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  "description": "Episode 88 Trailer and Early Access for Paid Subscribers",
  "path": "/podcast-e88-a-conversation-with-co-moderator-candidates-barbara-barkley-and-bill-myers/",
  "publishedAt": "2026-06-25T21:52:53.000Z",
  "site": "https://www.reyes-chow.com",
  "tags": [
    "227th General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (USA)",
    "Apple Podcasts",
    "Spotify",
    "YouTube",
    "Podbean",
    "wherever you listen to podcasts",
    "become a paid subscriber",
    "30-Day Trial Subscription",
    "www.firstpresby.com/general-presbyter-election",
    "The Amalgamation Newsletter",
    "Bruce Reyes-Chow",
    "Dessiree McFarland",
    "Merissa Magdael-Lauron",
    "Subscribe now"
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  "textContent": "Here is the trailer for Episode 88 of The Amalgamation Podcast — _A Conversation with Co-Moderator Candidates Barbara Barkley and Bill Myers_\n\nThis 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).\n\nIn 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.\n\nAll 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 all future episodes, become a paid subscriber or take advantage of this 30-Day Trial Subscription**.**\n\nIn 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.\n\nIt'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.\n\nBarbara 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.\n\nBill 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.\n\nThanks for spending time with The Amalgamation, and I hope you enjoy my conversation with Co-Moderator Candidates: Bill Myers and Barbara Barkley\n\n**Co-Moderator Candidacy Website:** www.firstpresby.com/general-presbyter-election\n\n* * *\n\nThe Amalgamation Podcast, paired with The Amalgamation Newsletter, focuses onsocial justice, pop culture, digital community, left-leaning faith, and more. With humor, with kindness and conviction, each episode shares passions and projects and invites the listener to join Bruce and his guests to co-conspire for good.\n\nThe Amalgamation Podcast is hosted by Bruce Reyes-Chow, produced by Emmie Hix, edited by Dessiree McFarland, with music by Merissa Magdael-Lauron.\n\n**Show ideas and inquiries can be sent to****The Team****.**\n\nThanks for listening!\n\n### This post is for subscribers only\n\nBecome a member to get access to all content\n\nSubscribe now",
  "title": "Podcast E88: A Conversation with Co-Moderator Candidates Barbara Barkley and Bill Myers",
  "updatedAt": "2026-06-25T21:52:52.572Z"
}