VHOs41sE

The Amalgamation Podcast, paired with The Amalgamation Newsletter, focuses on social justice, pop culture, digital community, left-leaning faith, and more. With humor, kindness, and conviction, each episode shares passions and projects and invites the listener to join Bruce and his guests to co-conspire for good.

The Amalgamation Podcast is hosted by Bruce Reyes-Chow, produced by Emmie Hix, edited by Dessiree McFarland, with music by Merissa Magdael-Lauron.

Show ideas and inquiries can be sent to The Team.

Thanks for listening!