EAST SALEM SUMMER BASH REACHES OUT TO SINGLE PARENTS

an answer to prayer for the transitioning church whose head pastor of 24 years recently retired.

Ellis shared how this is a unique opportunity for her ministry too. “There’s a lot I can learn from her, and I feel I can bring a lot of questions I have about serving in ministry as a woman to her, too. There aren’t many places in the Seventhday Adventist Church where I would have the opportunity to be mentored by another woman in a position like this,” said Ellis.

Bennett shared that she was not expecting God to call her family back to Oregon, but when He did, they listened.

“My husband Josh and I were just finishing a year-long moratorium on considering calls. I was in my church sanctuary praying over my life, my ministry and my church [when] I received a call from Randy Hill from the Oregon Conference. It felt different from other calls I’d received over the past few years,” said Bennett.

“We felt at home with PVC from the beginning — and it felt like the timing and God’s prayer direction for us as a family was great,” she said. “The kinds of questions they were asking and the answers they had all indicated this would be a really fruitful relationship.”

“This is a church that, from everything I’ve observed, has a lot of spiritual strengths. I look forward to working with

Mission And Outreach

EAST SALEM CHURCH HAS BEEN THINKING ABOUT HOW THEY CAN BETTER CONNECT WITH THEIR SURROUNDING COMMUNITY.

Every Sunday they provide food for their homeless neighbors, but they wondered how many neighbors still didn’t know about the church family. East Salem planned the End of Summer Bash with intentions of getting to know people in the area without strings attached.

The End of Summer Bash offered all kinds of activities, especially for families with kids — a large demographic in the area. “We had a bouncy house, a 20-foot blow up water slide, football toss games and all kinds of things,” said LuDell Parrett, head elder. “The fire department did demonstrations, we had a barbecue with Big Franks and kosher beef hot dogs, and fed everyone lunch for free.”

Parrett shared that many nonAdventist neighbors showed up. “I think in the future we’ll want to do more personal invitations. We want to do things like free oil changes for single parents and cooking classes for people who want to get healthy. We want to do things in our community that actually meet the needs that people have.” this church and appreciate their commitment to mission, the way they value prayer and how they love one another,” said Bennett. “I think that’s going to make the church adaptive to the changes that our world will require of us this year and in the years to come.”

KALEB EISELE Oregon Conference digital content specialist nwadvent.st/117-

7-OR-01

More online at NWADVENT.ST/117-7-OR-01

As for the thinking behind East Salem’s approach to community relationships, Parrett said, “We want to touch people and give them the reality that people do care about them — because God cares for all of us. We just want to show them that Jesus is there for everyone.”

KALEB EISELE Oregon Conference digital content specialist nwadvent.st/1177-OR-99

More online at NWADVENT.ST/117-7-OR-99