By Erik Cave, Director of NextGen Ministries, PacNWC
Enjoy this interview with Andrea Emerson the new Minister of the Word at Access Covenant Church in Portland, OR
What is your personal and ministry background?
I grew up in a multiracial family shaped by my Korean-adoptee father and my white mother. My dad’s biological mom lived through colonization and war and his biological dad was a Jewish-American soldier stationed in Korea with the UN. My mom’s Irish, Scottish, and German family settled in Kansas and Illinois before her parents relocated to Arizona after marrying. Her paternal grandmother was an Apostolic Holiness preacher in Kansas at the turn of the 20th Century. These are the people I come from and their legacies shape my life and ministry.
I spent most of my career working with college students through InterVarsity. This included work at Arizona State University, Washington University in St. Louis, Oregon State University, and Reed College before I began supervising staff at a regional level in the Northwest. Cross-cultural relationships and a trajectory toward centering the people dominant culture marginalizes have been themes of my ministry journey. I appreciate the way my role at Access continues and expands on that.
What are you passionate about in ministry right now?
I’m so grateful I get to help shape the preaching ministry at Access as we consider how our decolonization process is forming the ways we lead and teach. I’m particularly excited about the opportunity to embody our communal learning through an emerging partnership with Eloheh Indigenous Center for Earth Justice. Our hope is to serve at Eloheh monthly with other volunteers from Portland-area Covenant churches.
How can we pray for you?
My role with Access is part-time and in the other part of my professional life I work as a leadership and DEI coach and consultant. I live in SE Portland with husband, Ben, and our three kids: Zeke (7.5), Nathan (4.5), and Lydia (2.5). My parents bought the house next door to us last year and we cherish our two-home, three-generation family arrangement. I’d be grateful for your prayers as we navigate marriage, parenting and family dynamics, our respective careers, and being good neighbors.
Five things you didn’t know about Andrea:
What three traits define you? I am known as intellectual, courageous, and goofy. I’m biased, but I think it’s a great combination!
Where is your favorite place to be? The years I spent living in St. Louis, MO were really formative for me. When I think about the places I love, that city is still at the top of my list. Forest Park and the Washington University campus are particular favorite spots.
Where is the best place you’ve traveled to and why? Ben and I spent a summer in Xi’an when our oldest son, Zeke, was 9 months old. We helped lead a cultural exchange with students from a Chinese university and students from universities across the Pacific Northwest. This opportunity to partner, parent, and lead in a cross-cultural context 24-7 was some of the most fun I’ve ever had. Teaching the cultural exchange classes each morning helped clarify my love of teaching, while pastoring our team through their moments of dissonance and developing long-term relationships with some of the Chinese students, were also deeply meaningful parts of the experience. And please don’t get me started about the food because I’ll start drooling.
How do you define success? I define success as alignment. I think of it as the experiences when who you are and what you bring to the world is matched with an opportunity. My coaching practice with women leaders is focused on supporting them as they discover what alignment means for them and what they want as a result of their clarity. It’s truly a privilege to collaborate with them in that process.
Tell us something that might surprise us about you. I’m a musician, so I’ve also enjoyed serving on musical worship teams in a variety of settings since high school.I’m a classically trained violinist and pianist, and although I don’t play either as often these days, you will can find me hiding in the back of the 2nd violin section of a local community symphony because I love making music with people.
[Click Here] to visit Andrea’s Facebook Page
[Click Here] to visit the Access Covenant Church’s web page