What a joy to learn that our Global Partners (GPs) in Central Asia were finally able to return and re-engage the relationships that they have been developing over the past six years. After being home on furlough, they were delayed in their return as they had to wait on official...
Last Sunday, Palm Sunday, we concluded another session of our “learning to live the Jesus life” course which we call Core. Core is a month-long experience in the intensive practice of several spiritual disciplines. As is our practice, during that last session, we took some time to...
Spring is in the air, the flowers are blooming, the temperatures are rising, and the rain is falling! For many of you with children, next week is spring break! I love getting a week off to be with my family so we can slow down and spend time with each other—no rushing from activity...
The last couple of weeks have brought significant gains and losses for our church family. We are excited to welcome David Smith and his wife, Ruth, into our community as our Worship Pastor. We will be ‘installing’ David in his new role this coming Sunday. I hope you can be with us to...
I can’t stop sharing with others all that the Lord is teaching me in studying the Psalms. The theme for this series for our community is “Psalms…Songs of the Heart”. I am also involved in the inductive study of Psalms with a small group of women on Tuesday...
I hope most of you have heard by now that David Smith has enthusiastically accepted the position of Pastor of Worship and Global Partners at GPBC. David and Ruth will arrive in Portland late in the day on Sunday, March 6th, and will be with us in church the next Sunday. We are excited to...
This Sunday is Valentine’s Day. To celebrate, many of us will take time to tell those special people in our lives how much we love and need them. My family always celebrates with a fancy home-cooked meal, dessert, and family games! This week is also the start of the Lenten season where we...
Just three months ago, my husband Ken and I were blessed to go on a short term mission trip to Madrid, Spain to work with Dan and Eva Anderson at the Friendship House. They have established this community center to assist people in their neighborhood, a mixture of native Spaniards and Muslims...
The search for new pastoral staff is an arduous process for the search team, the elders, and the applicants. Most applicants don’t survive the process either because we see that they are not a fit for our church or they see that we are not a fit for them. I’m happy to report that one...
We are just about through January. Time passes so quickly – it seems like just yesterday we were putting up the Christmas tree! But, I have to admit, time seems to be dragging when it comes to this Whole 30 food diet I started at the beginning of January. I only have 14 more days before...