THANKS, PRAYER, AND PRAISE
Contact Lis anytime [preferably during daytime hours] (541-806-1077; allenlisbeth570@gmail.com) if you want dozens of prayers ascending immediately for your concerns. [We so appreciate the energy Lis puts into facilitating the prayer ministry!]
NOTE FROM GEMMA'S MOTHER, MORIAH. SENT LAST SABBATH:
Happy Sabbath! She just got out of true hospital yesterday after five days of chemotherapy. She's doing well.
Please continue your prayers for the 2024 summer Youth Rush program, that the Holy Spirit will continue to lead and guide and bring just the right workers. Thank you!
FEATURE
WHAT HAS BEEN THE RESULT OF THE ORGEON CONFERENCE PERSONNEL CUT CAUSED BY THE FINANCIAL CRISIS?
When the news broke a few months ago that 20% of the Oregon Conference workforce would have to be cut in order to manage a huge deficit that had developed over several years of very large health-care expenses for workers.
The request was made that pastors who were at or nearing the age of retirement take an early retirement to make the cut easier. We feared that we might lose our pastor. But we have been told that our district will remain the same. Pastor Merrill Caviness will continue to pastor the Riverside SDA Church in Washougal, WA, the Stevenson, WA, church, and the White Salmon, WA, church.
But we feel sad for the districts which have lost pastors without any assurance that they will be replaced and for the families who face transitions. A news release from the Oregon Conference last Friday gives a list of the pastors and conference officers who have left their positions in the Oregon Conference.
TRANSITIONS IN THE OREGON CONFERENCE TEAM DURING 2ND QUARTER 2024 ANNOUNCED
MAY 9, 2024
https://www.oregonadventist.org/news/pastors-leaving-the-oregon-conference-team-during-2nd-quarter-2024-announced
Each of our employees fill important roles in ministry within their local community and the greater conference, so it’s always hard when members of our Oregon Conference team are called to service somewhere else. It has been doubly hard this year, so far, as we have had to say goodbye far too many times. Some have taken calls to other conferences, others have chosen to retire, and still others have been part of the strategic reduction in our workforce that was announced earlier this spring as part of the response to the need for financial restructuring.
We deeply appreciate what each person brought to their church community, and we know we will all miss each one of these dedicated ministry professionals. We pray that God will place them exactly where they need to be at this moment, and in the future.
Pastoral Positions
• Alberto “Pochy” Montes – VIVID Adventist Church
• Andy Wittenburg – Yacolt & Orchards District• Brandon Kharns – Medford Adventist Church
• Bryan Del Valle – Medford Adventist Church
• Chuong Ngo – Portland Vietnamese Adventist Church
• Daniel Ciobanu – Romanian Adventist Church
• Daniel Tretheway – Seminary Student
• Danny Kim – Hillsboro Adventist Church
• Dave Woodruff – White Salmon & Wahkiacus District [This should have been the Hood River and Wahkiacus churches.]
• Dean Lifshay – Coos Bay, Bandon, Coquille District
• Diego Silva – Sandy Adventist Church
• Don James – Ashland & Valley View District
• Erick Mendieta Soza – Hillsboro Spanish Adventist Church
• Gary Evans – Sutherlin & Yoncalla District
• Gerry Bandy – Lakeview Adventist Church
• Jared Frost – Seminary Student
• Jerry Joubert – McMinnville & Hopewell District
• Jose Luque – Cascade, La Pine, Christmas Valley District
• Les Jones – Falls City & Dallas District
• Mark Harrison – Grants Pass & Cave Junction District
• Michael White – Woodburn & Molalla District
• Roger Beltran – Santa Clara & Veneta District
• Roscoe Shields – Sharon Adventist Church & OC Regional Ministries, director
• Sarel Smit – Klamath Falls, Bonanza, Chiloquin District
• Zachary Parks – Journey Adventist Church
Oregon Conference Office Positions
• Dave Schwinghammer – Assistant to the President for Mission
• Gary Parks – Relational Ministries, director
• Robert Zama –Outreach Ministries, associate director/field evangelist
• Sean Wheeler, Moving Department, driver
• Ted Alekel, Outreach/Relational Ministries, administrative assistant
• Tim Taylor, Outreach Ministries, director
Additional office positions have been unfilled or reduced:
• Education Department, associate superintendent
• Assistant to the President for Mission
• Gladstone Grounds, assistant superintendent
• Trust Services Department, half-time position reduction
• General full-time position reduction
Please join us in praying for each of the families represented here as they make big transitions in the coming days.
|
