A Word From Our New District Superintendent 

Reverend Tim Overton - Harris

 "Let Me Introduce Myself"  

As we begin a new adventure together I wanted to tell you a bit about myself. I am a native Oregonian, born at Lakeview. My family moved to Portland when I was almost two and I lived there until I went off to college. I grew up in North East Portland and attended Benson High School, graduating in 1976. (Those who have done the math have figured out I am 58 years old). I went to Willamette University, graduating with my degrees in Religious Studies and History. I then moved across the country to Boston where I completed my Masters of Divinity at Boston University School of Theology in 1983. I stayed on in Boston for a couple more years and worked for an organization based on the Gray Panther's model doing housing work for poor and elderly folks. While in Boston I met and married Amy who hails from upstate New York Binghamton to be exact. 

We moved to Oregon in 1985, me to serve as the Associate pastor at Oregon City UMC and Amy as pastor at Carus UMC. In 1987, I moved to serve the Estacada and Marquam UMCs (a 61-mile round trip!) While there we celebrated the birth of our first child, Elizabeth. In 1989, I moved to become the Associate Pastor at Morningside UMC in Salem ( I was the first male associate for a female senior pastor - Kate Conolly - in our conference) and Amy moved to Keizer Clear Lake UMC. While serving in these churches we had two more children - Petter and Nicholas. In 1994, we moved to LaGrande, Oregon to job share that appointment and share household and parenting duties for our family. In 1999, we moved to our present home in Aloha, Oregon and served Christ UMC in Cedar Hills, again as a job sharing situation. In 2003, Amy became pastor of the Tongan Fellowship in the Lents area of Portland and I became solo pastor at Christ UMC. In 2004, I moved to Vermont Hills UMC in the SW hills of Portland a  while Amy moved to Trinity UMC in SE Portland.  In 2011, Amy moved to Tualatin UMC where she presently serves. I served at Vermont Hills UMC for 13 years and now have become your District Superintendent. 

Our children (I am not as old as my children make me) are all adults now . Elizabeth is married to Robert, they live in Hood River where Robert is on faculty at the Columbia Gorge Commumity College and they have two children. Petter just finished his second year at the College of Osteopathic Medicine of the Pacific - Western University of Health Sciences located in Lebanon, Oregon and begins his rotations this summer. Nick is going to Willamette University Law School and begins his second year there in August. 

Petter will be living at home this year as many of his rotation sites are in the Portland area. Also living with us are 5 dogs and 2 cats. In my free time I like to read, play video games, watch movies and TV. Amy and I love to get away to the coast. We relish time with our family. I love to cook - I am a cook not a chef as a chef creates umique meals while a cook follows a recipe - and Amy's biggest complaint about my taking this appointment is that I won't be able to cook dinner as often. Projects around the house and the routine things of life keep us busy.

I look forward to the opportunities that will come for me to get to know you and for you to get to know me better. Please pray for me as I move into this new phase of ministry and pray for our District as we move into a future filled with possibility, change and challenge. 

If you have a concern, want to meet, or if I can be of help in any way, please be in touch. My email is  [email protected] and the district office phone number is  503-581-3969 . 

30th Annual Transformations Prayer Retreat
September 24-29 2017
Location: Suttle Lake
Fee: $365

Leaders: Rev. Kate Conolly and Rev. Michael Powell

The Transformations Prayer Retreat blendscontemplation and community. Emphasis is on the communal sharing of the sacraments, with ample time for the solitude of prayer, meditation, and reflection. Come apart to renew your spirit and re-center yourself through time in Christian community and intentional time with God.

There are  three worship experiences each day, grounded in daily scripture. Each 
morning begins with Holy Communion. At noon we gather for quiet, contemplative 
worship. At 5 o'clock we share an interactive worship time focusing on the scripture 
that we have lived with during the day. There is ample free time for rest, hiking, 
reading, and canoeing on the lake. Kate and Michael will lead evening discussions.

Evening programs will focus on the book, Radical Optimism: Practical Spirituality in an Uncertain World, which describes the value of meditation, leisure, relaxing the body, and keeping silent for a period of time all within the context of the ordinary demands of life, by Beatrice Bruteau.

For registration information, please contac t Genev  a Cook, camp registrar: 

503- 802-9213 or  [email protected] .

 

For 8 months during the school year for the past several years, a very small team (Chris Kester, Lynda Sloan, Jan Nelson, Shawn Clark and Renee Cornwell) have tirelessly planned, organized, provided snack and led our Parent's Night Out events.  They have had the support of a devoted group of folks who carry out their plans and engage the children.

 

Parent's Night Out has been and continues to be our most successful outreach ministry to our community.  It serves over 35 children from over 20 families.  The children and their families all appreciate it, one parent stated, "This is my son's favorite time of the month, because he is homeschooled so most of his friends are through this program."

 

HOWEVER, our leadership team has gotten tired and needs a break.  In order for Parent's Night Out to run well and provide the safe, fun and supportive environment it has developed the reputation for, we need some people who are willing to step into that organizational role. 

This would not necessarily mean that the organizational team would have to lead the event every month but it would need to plan the activities and make sure the materials needed were available.

 

We believe in this ministry and are proud of the reputation it has in the community.  We do not want it to end.  The new team would need to start meeting in early August in order to be prepared for the first Parent's Night Out in October.

 

Thank you for prayerfully considering giving of your time and energy on this team.  If you have questions, check with Yajaira or any of the outgoing members of the Parent's Night Out team.

Upcoming Events