On August 1st, the Sharon and Your Bible Speaks Seventh-day Adventist Church families came together to celebrate the installation of their new lead pastor, Elder Rodney Valentine. Present for the occasion were a number of representatives from the Oregon Conference, the North Pacific Union Conference (NPUC), and others, including Pastor EuGene Lewis, NPUC vice president for Regional Ministries, Dr. Terry Johnsson, Adventist Health vice president for Mission Integration, Pastor Alphonso McCarthy, former pastor of the Sharon Church, Gemedi Geleto, pastor for the Oromo Adventist Church of Portland, Pastor Jonathan Russell, Oregon Conference assistant to the president, and Pastor Reginald Richardson, Jr., associate pastor for the Sharon district.

Pastor Valentine brings a wealth of ministry and professional experience, having served as a pastor in the South Atlantic, Allegheny West, and Central States Conferences. Most recently serving as Senior Pastor for both the Shiloh and the Highland Crest Adventist Churches in Kansas. He has led numerous evangelistic series dating back to the late 1980s and early 1990s and he is a graduate of Oakwood University (formerly Oakwood College). He also served in the United States Air Force.

“There are people in this city who used to be here,” said Pastor Valentine during his opening sermon, “let’s find them! We need more than anything to remember that everything that we do is for the glory of God and God alone.”

Pastor Valentine will also serve as director of Regional Ministries for the Oregon Conference. “I don’t pastor churches, I pastor communities,” he announced later in his sermon, as he shared his goals for spreading the Gospel beyond the Portland area and across the Oregon Conference territory.

Please join us in extending a warm welcome to Pastor Rodney Valentine and his family!