Beyond the Title: 12 Questions with Rev. Erica Liu

Rev. Erica Liu

Executive Director & Pastor, Pres House

Rev. Erica Liu is the executive director and pastor of Pres House, a Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) campus ministry serving students at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. She has served Pres House since 2004 and stepped into the executive director role in 2024. A second-generation Taiwanese American who grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area, she is an ordained Presbyterian minister. When Liu arrived in Madison, Pres House was largely dormant; under her leadership it has grown into an active campus center that reaches hundreds of students a year, expanding to include not only worship and pastoral care but also the Pres House Apartments, a community-focused student housing development, and Candid, a holistic wellness initiative. Over that period the organization's annual budget grew from roughly $160,000 to more than $2.2 million. Beyond Pres House, Liu has been active in campus and denominational life, serving as president of the University Religious Workers of UW–Madison and on the board of trustees of McCormick Theological Seminary, and she has taught and led at national conferences on collegiate ministry, multicultural ministry, and Asian American young adult formation. She holds a bachelor's degree in mass communications from the University of California, Berkeley, and a Master of Divinity from Princeton Theological Seminary. A longtime taekwondo practitioner, she earned her third-degree black belt in 2025.

01Built to Last starts with a strong foundation. What is the foundation your leadership is built on, and how do you return to it when things get shaky?

I have learned that integrity and clarity are essential in my leadership, especially when challenges arise. When faced with a difficult situation, I need to gain clarity about what is at stake so that I can lead from a grounded place and fully embody my values. This helps give me more peace of mind.

02Where do you come from, and how do your roots keep you steady when leadership gets hard?

As a child of immigrants, I felt disconnected from my ancestral lineage because of the pressures of assimilation. When I began practicing martial arts, I found it was a place of reconnection with my roots and also a way to cultivate my values into my whole way of being. The goal of taekwondo, the martial art I practice, is total mind and body unity and the five aims to achieve are: courtesy, perseverance, self-control, integrity, and indomitable spirit. Practicing taekwondo has been an important way to keep me grounded and steady in leadership.

03What's a piece of advice that has stood the test of time for you, the kind you still come back to years later?

“People will throw their mud at you, and it has nothing to do with you, but the mud can still stick to you and make a mess.” This was in response to a challenging leadership situation in which a person was acting in ways to negatively impact my reputation. This has helped me remember that when you are leading, especially through change, people will often become upset and lash out at you, but their mud is about them, not you. And you still have to clean it off yourself!

04What's a book, quote, lyric, or scripture that has stayed with you and shaped how you lead or live?

“But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience. Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but that very Spirit intercedes with sighs too deep for words…For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor power, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” ~ Romans 8:25-26, 38-39

It can get really overwhelming when you think about all that is wrong in the world and the way that injustice seems to be having a field day; it is tempting to think that nothing will ever change. These verses remind me that the Spirit is at work regardless of what I say or do not say, do or do not do. I am comforted by the conviction that there is nothing that can separate me nor anyone/anything else from the love of God.

05What's something you've had to rebuild after it broke or fell apart, and what did that teach you about building things that last?

I tore my ACL during Covid, though I did not know it was torn until three months after it happened. I did not have surgery until six months after the injury, and it took almost a full year of almost daily physical therapy to heal. Today I am much better, but that knee will never be the same and that reality is something I have to remember now as I move about.

Covid had an especially negative impact on the students who are freshmen and sophomores in college today (they were in middle school when the pandemic hit, a time when peer social engagement is critical). Many of the invisible ways that community formed and was held together were broken. Building meaningful relationships that form a transformational community is slow work, especially for the young people whose lives were disrupted at a critical developmental stage. We have to remember the significant tear they experienced as we help them strengthen their emotional and relational muscles. The rehab process requires daily effort in many different ways through a long period of time.

06What's one question every leader should ask if they want to build something that outlasts them, and why?

If I left today, what have I done to make sure this organization can thrive without me? Healthy organizations have mission clarity, strong systems, and people who are committed to the mission over their own egos. It's not about any one individual!

07Who are you actively preparing to carry this work forward, and what are you doing to set them up to succeed without you?

One of our impact objectives at Pres House is to “equip students to create community that deeply knows and loves one another, seeks the common good, and cultivates healing and hope within Pres House and beyond.” It is our goal that students and residents have such a transformational experience of community while they engage in our programming, that they will instigate that kind of community wherever they go after they graduate. Students and residents lead at every level of our organization, including serving as full members of the Board of Directors, so they are becoming equipped to carry this work forward.

08When leadership feels heavy, what do you turn to (music, travel, culture, faith) that restores you and keeps you feeling like yourself?

Movement is a really important way to restore myself, and practicing taekwondo is my prayer practice. Spending time moving in nature is also deeply renewing and helps me regain perspective on myself and my place in creation. Both these help me take myself a little less seriously and flex my muscles of wonder and gratitude.

09When you think about the legacy you want to leave, what do you hope still stands long after you've moved on?

At Pres House we celebrate communion every week with fresh loaves of tasty bread so that we can tear a big piece off for people as a tangible reminder of God's lavish grace. We always remind people that everyone is welcome to partake of the feast, regardless of what they do or do not believe, because it is God's table and God turns no one away. It is a place where people who are supposed enemies come together to share a meal, and there is more than enough for everyone. This ethos of radical welcome and abundance is something I hope remains central to the communities at Pres House.

10What's a small daily habit or discipline that has compounded into something meaningful over time?

I walk my dog first thing every morning, before I eat breakfast, check my email, etc. It gets my body moving and noticing the world around me since he is a hound who wants to stop and smell everything. It's an automatic way to make me look up and around as I start my day.

11What's a moment in your life where the music playing in the background ended up meaning more than you expected, a song that showed up right when you needed it, or made an ordinary moment stick with you?

My journey of faith has always been one of questioning and doubts, and at first I thought this was a problem; other people certainly thought it was a problem and questioned my leadership. “I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For,” by U2 is a song that has affirmed my journey and given expression to the way I experience faith. Its yearning and honesty remind me of how it's okay to admit how little I know and understand.

12What's a tradition in your life or family that you hope lasts for generations?

We have a beautiful, wooden box in my family that we put things into throughout the year: ticket stubs to a concert, a funeral program, a photo, whatever is a reminder for something we experienced. On New Year's Day, we open the box and go through the items to remember the year's experiences, and then we spend time writing reflections to a few prompts like, what is something I'm proud of from this year, what is something that was difficult, what is something I want to learn in the coming year, etc. We then share them with each other and look over past years' reflections. It is one of my favorite family traditions that I hope my kids will pass on to the next generation.