Oregon Conference Constituency Session
Portland, Oregon

                Powered to Serve: Members in Ministry was the theme of the Oregon Conference Regular Constituency Meeting held on September 20, 2009.  The meeting began with 489 duly elected delegates present.  This was the first time that Oregon has used electronic voting devices which made voting very efficient and precise.  The president report included both a look back at the Lord’s leading in the past four years as well as a look forward to the goals and objectives for the next four years.

                All of the recommendations from the Nominating Committee were approved with large majorities.  Those elected were:  Al Reimche, President; Dave Allen, Vice-president for Administration; Jon Corder, Vice-president for Finance; and John Gatchet, Vice-president for Education.

                The constituency voted some major restructuring items that had been recommended by the Constitution and By-laws Committee.  The conference has been functioning as an unincorporated association, but after the vote on September 20 it has become a Religious Not-for-Profit Corporation.  In addition it was recommended that the various functions of the church operate in a multi-corporation structure.  So all of the assets will not be in one corporation and hopefully this structure will provide limits on potential liability claims.

                Sincere gratitude was expressed for the generosity of the Oregon Conference church members who provided over 138 million dollars of tithe over the past four years.  However, reflecting the difficult financial environment,  tithe income decreased in 2008 and continues to do so in 2009.  This is necessitating adjustments to general expenses and personnel.

                The electronic voting devices made it possible to do some polling of the delegates on all sorts of topics related to the ministries of the Oregon Conference.  It was interesting and helpful to see the tabulations on peoples perceptions of their church.

Adventist Health Board of Directors
Portland, Oregon

                The Board reviewed the 2009 Self Assessment Results, The Cash Management Report, Approved Hospital capital requests, and reviewed the audited financial statements.  Adventist Health had its credit rating reaffirmed at “A” with a stable outlook by both Standard & Poor’s and Fitch.  Considering the current economic climate this was a providential evaluation.

                The Adventist Health Central Valley Network in California gave a report on their project to brand every aspect of their operation as “Adventist”. Sometimes we hear discussions suggesting that too closely identifying with the Adventist Church might be a negative.  In their research they discovered that 70% had heard of “Adventist Health” and 72% said a religious affiliation would make no difference in the selection of a hospital and 22% said they would be more likely to use a hospital with a religious affiliation.  So they decided to clearly identify all of their hospitals, rural clinics, and other service lines as “Adventist Health.”

Adventist Health Membership Committee
Portland, Oregon

                The responsibility of the Membership Committee is to hear reports on Finances, Quality, and Mission success of the Adventist hospitals and other related ministries on the West coast.  This year the meeting was held at Adventist Medical Center in Portland so that members of the committee could tour the new Pavilion addition and parking facility.  The Pavilion houses all cardiac care functions and the emergency department.  The Membership Committee is also the body who elects the members of the Adventist Health Board of Directors.

                The report from Project IntelliCare was particularly interesting.  This project is computerizing all functions of the Health System to a paperless electronic system.  These amazing statistics were reported even though the project has not been totally implemented yet:  Over 10 terabytes of patient information is available today.  Over 3,600 physicians and employees are using the system right now.  Over 7,000 individuals will use the system each day.  Over 100,000 patient charts will be accessed each day.  Over 1.6 million unique transactions will be generated each day.  And the user’s average transaction response time=0.98 seconds.

                The ingredients of Quality are S.T.E.E.P.  Safe, Timely, Effective, Efficient, and Patient-Centered.  The hospital system carefully monitors quality and safety measures to assure patients of superior outcomes when they are treated at Adventist Health facilities.

                Also was shown a recently produced DVD which encourages physicians and other health care givers to be intentional about considering the spiritual aspects of healing.  It very effectively communicates how important the spiritual aspect is in patients recovery which, of course, is very much in line with the Adventist concepts of whole person care.  Allison Field a physician at Walla Walla General Hospital gave an in- person testimony of how she is able to bless patients through her concern for their spiritual faith journey.

Maranatha International Convention
Rolling Hills Community Church, Tualitin, Oregon

                Maranatha is an organization of Seventh-day Adventist lay persons who are interested in providing church and school buildings for Adventist congregations around the world.  They hold almost continuous mission trips in the US and abroad to help with these building projects.  Currently they are able to construct a “One Day” church in just 24 hours for a donation of $1,500.  They have tens of thousands of requests for these simple but functional buildings.  Congregations are grateful to have a roof over their heads especially during times of bad weather.

                Many individuals told compelling stories and Pastor Jan Paulsen, President of the Seventh-day Adventist World Church spoke for the worship service and special guest Steve Green provided music throughout the week-end.

Oregon Conference Nominating Committee
Gladstone, Oregon

                The nominating committee which was elected on August 9 met to make recommendations to the Oregon Conference Constituency Session.  These are the individuals nominated:

                Al Reimche                                         President

                Dave Allen                                          Vice-president for Administration

                Jon Corder                                          Vice-president for Finance

                John Gatchet                                     Vice-president for Education

Nominations for Members of the Executive Committee are:  Dale Bryson, Ann Campbell, Dale Cardwell, Derrick Foxworth, Tanya Huether, Corleen Johnson, Vicki Koger, Larry Lewis, Sanford Maddox, David McCoy, David Merino, Calvin Miller, Lorraine Miller, David Paczka, Lucas Porter, Larry Reineke, Tom Russell, Britt Spaulding, Kathy Westermeyer, Rory Wold.

Nominations for Members of the Financial Review Committee are:  David Cannard, Beatriz Coeto, Grace Colton, Robert Erick, Sharon Ewers, David Futcher, Norm Henry, Walt Larsen, DeAnn Norton, and Rob White.

Lyle Albrecht Retirement Dinner
Boise, Idaho

                Lyle Albrecht has been a full time evangelist for the North Pacific Union for the past ten years.  He has held meetings all over the Northwest and left a large harvest of souls wherever he has gone.  He recently announced his official retirement, however,he will continue holding series of meetings perhaps on a bit more relaxed schedule.  The Albrecht’s have spent their entire ministry in full time evangelistic work.  He has become widely known throughout North America and beyond also through his presence on 3ABN television.  The retirement dinner was attended by the Ministerial Directors and Evangelism Coordinators from our 6 NPUC conferences, NPUC administration, his colleague evangelists, and some of the individuals who came to know Jesus through his ministry.  Seems likely that Lyle’s crown will have three or more tiers in order to accommodate all the stars.

North Pacific Union Executive Committee
Ridgefield, Washington

                The devotional for our meeting was a report from Gary Parks and Louis Wildman on the recent mission trip/concert tour of the Oregon Men’s Chorus to Romania.  The report included DVD segments of some of the singing in exceptionally inspiring  locations .  The chorus was joined by more than 100 Romanian Adventist men which created a powerful group of male voices all singing to the glory of God.

                Items on the agenda included audit and salary reviews for the 2008 financial year.  Also significant time was focused on a mid-term review of the 2007-2011 Strategic Plan.  The committee voted to have the 2011 NPUC Constituency Session on the campus of Walla Walla University.  The North Pacific Union Conference has been allocated 21 delegates to attend the General Conference Session in Atlanta, Georgia next summer.  The individuals that have been recommended to the North American Division to be voted at the Year-End Meeting in November are 6 Conference Presidents:  Ken Crawford from Alaska; Robert Folkenberg, Jr. from Upper Columbia; John Freedman from Washington; John Loor, Jr. from Montana; Stephen McPherson from Idaho; and Al Reimche from Oregon.   3 NPUC Officers:  Max Torkelsen, President; Bryce Pascoe, Secretary; and Mark Remboldt, Treasurer.  6 NPUC Laypersons:  Kami Borg (WA), Judy Fowler (MT), Kathy Hernandez (OR), Ruth Farnsworth (AL), Conrad Thomas (UCC), and Andre Wang (OR). 6 Non-Administrative Employees: Colin Dunbar (UCC), Ervin Furne (ID), Bonnie Bowman (ID), Gary Parks (OR), Bill Roberts (WA), and Alvaro Sauza (MT).  In addition request has been made for an additional 4 special non-voting guest slots.  Ramon Canals, Lanny Hurlbert, Alphonso McCarthy, and John McVay.

NPUC President’s Council
Ridgefield, Washington

                We had a discussion about our concerns that again this year there is an overall decline in enrollments in our Adventist schools.  We reviewed the recommendations of the NPUC Education Summit and requested an update on the implementation of that report.

                We discussed and voted a recommendation on NPUC delegates to the General Conference Session next summer in Atlanta.  It is more complex than it might seem.  We were able to come up with a list which meets the requirements of the GC Constitution, the diversity of the North American Division, and the membership of the NPUC.  We also chose to give priority to individuals who have served on the NPUC Executive Committee since they have a greater exposure and understanding of how the church organization functions.

                Also the President’s Council voted to recommend that the NPUC 2011 Constituency Session held on the campus of Walla Walla University on September 11, 2011.  Ordinations were approved for Ivan Cruz from the Oregon Conference and for Jeff Crain and Sid Hardy from the Upper Columbia Conference.  An Ad Hoc Planning Committee was established to study details of how to implement a Souls Northwest training program for Bible workers, Magabook leadership, and personal witnessing.

Walla Walla University Board of Trustees
Ridgefield, Washington

                The devotional time was provided by David Sandvik who was interviewed by Dr. McVay.  David and his wife Brittany are planning to accept an Adventist Frontier Missions assignment in Northern India to establish Adventist work with an unentered people group.  It was inspiring to listen to the unselfish idealism of this young man. 

                This meeting included a review of the Board Self-evaluation.  One of the suggestions that emerged from this process was to intentionally shift more time and attention of the Board in the direction of long-range strategic planning and a bit less on reporting.  We took a segment of time to brainstorm in small groups, ideas for accomplishing the 2010-2013 Strategic Initiatives.  We also received a report on the NWCCU Focused Interim Evaluation Report.  This is an important part of the accreditation process.  We voted to add the title Public Information Officer to the portfolio of the Vice-president for Marketing and Enrollment Services.

                The president of the University and the chair of the Biological Sciences Department provided statements which affirmed the fact that Walla Walla University is faithful in its teaching of the Biblical account of Creation.  These statements will be published in the October issue of the NPUC Gleaner.

Grand Opening, new building at Columbia Adventist Academy
Battle Ground, Washington

                Just in time for the start of a new school year the ribbon cutting ceremony was conducted for a beautiful new administration/classroom building at Columbia Adventist Academy.  The mayor of Battle Ground gave the address and acknowledged the valuable contribution of the school and the church to the community.  He was very complimentary in his remarks.  The event was attended by students, parents, faculty, and constituents of the academy.  Matthew Butte is the current principal.