Standing in the Gap for Oregon

  Corvallis, Benton County, Oregon Teach me good judgement and knowledge: for I have believed thy commandments . Psalm 119:66 In the early days it was only Linn-Benton Counties along the southern end of the Willamette Valley, all the way across to the ocean. Lincoln County, sectioned off from Benton and Tillamook Counties, didn’t come into being until 1893. We are checking out Benton this time, but as we head west, there is an interesting stop in Linn County just this side of the Benton County line. Oakville Presbyterian Church sits in the middle of beautiful farm county between Corvallis to the northwest and the little unincorporated community of Shedd to the southeast. This congregation has been in existence for 172 years, since 1850, and while the beginning structure was a log cabin, this white, steepled church building is the original one built in 1860 and has been in use continuously. It has undergone renovations during that time, and been moved a few yards, but it is still a

  Linn County, Oregon Thus says the Lord, “Stand in the ways and see, and ask for the old paths, where the good way is, and walk in it; then you will find rest for your souls . Jeremiah 6:16 The primary elections were held this week. Some results are still pending but continue to keep the integrity of the election process in prayer. Having made our way down the North Coast, Southern Coast and across a few southern Oregon counties, we want to take a closer look at a tri-county region at the southern end of the Willamette Valley and west to the middle coast. The Linn-Benton-Lincoln County area is often linked anyway, so we will look at this region beeginning with Linn. Created in 1847 from southern Champoeg (Marion) the boundaries were altered later to accommodate Lane and Wasco. Calapooia, which later became Brownsville, was the first county seat, but in 1851 Albany was named the county seat. Linn, Benton, Lincoln Counties We’ve looked at the history of Albany a bit already. Let’s st

Klamath County, Oregon And the Lord shall guide thee continually, and satisfy thy soul in drought, and make fat thy bones; and thou shalt be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters fail not. Isaiah 58:11. The May 17 th primary is getting close. Presumably you have received your ballot and voter’s guide by now, and many have already voted. My church, like many, makes a Christian voter’s guide available. There are some conservative and/or Christian voters guides out there, to assist voters in understanding candidates’ positions on various issues, but most I’ve found are in print, not digital. Here is one online guide that lists the major candidates for US Senate and House, but not the governor’s race. Oregon | iVoterGuide.com Klamath County , the focus for this week’s blog, has several positions up for election. Open county positions include County Commissioners #1 and #2; County District Attorney; County Assessor; County Justice of the Peace; County Clerk

Rogue River  Therefore with joy shall ye draw water out of the wells of salvation . Isaiah 12:3 Jackson County was established in 1852. Medford, the county seat, has a population of 85,824 and is one of the larger cities in Oregon. Jackson shares the current crisis with Josephine County around illegal marijuana growers coming into the area, depleting the water by draining creeks and siphoning off groundwater and bringing a variety of problems including human trafficking. In October of 2021 the Commissioners declared a state of emergency over this issue. The earliest churches – Presbyterian and Christian - in Medford started as a “Union Sunday School.” The American Sunday School Union started in 1817 on the east coast, a copy of a similar organization in Britain that began in the mid-18 th century. This organization was not like we think of modern Sunday School. It was designed to reach rural and poor children and educate them as well as attend to their moral training. The membe