It’s frustrating to be known not for what I do, but for what my wife does. In fact, I doubt most people know anything about my work. I'm just the husband of the midwife.

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My job is to talk with God. I describe what I see happening in the lives of His Bethlehem family and ask what I should be doing to help the people love Him more. Then I listen for His answers. Today was the first time I heard His voice.

George Gainer, much-beloved pastor of our Pleasant Valley Church (PVC), has announced his retirement from full-time pastoral ministry. At the helm as senior pastor since 1998, Pastor Gainer’s retirement officially begins on January 1, 2022.

When Abigail spoke those words, her eyes filled with tears and her voice cracked. Just a little, but enough so all the parents and friends felt the emotion of the moment with her. The school Christmas play was bringing Bethlehem’s manger to life on the church stage.

This past summer Rick Jordan accepted the call to join the Oregon Conference team as our new assistant director in the Ministerial Department, a job that that will enlist his experience, knowledge, and best of all, his love of connecting with, and supporting the pastors in our region.

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The “Fall Fun” event with games, crafts, and food met with attendance far beyond expectations.Initially planned for 100 people, the team serving dinner found themselves with the positive “problem” of needing to find more food for a line of people that kept growing!

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A Google search on “KTVZ Bend Gods Closet” will bring you the news spot done for two clothing distributions held in October and November where the Lord brought 57 families and 132 children to the Cascade Church where 20 volunteers met them with open hearts to fill a need.

On December 2, the Oregon Health Authority held a rules advisory committee meeting to discuss a planned permanent indoor mask mandate. Public reporting of this meeting named the Seventh-day Adventist Church as a participant in this advisory committee. Here’s what that means:

Worship from the couch is good, but it will be better if you purposefully let the messages sink in and think about how what you heard could deepen your experience as a follower of Jesus.

Join Dick Duerksen at PACS where he recently discovered it's a great place to shop for the holidays. The best part is knowing that every dollar spent there goes to help people in the community!