By Kaleb Eisele & Anna Ramos
Juan Pacheco was appointed as the new Assistant to the President for Communication by the Oregon Conference Executive Committee on Thursday, June 22, filling the position formerly held by Jonathan Russell as he transitions into his new role as Assistant to the President.
Pacheco has served as lead pastor at the Hillsboro Spanish Adventist Church for the past six years. He first arrived in the Oregon Conference back in 2007 and has served as a local church pastor at 14 Oregon Conference churches. “The first Sabbath of July marks exactly six years since I began to serve at the Hillsboro Spanish Adventist Church,” says Pacheco. “This church has been such an open group of people that are so intentional in looking for ways to serve and connect with the community. That’s something I had the chance to experience firsthand, and together we developed a ministry that connected with many different organizations and people. They helped minister to physical, mental, and community health needs, helping people with finances and food and so many other resources. It’s been a warm church where you can experience worship as soon as you reach the parking lot. They’re committed to love every person they meet, and they’ve been open to different styles of worshiping the same God. It’s a church that embraces people, and it’s the first church that my kids will remember as their own. I am so grateful to have served alongside them.”
Pastor Pacheco has a deep and active passion for creative ministry and practical discipleship and was ordained as an elder himself in his home country of Bolivia at a very young age. He has already begun to apply that same sense of mission as he transitions to leading the conference Communications team. “What I love about this communications team is that it isn’t just a technological ministry – it isn’t detached from humanity,” he said. “Being here the past several days has shown me how much this really is ministry, too. I see a laboratory where we can develop and multiply creative ministries all over this conference and beyond. For so many years we have had canvassing projects and gone from door to door. I believe this could be a center of development for a new generation of evangelists who may not be working from door to door, but phone to phone and tablet to tablet. We have the opportunity to grow ministry through technology, through video, through audio, and not only serve the church we know and love but train a generation of young people in digital evangelism. I would love to see that grow in the future. One of the very first things I heard when I walked into this department was ‘How can I help? How can I serve?’”
Pastor Pacheco shared a message of gratitude to both the Hillsboro Spanish Church and the team he has served with for over a decade in the Oregon Conference Hispanic Ministries:
“A las iglesias y el ministerio hispano, gracias por haberme permitido servir durante este tiempo, y espero que durante este nuevo ministerio también pueda seguir sirviendo, en otra capacidad, pero seguir siendo un pastor para ellos. Todas las iglesias han sido extraordinarias y de cada una (como familia) hemos aprendido algo. No me estoy despidiendo del ministerio, pero ahora estoy en otra capacidad.
Estoy muy agradecido porque hemos sentido solamente amor en cada una de las experiencias. La iglesia de Hillsboro, esta es la iglesia que ha visto a mi familia, a mis hijos crecer. Esta es la iglesia que me ha enseñado a amar y ser amado a un nivel todavía mucho más grande y ha perpetuado la cultura de amar incondicionalmente. Esta es una iglesia que nos ha demostrado demasiado amor y se que tiene la visión clara de seguir amando y mostrando a Jesús. Gracias, iglesia, por seguir siendo la iglesia que es, y por mantener la cultura que tiene hasta que venga Jesús.”
“The Oregon Conference will be blessed to have Pastor Juan Pacheco in this new role of Assistant to the President for Communications,” shared Oregon Conference President Dan Linrud. “Similar to the journey of Jonathan Russell, Pastor Juan comes from a strong and successful pastoral ministry. He has been an excellent leader of teams and an excellent minister alongside his congregation. He has developed effective relationships in the communities-at-large wherever his churches have been. He has demonstrated high aptitude in the areas of audio/visual systems and emerging technologies. He is highly valued and respected among members, pastors, educators, and conference administration and department personnel. I look forward to Juan joining our leadership team in this new role.”
Pacheco has already begun serving in his new role and will continue to serve alongside the current Assistant to the President for Communications, Jonathan Russell, until he transitions to his new role after camp meeting. We look forward to all the ways Pastor Juan and the team will apply the heart of servant leadership to the area of communication in the coming years!
