A touch that Hansen particularly appreciated was that the elders’ spouses were also interviewed to make sure they supported their husbands’ endeavor.
Pastor E.C. Bell — with his trademark baseball cap and straight forward attitude — and two elders were officially installed as the executives of Chehalem Valley Presbyterian Church, a plant from Evergreen Presbyterian Church in Beaverton and a member of the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA).
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The church was started by four local families and now boasts around 100 members, 80 of which show up for Sunday services.
To ensure elders are qualified, the PCA trains then tests them. Because this is a new congregation, Bell trained the two elders in their future duties while their testing was done by the Presbytery.
“I’ve been involved in different leadership roles in churches,” said elder Paul Otto, who teaches American history at George Fox University. “I was raised Presbyterian,” he said and was impressed by Bell’s vision of outreach…
Otto said he was approached by Bell and the other elder, Keith Hansen, about joining them. “I listened seriously,” he said before making the commitment.
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The installation ceremony took place at 5:30 p.m. Sunday. Bell said that the choice of Pentecost for the installation was made because it has historically been seen as the start of the church and would dovetail nicely with the creation of a new self-sufficient congregation.
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