After beginning his ministry in the Oregon Conference nearly 15 years ago in 2008, Pastor Nate Hellman accepted and began working in his new role as associate ministerial director of the Oregon Conference last December.

On Sabbath, December 17th, the Grace Seventh-day Adventist Russian congregation in Troutdale celebrated its official organization into “company” status––the final step before being organized as a “church.”

For nearly two decades now, volunteers from all over have come together on the campgrounds at the Oregon Conference to bring the Christmas story to life in the live-action interactive experience.

For decades the community in Gladstone, Ore. has gathered food, toys, and teen gifts in an effort to help struggling families provide Christmas presents for their families. This year the Oregon Conference office staff joined the effort.

I got the call on a cool Sabbath morning as I was walking to church. They had already started the song service. I was running late. My wife had taken our only car out early that morning, starting a five-hour trip to pick her brother up from college for his Thanksgiving break. I was about halfway to the church when my phone began to vibrate.