Texas Baptists
in the Northwest
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ROMANIAN Baptist Pastor John Vrisc
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___ Build a baptistry.
___ Romanian Baptist Church in Portland, Ore., recently moved into a new building to accommodate their growing congregation, the second-largest of its kind in the United States. But the Lutheran-built sanctuary doesn't have a baptistry. (See related story) Contact: Pastor John Brisc, (503) 785-0372.
___ Erect an education building.
___ Greater Gresham Baptist Church in suburban Portland, Ore., soon will move in a new multi-purpose facility that will be both worship center and fellowship hall. The 12-year-old church was one of the first intentionally contemporary congregations started in the Northwest Baptist Convention. They desperately need more space to continue growth, however. So
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GREATER Gresham Baptist Church site.
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on the heels of constructing the multi-purpose building, the church needs to turn right around and build a second education building. The congregation of about 400 people also has a goal of starting 10 other churches. Contact: Pastor Keith Evans, ggbc@juno.com, (503) 667-1515.
___ Maintain a building.
___ A volunteer couple is needed to live on-site for one year at Greater Gresham Baptist Church in suburban Portland, Ore., to serve as maintenance managers for a new multi-purpose building. Experience in routine maintenance and a willingness to serve are the primary requirements. Contact: Pastor Keith Evans, ggbc@juno.com, (503) 667-1515.
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CLINT Ashley and Margaret Waldrop.
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___ Support a seminary.
___Volunteers are needed to work in the library at the Northwest campus of Golden Gate Seminary, as well as to provide administrative and secretarial support. Contact: Clint Ashley, (shown here with administrative assistant Margaret Waldrop) clinta@nwbaptist.org, (360) 882-2100.
___ Support a seminarian.
___ The Northwest campus of Golden Gate Seminary operates out of the Baptist Center in Vancouver, Wash. The California-based seminary provides the curriculum and administers the program, but most of the funding comes from the Northwest Baptist Convention. Student scholarships could help make the program more accessible. Contact: Clint Ashley, clinta@nwbaptist.org, (360) 882-2100.
___ Train leaders.
___ The Northwest campus of Golden Gate Seminary relies heavily on well-qualified adjunct faculty. Individuals with the appropriate academic background and ministry experience are sought for adjunct teaching assignments of one semester to a year or more. Contact: Clint Ashley, clinta@nwbaptist.org, (360) 882-2100.
___ Be a strengthener.
___ Dozens of smaller churches in Washington and Oregon would receive a major boost if a Texas couple would join them as volunteer "strengtheners" and lay leaders for periods of three months to a year. These volunteers could help train leadership, model leadership and bring new energy. Contact: Texas Partnerships Resource Center, (214) 828-5183.
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BROOKWOOD Baptist Church, Hillsboro, Ore.
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___ Give room for growth.
___ Brookwood Baptist Church in Hillsboro, Ore., has a good problem. The church is growing faster more than its facility will allow. That's also a problem, though, because people stop coming when there's no room for them. The far-suburban Portland church is situated in a fast-growing community of technology workers and is reaching people mainly with no church background. This summer, Brookwood will begin construction of a 460-seat worship center and adjoining fellowship hall. Some volunteers already are committed for the first phase of the project, but additional volunteers are needed to finish the work in July and August. Volunteers especially are needed to do drywall work and finishing work. Contact: Pastor Al Harris, BBC@integrityonline.com, (503) 648-4547.
___ Probe a community.
___ A major effort is planned in Seattle June 1-5 called a probe. This is an effort to survey a community and assess the viability of starting a congregation there. Contact: Gary Irby, garyirby@aol.com, (425) 640-3676, or Gihwang Shing, gshin@prodigy.net, (253) 838-6616.
___ Conduct a backyard Bible club, Vacation Bible School or block party.
___ Dozens of churches in the Northwest need assistance this summer with weeklong special events. These are ideal for families, youth groups or intergenerational church groups. "Most of our ethnic churches have no experience with VBS, but VBS is the most effective way to reach the people," noted Gihwang Shing, catalytic language missionary for Puget Sound Baptist
Association. Contact: Texas Partnerships Resource Center, (214) 828-5183 or Gihwang Shing, gshin@prodigy.net, (253) 838-6616.
___ Help a Japanese church.
___ Japanese International Baptist Church in Tigard, Ore., needs youth groups to help this summer with music, drama and other activities. The church conducts services in English and Japanese and was the first Japanese Baptist church in the Northwest Baptist Convention. Contact: Pastor Mike Yokoy, (503) 246-468
___ Reach out to Hispanic families.
___ Bivocational pastor Joe Gonzales manages the top-rated Spanish-language radio station in northeast Oregon. He needs Spanish-speaking volunteers to help with outreach efforts during a fall festival sponsored by the station that has drawn up to 8,000 people. (See related story.) Contact: Joe Gonzales, (541) 567-5060.
___ Help start Hispanic churches.
___ The Spanish-speaking population in the Northwest is growing rapidly, but Baptist work among Hispanics there is just beginning to grow. Help is urgently needed to survey communities, evangelize, start churches and train leaders.
___ Make more room.
___ Grace Baptist Church in Hermiston, Ore., has begun the FAITH evangelistic outreach program and is leading people to faith in Christ through it. But the church's tiny building is bursting at the seams. Sunday School classes meet in every spare space; one children's class meets around a cramped table in the church kitchen. The English-speaking church needs assistance to purchase and erect a prefabricated building on its property to ease overcrowding and give room for more growth. Contact: Joe Gonzales, (541) 567-5060.
___ Reach a neighborhood.
___ Grace Baptist Church in Hermiston, Ore., is located adjacent to a large housing project and would like to offer summer ministries to reach the children and families living in the federally subsidized apartments. Youth workers, youth groups and other volunteers would be ideal to help with this. Contact: Joe Gonzales, (541) 567-5060.
___ Become a church starter
___. A major church-starting emphasis is under way in the metropolitan Seattle area. Leaders there are looking for qualified, experienced pastors who are called and gifted as church starters. This is not a call for people who have not been able to make it in the South, explained new-work strategist Gary Irby. "We need people who are already successful pastors, who are willing to step out on faith." Contact: Gary Irby, garyirby@aol.com, (425) 640-3676, or Gihwang Shing, gshin@prodigy.net, (253) 838-6616.
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KENNEWICK Baptist Church, southeast Washington.
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___ Build an education.
___ Kennewick Baptist Church in the Tri-Cities area of southeast Washington currently meets in a building erected years ago by Texas Baptist volunteers. Now the church needs to expand its educational space with an addition. Volunteer labor will be needed to accomplish this. This is a missions-minded congregation that lends its support to other ministries each year and gives 14.5 percent of its own receipts to the Cooperative Program. Contact: Richard Pettijohn, (509) 783-3146.
___ Reach out and educate.
___ Volunteer couples are sought by Kennewick Baptist Church in Kennewick, Wash., to serve as outreach, education and maintenance coordinators. As is typical in most Northwest churches, the pastor is the only paid staff member, and volunteer leadership is essential to make other programs go. Also, the church's 40-year-old building, constructed by Texas volunteers, now is in need of extra doses of maintenance. Contact: Richard Pettijohn, (509) 783-3146.
___ Become a partner with a new church.
___ Throughout the Northwest, but particularly in Seattle, church starts are being linked with stronger, more established churches as partners for prayer, volunteers and financial support. In Seattle's Puget Sound Baptist Association, for example, the goal is to have five partner churches for each new congregation. Contact: Gary Irby, garyirby@ aol.com, (425) 640-3676.
___ Become a volunteer campus minister.
___There are more campuses in the Northwest than there are people to serve as Baptist campus ministers there. The student strategy in Washington and Oregon is based largely on volunteer labor. Contact: Texas Partnerships Resource Center, (214) 828-5183.
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CHINESE church in Seattle.
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___ Remodel a reclaimed church building.
___The only Chinese congregation in the Northwest Baptist Convention shares a building with two other congregations in Seattle's Chinatown district. The structure was built as a church in 1922 but later became a warehouse before Baptists reclaimed it in 1987. The relatively small facility gets a major workout each week, with the three congregations meeting there (the Chinese church is the largest with about 150 in attendance), as well as an after-school program for 40 children and weekly English classes for 250. The building needs a number of minor and major repairs, ranging from plasterwork to roofing. Contact: Pastor Andrew Ng, (425) 488-6586.
_____ Get in on the ground level.
___ Corpus Christi native Leslie Cole is launching a Baptist church in a planned community of 10,000 homes in Redmond, Wash. The effort needs volunteer labor, financial assistance and lots of prayer to get in on the ground level of this project. (See related story .) Contact: Pastor Leslie Cole, (425) 376-0266.
___ Move Northwest.
___With today's mobile society and with the international nature of many companies, some Texas Baptists might be able to relocate to the Northwest with the express purpose of becoming bivocational missionaries. The temptation of some Southern Baptists who move to Washington and Oregon is to bypass the smaller Baptist churches and find a more comfortable place in a larger church of another faith tradition. But experienced church workers from Texas and elsewhere are needed in virtually every Baptist church in the Northwest.
___ Pray.
___ All those involved in Baptist work in the Northwest covet the prayers of Texas Baptists. They ask prayer for God to raise up leadership, for doors to be opened for ministry and evangelism, for wisdom and for strength to meet the challenge of working in such an unchurched environment.
___ Volunteer coordinator.
___The Northwest Baptist Convention is in need of additional help coordinating and promoting partnership missions needs. The previous coordinator, A.J. Baxter, recently died and has not been replaced. Contact: Jeff Iorg, jeff@nwbaptist.org, (360) 882-2100.
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