OUTREACH

Welcome to Outreach Ministries

We are here to serve you and your church. We want to help you reach your community for Christ with the message of Adventism. Our goal is to use effective means of reaching people with the kingdom message of the soon coming of Christ.

Oregon and southwest Washington continue to have one of the largest percentages of unchurched people in our country. There is a growing sense that we need implement new, as well as tried and true, ways of reaching our communities. Learn more about how we can help your church in the sections below.

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We want to help you reach your community.

WHAT WE OFFER

Evangelism
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Sermon Materials

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Funding Request

Fill out the Evangelistic Reaping Funds Request form for your upcoming evangelistic efforts.

Upcoming events

Upcoming Events

View evangelistic events taking place around the Oregon Conference

Many spiritual gifts...

...are listed in scripture, from administration to apostleship, from helps to service, from encouragement to evangelism and many more. All of the gifts listed in scripture we will continue to use when Jesus comes again, except one. Only ONE gift goes away when Jesus comes – the gift of EVANGELISM.

Use these creative and traditional resources to will help you in your evangelistic efforts.

You can also get group or one-on-one coaching for your evangelistic efforts in the Oregon Conference. Contact us today for more details.

If you'd like to get involved in evangelizing your community, why not start by emailing [email protected] or calling (503) 850-3560 today!

CHURCH PLANTING

When you stop to think about it, every church was a church plant at some point in time. Adventist statistics show that when communities plant churches, the overall Adventist attendance goes up. When churches don’t plant churches, they stagnate. One specialist has said the greatest way to win lost people is through church planting.

Our big-picture goal is to help plant 20 churches a year for the next 5 years in the Oregon Conference. If you’d like to be a part of this exciting adventure, we are offering two basic ways to be involved in church planting:

There are options within both of these frameworks:

  1. Pastor-coached church plants
  2. Pastor-led church plants

For more information email or call our department at (503) 850-3555.

learn more about

community resources

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Adventist Community Services

Since the founding of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in 1863, our members have been encouraged to follow Christ's example in helping our neighbors.

We believe it is our privilege to relieve the suffering of those around us as much as possible within the available resources of our congregations. Hunger feels the same no matter what language we speak. The agony of choosing between food, utilities, health care and keeping families housed is painfully real for many people in our communities. Throughout the years Adventist Community Services has endeavored to alleviate poverty and want.

Congregations choose to meet the needs of their communities in many ways. Often they operate clothes closets and food programs for poverty-level individuals and families. Some provide limited cash assistance as funds are available. Others operate low-cost thrift ministries. Some have quilt-making ministries and others assemble Bags of Love for children who are removed from their homes. The ministries are many and varied, but all are provided in an attitude of genuine care and concern.

The Oregon Conference is affiliated to many Adventist Community Services (ACS) around the area. One ACS member is Portland Adventist Community Services (PACS) that is 12 miles north of the Oregon Conference Office. PACS is a local non-profit that serves the community through a Food Pantry, Mobile Food Pantry, Dental Clinic, and two Thrift Stores all on the same street block (11020 NE Halsey St). PACS has 20 paid staff and 250+ volunteers. They would love to have you stop by and learn more of all their ministries.

Below you will find their hours of operations for each ministry:

  • Food Pantry: Monday – Friday 9:00a to 11:00a
  • Thrift Store: Sunday 11:00a – 4:00p | Monday – Thursday 9:00a – 5:00p | Friday 9:00a – 2:30p (PST), 9:00a – 5:00p (DST)
  • Mobile Food Pantry: Please call 503-252-8500 for locations and hours, the mobile pantry travels to eight underserved areas
  • Gateway Grace Clinic (dental): Appointments vary and office hours are: Monday – Thursday 8:00a – 4:00p

Please visit PACS at www.pacsonline.org or 503-252-8500 for more information. Follow them on Facebook www.facebook.com/pacsonline and Instagram www.instagram.com/pacspdx.

Disaster Response

Why give dollars? Disaster hits — I want to do something! Unquestionably the best response is to “donate responsibly” with your dollars. Often our thoughts are to donate water, food, clothing or diapers. But even more important, especially the farther away from the disaster we find ourselves, is the gift of dollars.

This organization generally is not a first responder, but teams are primed and ready as soon as Emergency Management gives clearance. Long after the cameras disappear, Adventist Community Services and many other non-government agencies will faithfully be working together to alleviate the tremendous suffering and work together in rebuilding.

Donations can be made by:

  • Making a donation to your local Seventh-day Adventist Church labeled “ACS Disaster Response.” Note: When a donation is made to Oregon ACS Disaster Response through the church/conference, by policy 10% is designated for Oregon to fund disaster needs on the local level that may occur at any time. Ninety percent will be sent on to ACS.
  • Calling (877)227-2702
  • Making an online donation at communityservices.org
  • Mail a donation to: Adventist Community Services, 9705 Patuxent Woods Drive; Columbia, MD 21046

In Psalm 9 David proclaims about his God, “He does not forget the cry of the afflicted.” Let us too respond to those cries as God’s Spirit impresses!

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Health Ministries

Seventh-day Adventists have a long tradition of health emphasis. Forerunners in the areas of healthful living, the church encourages practicing and promoting a healthful lifestyle.

Seventh-day Adventists believe that we are best able to serve and worship God when our minds and bodies are functioning at their highest levels.

Seventh-day Adventists are well-known for their emphases on a plant based diet and total abstinence from tobacco, alcohol and illegal drugs. Recent health studies have shown the average life-span of members in the North American Seventh-day Adventist church is considerably longer than for the average American.

Adventists promote healthful living in many ways including health fairs, vegetarian cooking schools, blood pressure screenings, smoking cessation classes, depression seminars, Complete Health Improvement Programs (CHIP), diet, exercise and other educational offerings. Materials to loan are available from the Resource Library for those churches wishing to promote healthful living in their communities.

The Seventh-day Adventist Church runs an extensive world-wide hospital system, providing state-of-the art care and graduating thousands of health care professionals. The Oregon Conference is proud to be home to two hospitals in the Adventist Health system, Adventist Health Portland and Adventist Health Tillamook, along with health care professionals from an extensive array of specialties and sub-specialties.

The Oregon Conference is also home to a dental clinic serving low-income uninsured adults. The Gateway Grace Clinic, a caring dental clinic that is a program of Portland Adventist Community Services having a full-time dental manager and receptionist, a part-time dental hygienist, and volunteer dentists. Patient care is provided by scheduled appointments. Gateway Grace Clinic is on the same street block as Portland Adventist Community Services on 109th Ave. They would love to have you stop by and learn more about the dental clinic. Please visit www.pacsonline.org/pacs-dental-clinic or 503-907-6768 for more information.

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Refugee Ministries

Meeting the needs of immigrants in the Portland metro area

The Oregon Conference has organized a Refugee Task Force, including a representative from each church in the Portland metro area that is involved in refugee ministries, or hopes to be.  They meet once a month, sharing vital information they have learned from their refugee outreach, and helping others learn to be mentors of refugee families.

Pastor Daniel Jackson, president of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in North America, stated it very simply in Adventist World – NAD, April 2017 issue:

“Closing the door to refugees has never been a part of ‘the American wayʼ. Welcoming them with shame and suspicion is unacceptable. Inciting fear-based prejudice is irresponsible.  Followers of Jesus Christ are mandated to welcome all who seek refuge.

Throughout the Bible God instructs humankind to welcome strangers and treat them as equals: with love, care and respect. Furthermore, in Matthew 25 Jesus raised the bar and said we should treat strangers better than ourselves. We are to treat them as we would treat God.

We Christians are called to act, not just in word, but in deed. We are to take care of the least of these, those who are hungry, thirsty, sick, poor, prisoners, and strangers/refugees. We are to care for them without condition.

Seventh-day Adventists are responding and meeting the needs of refugees internationally through the Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA). In North America, specifically, our church has an established ministry that assists refugees seeking a better life for their families. Our Refugee and Immigrant Ministries team is ready to assist refugees from any land.”

To be an immigrant or refugee in a new and strange land presents a multitude of challenges for each person. Adapting to new and different ways of doing things and different ways of living is not easy. Many refugees arrive in America with just the clothes on their backs and speak only their mother language of their homeland.

Many different Christian organizations and churches are reaching out to refugees and immigrants in theircommunities, helping them with food and clothing, literacy classes, job skills training, Christian education, and transportation to and from churches. Volunteers are making a huge difference in helping these brothers and sisters feel at home in their new communities.

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We are here for you

Our Team

Contact one of our team members at (503) 850-3500

Trish Ballard
Trish Ballard

Administrative Assistant

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Mike Dauncey
Mike Dauncey

Director, Community Engagement

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