Chehalem Valley Presbyterian Church

CVPC meets at the Seventh Day Adventist Church visible on College St. at 530 Edgewood Drive in Newberg. We meet at 9:00 a.m. (which is good news during these summer months!) Join us for coffee, treats, and warm conversation directly following worship at 10:15 a.m. Pastor Nathan Lewis is preaching in the Psalms this summer. Don’t miss the Reverend E.C. Bell preaching this July 20. The CVPC worship band includes Sally Mehler and Sean Boyle both of the local celtic band, Roughly Hewn. Accomplished guitarists, Cris Hill and Keith Hansen play alongside drummer, Cole Hansen. Come sing the Psalms and hymns set to new folk and contemporary tunes. Our rich liturgy and gospel preaching will inspire and instruct those seeking to draw near to God.

 
Watch the Slide Show of the Mission Team at Warm Springs!

Warm Springs Mission Team 2008:
Bethany Dugan
Rebecca Lake
Joshua Werner
Spencer Lance
Bernie Van Houten - project leader
Gene Pong - cook
Peter Mac Iver
Carolyn Hopkins
David Hopkins - team leader

Carolyn writes, “We took time to visit in Indian homes with positive responses from the people. They were glad we were on the Reservation and one Christian lady responded to a visit from Carolyn and the girls with, “You are an answer to our prayers. We were praying someone would come and minister to us”. Her son had surgery to amputate his leg and was suffering from a resulting infection. They were very appreciative of our visit and prayer offered on their behalf. Another lady we visited had lived on the streets of Seattle for many years and had a difficult background. She had recently moved back to the Rez. In fact, it was her house we were repairing and painting. We distributed a number of copies of the Gospel of John in Indian format and copies of “The Tellings”, a CD of Native American stories telling how life was once and how it has been since they have accepted Christ as their Savior. On two different evenings, Indian ladies came in and spoke on Indian culture and life as they know it. We took the group to the Museum there on the Reservation which gave lots of insight into Indian life. David shared some of his research constrasting Indian cultural beliefs and practices with those of our Anglo culture. All in all, we felt they got a good exposure to the people, belief system, etc. We’re grateful for each one who participated. Gene Pong did a super job of keeping everyone well fed and hydrated. Bernie Van Houten, from Chehalem Valley oversaw the work project and was a special blessing to each of us as he interacted wonderfully with the young people.

While Pastor Nathan Lewis officiates his niece’s wedding in Salem, then goes to a family reunion at Nye Beach, two fine gospel preachers are filling the pulpit. The Reverend E.C. Bell is a PCA church planter from Colorado, where is has won the admiration of fellow ministers and community members. He is spending five days in Newberg, available to meet with as many of our church members at the Chehalem Valley site as possible as well as attending the stated meeting of our Session of elders, to be held on July 17 at 7:00 p.m. at the Coffee Cottage. E.C. Bell has a reputation in the PCA as an effective Evangelist and Gospel Preacher. He also happens to be the nephew of Dr. and Mrs. Richard and Roberta Engnell. E.C. Bell will preach in Newberg at the 9:00 a.m. worship meeting and then at the 11:00 a.m. worship meeting in Beaverton. He will also lead the worship at Recon on Saturday, July 19 at 6:00 p.m.The Reverend David Rapp, well-known to our congregations will preach at Newberg and at Beaverton on Sunday, July 27. David has been the founding Minister of the Reformed University Fellowship at UO. He has recently accepted a call to plant a new PCA church in Temple, TX. This August he and his family will relocate. And so, this is a final opportunity for you to hear him preach in Oregon and to enjoy interacting with him. We are grateful to David and his wife, Jennifer, for the diligent and beautiful ministry they have offered to our students at UO, not to mention within our congregations, at retreats, and in our homes.

You are invited to a breakfast fellowship at Hayden’s Grill in Tualatin on Saturday, June 28th at 8:30a.m. We will have breakfast followed by a devotional and time of prayer. We hope to have a gathering like this once a month. The meeting will be held in the Hayden’s Grill Board Room on your right as you enter the restaurant. Please RSVP as soon as you know if you can attend (503.626.1520). Bedford Holmes, CVPC member and Executive Director of Tilikum Retreat Center, is coordinating this series of events. This is a good opportunity for you to invite men who want fellowship. It is also a good opportunity to get to know men from the other worship sites in our church.

The Evergreen Missions Committee has announced the location and dates for the Summer 2008 Mission. For the first time in four years, Evergreen is returning to Warm Springs to spread the love of Christ. The team will be tent camping on the lawn of Warm Springs Presbyterian Church, guests of this congregation and of the Tribal Council. Pastor David Hopkins will be leading the team, lending his many years of experience working with Native Americans. The exact work projects have yet to be confirmed, but most likely, the team will work to support the efforts of CHIEF, the agency for which David Hopkins serves through the training of Native American leaders of the Church. Please contact the Evergreen office or speak to Pastor Nathan Lewis directly to join the team.

Check out the photo of the team that climbed Black Butte!

32 campers from Evergreen and Chehalem Valley have safely arrived at RYM Camp. Our total count is at 73 with teens from Faith PCA, Tacoma and Heritage PCA, Oklahoma City. The youth are mixing well - engaged in thoughtful discussion, enjoying delicious food, kayaking, boating with the Werners, working as teams through the ropes course. Please pray for our two counselors, Kaitlyn Trott and Jonathan Bicker. They have their work cut out for them. The weather is perfectly sunny, breezy - big blue skies with majestic vistas. We are planning to hike Black Butte to gain a better view, trying our best to abide by the midnight curfew, and growing in Christ!Welcome to Oregon: cell phone reception at this remote location in the Cascades is spotty but we have free wireless throughout the camp! If you need to communicate with a camper and cannot make a cell connection, send Nathan at note at nathan@evergreenpca.com and he will connect you. [Read more →]

The two new elders of CVPC, Keith Hansen and David Hansen, along with our new deacon, Dan Wilson, are meeting regularly to pray for CVPC. If you have any prayer requests, please let one of these men know. All of the decisions and planning conducted by these men are accompanied by prayer. As they join the Session of Elders and Diaconate, each action item and ministry project are committed to prayer. These prayer times are kept in strict confidence and the elders and deacons pray for all of us, in good times and conditions and in times of trial and suffering.

RYM Camp will be at Suttle Lake, Oregon this June 16-20. This site allows us to water ski, canoe, play beach volleyball, mountain climb, fish, and enjoy the beauty of the Cascades. (Suttle Lake Camp is on the way to Sisters and Bend.) The theme for the keynote addresses this year set by the national RYM staff is “The Incarnation.” Campers will also be able to choose to attend a number of workshops. The biblical teaching is in depth and high quality. Talk to teens who have participated in the past and they will give you the scoop. The news this year is the better site selected!It is time to sign up! Once again registration is group oriented. Nathan Lewis will complete the online form and so you need to reserve your place by contacting him at (503) 502-3026 or at nathan@evergreenpca.com. Go to the RYM Summer Camp website to check it out. You can also see some of the camp at the Suttle Camp website. Tuition is $205.00 per camper. We will begin to plan fundraisers this coming month. Make checks payable to Chehalem Valley Presbyterian Church or to Evergreen Presbyterian Church ASAP. Last year 18 teens enjoyed RYM Camp. Let’s invite our friends this year to increase our party to 30. The total number at camp is usually around 100 campers. Is the food good? At this point we can say that it will be “memorable” if not “interesting.”

 Fletcher Matandika, a Malawian and founder of Ministry of Hope, an orphanage in Malawi preached at our sister congregation, Evergreen Presbyterian Church. He has most recently founded “Joy to the World,” an organization transforming a Malawian village, including the offering of micro loans to groups of women. The Fresh Start Microloans group comprised of Evergreen Presbyterian and Chehalem Valley Presbyterian members, awarded a loan to Kingsley, a Malawian entrepreneur who is opening an operating grocery kiosks on the street of his city. Jay Stoms, teacher at African Bible College in Malawi, supported by Evergreen, connected us to Kingsley and is our onsite manager of the microloan. It just so happens that Kingsley was an orphan, taken into Ministry of Hope years ago by Fletcher Matandika! He raised Kingsley and brought him along to the point where he enrolled at African Bible College where he met Jay Stoms.Fletcher Matandika is presently living in the USA, studying at Westminster Seminary California. 

Listen to Fletcher Matandika’s sermon preached at Evergreen Presbyterian Church.

Nathan Lewis is preaching four sermons on “The Ascension of Jesus Christ.” To hear his first three sermons, “The History of the Ascension,” “The Science of the Ascension,” and “The Blessing of the Ascension,” go to Audio Sermons. To read these sermons, go to his blog, www.nathanlewis.org. This May 11 is Ascension Sunday and Nathan will preach a sermon titled, “Humanity in Heaven.” On May 18, Pentecost Sunday, Nathan will preach, “The Holy Spirit and the Ascension.”  If you would like to engage in further study concerning the Ascension of Jesus, go to Nathan’s Bible Study Guides.