The Bible identifies two offices that exist within the local church. First, a mature church will have a group of Elders that operate in mutual accountability to one another. As a reflection of how God has gifted them, they will often have different functions, but together they are entrusted with the teaching, care, protection, and leadership of the church. Deacons arose out of the need for the church to care for the physical and material needs of the church. They exist to enable the mission of the church to move forward as they serve in this capacity. If you would like a more detailed description of what the Bible says about elders and deacons, please read our statement of faith. We’re actively developing more leaders as a church family who are “full of goodness, filled with all knowledge, and able to instruct others” (Romans 15:14). During the interim we look to our founding church planters for leadership while developing a culture of shared leadership — Elders and Deacons who embrace and embody the Grace, Hope, Love and Renewal of Jesus who is our true Senior Pastor. Leadership is a shared experience, a mosaic of God’s creativity, kindness, longsuffering, joy, grace, and so much more.

Elders | Dawson Hunter, Jeff Patterson, Rich Rowell

Descriptions about each Elder coming soon.

Jeff Patterson | Lead Pastor

Jeff serves the church with vision, theology, preaching, and leadership. He is married to Kari and father to Dutch, Heidi, Justice, and Benjamin. He graduated from Oregon State University with a B.S. in Civil Engineering and later earned a Masters degree in pastoral studies from Multnomah Biblical Seminary. Jeff is a learner; he thrives on studying, exploring, and digging into the unfathomable depths of God’s beautiful grace and truth (sharing intermittently at deTheos.us), and enjoys the rigors of grace-driven effort through endurance training and raising funds for Next Generation Ministries (Uganda) and for water projects via races with Team World Vision (more at renewjeff.com). He enjoys running and cycling up hills, dandelion tea and coffee, and creating weathered wood projects from discarded pallets. // read Jeff’s story of renewal email | blog | twitter @JPintheWord | facebook | speaking request/contact

Kari Patterson | Women’s Disciplemaking

Kari is a writer/speaker and homeschool mama. She writes e-books, blogs at karipatterson.com and speaks at retreats and women’s events throughout the year. Her first book in print, Sacred Mundane, was published by Kregel in ’17. She enjoys sunshine, strong coffee, and her children’s morning breath. Kari is married to Jeff and they have four kids, Dutch, Heidi, Justice, and Benjamin. blog Sacred Mundane | twitter @karipatterson | facebook | FB page Sacred Mundane | contact

RuizGrace Ruiz | Renew Kids

Grace serves as the Renew Kids director where she is responsible for providing an environment that teaches our children to become disciples of Christ with the help of other faithful and caring adults that are committed to being an example of Christ and His love to them and their families. She believes that every child is a blessing from the Lord and desires that every child that comes to Renew would come to know Jesus as their personal savior and friend. Grace is married to Marciel Ruiz and is mom to Madison, Sophia & Stella. She is renewed by being in God’s creation and spends as much time outdoors with her family as she can. Grace spends her days worshipping Jesus and studying His Word, homeschooling Madison, tending the chickens, gardening, and walking her dogs.