A mosaic of churches working interdependently together to transform lives and communities
Erik Cave and Bekah Lindberg, the new lead pastor of Valley Covenant Church, in Eugene, Oregon, have a great conversation about her call to Valley Covenant. She shares her excitement at being a first time lead pastor and about the challenges of this new season of learning for her. Enjoy their fun conversation and join us as we pray blessings over her life and ministry.
Welcome, Bekah, back to the PacNWC!
Jill Riley talks with Brad Bergfalk of Bethany Covenant Church in Mount Vernon, Washington, about the historic flooding happening in the Skagit Valley. Bethany is a Red Cross evacuation site and is currently housing over 100 people.
Pray with us for the people of the Skagit Valley, Monroe, North Bend, and all affected areas.
Superintendent Greg Yee shares Advent blessings and highlights some of the amazing things that happened this past month! Be encouraged. God is moving, and the Church of God continues to press forward during challenging times. Enjoy this wonderful season with your church, family, friends, and neighbors. And with the suffering, the hurting, the needy, and the bereft. Ours is a message of hope – may it continue to spread through your heart and words out into our world.
By Greg Yee, Superintendent
Advent arrives every year like a quiet knock on the door—a gentle invitation to pay attention, again. In the swirl of global unrest, cultural anxiety, and the private burdens many of us carry, Advent meets us not with denial but with deep truth: God’s people have always waited for Christ in turbulent times.
The first Christians who proclaimed “Come, Lord Jesus” were not sitting in comfort; they were longing for rescue, justice, healing, and renewal. Advent gives us language for those same longings today. Historically, the Church has approached this season through four themes—Hope, Peace, Joy, and Love—which become like stepping-stones guiding us toward the angelic messengers proclaiming “Fear not!”, toward the holy manger, and ultimately toward the promise of Christ’s return.
Hope — Light That Refuses to Go Out
Hope is not optimism. It is the stubborn confidence that God has acted, is acting, and will continue to act. In a world where headlines often dim our spirits, Advent reminds us that God’s light shines in the darkness, and—John insists—the darkness cannot overcome it. Hope trains our eyes to see beyond the immediate, to trust that our King is both present and coming.
Peace — God’s Reordering of All Things
The peace Christ brings is not mere calm or the avoidance of conflict. It is shalom—the wholeness of God pressing into a fractured world. When relationships strain, when communities feel divided, when nations rage, Advent invites us to remember that Jesus is the Prince of Peace who makes us into people of reconciliation. We receive His peace not to keep it, but to extend it.
Joy — Rooted in God’s Nearness
Advent joy is not surface-level cheer or manufactured holiday sentiment. It is the deep joy that grows out of God drawing near—near enough to take on flesh, near enough to bear our sorrows, near enough to redeem our brokenness. Joy becomes our quiet rebellion against despair because Christ has come and Christ will come again.
Love — God With Us and For Us
The love of Advent is sacrificial, embodied, and costly. It is the love that moved God to enter our world not from a distance but from a manger. As we await the fullness of his kingdom, this love shapes us into a people who show up for one another—especially in seasons of turbulence. Love becomes our witness that Jesus is truly Emmanuel, God with us.
This Advent, my prayer for our conference is simple: may we wait well.
Not passively, but with expectant hearts.
Not anxiously, but anchored in the character of the One who has already stepped into history and who promises to return and make all things new.
Not apathetically, but as agents of reconciliation.
In turbulent times, Advent does not turn our eyes away from reality—it sharpens our vision for God’s reality breaking into ours. May Hope, Peace, Joy, and Love be more than themes this season.
I invite you to join our Covenant family in this Advent prayer:
We long for your return, Emmanuel. Come, oh come, Emmanuel…
Led by Pastor Mary Hendrickson, Powell Valley in Gresham, OR is undergoing some exciting changes. As of this week they are now Oasis Covenant Church, with renewed vision, excitement for their future and a community minded outlook. Listen in for the exciting things God has placed on their hearts and minds.
Contact Mary if you would like more information about Oasis
Pastor Kristi Smith, Family Ministries Pastor at Milwaukie Covenant Church, was part of the planning team that recently hosted MMud (Senior High School) and Thunder (Junior High School) fall retreats. Together, the retreats amassed over 700 students! Kristi shares about the amazing time they had and how God moved in the hearts of leaders and students. Our students are the church of today, and we are thankful for their leaders and pastors who share the vision of every student knowing they are loved by Jesus. Thank you to all of you who helped support these great events.
Contact Kristi if you would like more information about this event
Director of Family Ministries, Caitlin Berney, shares with us a wonderful idea for sending children back to school. Before school started Trinity Covenant blessed the children during service. Then the kids decorated back pack tags that are meant to remind them that their church family is behind them as they go back to school, an challenging and sometime problematic environment for some of them. If you would like to get ahold of Caitlin to hear more about this special blessing time for children, she would love to hear from you.
Contact Caitlin if you would like more information about this resource
Tre and his wife Megan have recently transplanted from Texas to Washington where he serves as the Pastor of Youth and Families at Newport Covenant in Bellevue. We welcome the Crumes and pray God’s blessing over them as they settle into the Pacific Northwest.
Send Tre a message and welcome him to the PacNWC!
Speaking from a successful Sharing the Harvest at Wiley Heights, Superintendent Greg Yee invites the conference to engage in learning from the Global Church. Several opportunities are coming up in 2026 to allow our teens and some of our pastors to engage in global learning. Additionally, the Covenant has a platform on YouVersion that focuses on the global church, another useful resource. In his article, Greg encourages the Church to pray for the persecuted church around the globe, specifically on November 2nd. Let’s join this global cry to Jesus for our brothers and sisters who worship and serve the Gospel in unsafe regions of the world.
By Greg Yee, Superintendent
Every November, followers of Jesus around the world set aside a Sunday to remember what we too easily forget — that faith in Christ still costs people everything. This day is not a ritual but a call to solidarity, a holy re-membering of the Body of Christ. As we walk these days, I want to bring it to your attention because it goes to the heart of discipleship, compassion, and global solidarity.
Today, more than 380 million believers – more than the entire population of the U.S. – live in places where identifying with Jesus brings harassment, imprisonment, or the threat of death. In parts of Nigeria, thousands of Christians have been killed and many more displaced. In parts of India, church buildings have been destroyed, people have lost their livelihoods, and many are cast out by their communities. In Eritrea and Sudan, believers languish in shipping-container prisons or are denied access to basic goods because of their faith. Their churches are damaged and closed. Across regions of the Middle East and Asia, choosing to follow Jesus can still mean losing one’s job, home, or family honor. In many of these regions sharing your faith is illegal.
The immensity of persecution that brothers and sisters are facing around the world cannot be captured in one paragraph.
For American Christians, observing this day matters because it calls us out of comfort and into communion. It shakes us from spiritual atrophy to “be sober and alert,” which is called for repeatedly throughout the NT:
Praying for the persecuted also restores our hearts. It causes us to pray differently — not for ease, but for endurance; not for escape, but for courage. We learn from believers who forgive their oppressors, who share bread in secret, who sing softly in the night so as not to be heard. Their joy in suffering invites us into a deeper discipleship marked by gratitude and grace.
The early church thrived under pressure. The gospel has always advanced through faithful witnesses who loved Christ more than comfort. So on this day, we pray: Lord, strengthen your church wherever she suffers. Keep our hearts tender, our prayers constant, and our faith courageous. Make us one body — free or bound, near or far — until you return. Come Lord Jesus, come…
Remember those in prison as if you were together with them. Hebrews 13:3
By Jill Riley, Communications Assistant
Pastor Chris Eltrich sits down with Jill Riley and talks about Lettered Streets Covenant Church’s summer mission event. This trip to San Felipe Del Progreso, Estado De Mexico, was intentionally intergenerational; the ages of the 64 participants ranged from 3 years old to 73. The church was able to join already existing ministries and help them serve. Chris shares many of the lessons they learned and how those lessons carry over to their ministry in Bellingham, Washington.
By Jill Riley, Communications Assistant
Jill RIley and Kurt Notehelfer reflect on the Compassion Clinic that was held this summer at Faith Covenant Sumner. In partnership with many other local churches, they were able to provide medical and dental care, along with prayer ministries, and open their food bank. This successful event is in its third year, and Compassion Washington, the partnership ministry, would love to see it expand. If you are interested in knowing more about how to start a similar ministry in your context, feel free to contact Kurt or Compassion Washington.