10
community
april3
2014
Meet Mac MacCallum: New Pastor at Grace Family Fellowship
Greg “Mac” MacCallum is the
new pastor at Grace Family Fellowship
church. He arrived with his family- wife
Julie and children; daughter Jaelynne,
17, and sons Luke, 15 and David, 9. The
MacCallums are currently in the pro-
cess of moving into the home they just
purchased, formerly the Old Mill House
Inn, and spent Spring Break unpacking
boxes and getting settled.
“Vernonia is a great town, says
Mac. “We love it here.”
Mac is originally from Pendle-
ton and has a Seminary Degree in Pasto-
ral Studies from Multnomah University
in Portland; Julie is from Hermiston and
has a Bachelors Degree in Graphic Com-
munication. The MacCallums moved
from Helix, OR where Mac was the pas-
tor for the last five years. Prior to Helix,
Mac was a pastor in Eddyville, OR for
eight years. Both were small churches
and Mac seems to be very comfortable
in a small, rural church and community.
“Eddyville is between New-
port and Corvallis-a logging town like
Vernonia,” says Mac. “Grace Commu-
nity Fellowship is a little bigger than
the churches I’ve been at before, but
I’ll pretty much have the same approach
to ministry and personal style that I’ve
used at the previous places I’ve been.
It’s a terrific fit. This is a wonderful
community with caring and loving peo-
ple. And then, obviously at our church,
too- a great group of people to work with
and enjoy the grace of god together.”
Mac says his approach to be-
ing a pastor is to be a shepherding type
of teacher who builds relationships and
through those relationships, he can disci-
ple people in God’s word. “Not so much
to learn the facts about the bible, but as
transformation in their lives-to lead
people into a closer relationship with
God,” says Mac. “Help them connect
with God so they can be changed by
the power of God.”
Mac says his work at Grace
Family Fellowship does include a
little more administrative work and
working more with staff and other
church leaders than in his previous
churches. “It’s a very friendly at-
mosphere,” says Mac. “It was clear
when we got here that when they
decided to rename the church Grace
Family Fellowship that was a good
name because all three of those ele-
ments are prevalent. It’s really de-
fined by good fellowship and has a
family atmosphere and everything
we do is about grace. About grace
for each other and grace in our own
lives.”
Julie added that building re-
lationships has always been Mac’s goal.
“He does that by meeting people’s needs
and working alongside them. There’s
a saying, ‘People don’t care how much
you know until they know how much
you care,’ that has always been how Mac
has pastored. He doesn’t like to wait for
people to come into the church, he likes
to see where the needs are and how we
can contribute and serve the communi-
ty.”
Mac agreed with Julie. “I don’t
just do my work in the church. I like to
be out in the woods with the loggers and
coach and be involved in the community
as much as possible. And that’s where
the relationships are really made.”
The MacCallums said the de-
cision to come to Vernonia took some
time. Mac originally heard about the op-
portunity over a year ago. Their church
in Helix had several major crises which
impacted their congregation, including a
suicide and a murder, which delayed the
MacCallums from making any type of
decision to leave. “Every three months
there was a crisis that we just couldn’t
leave,” explains Mac.
Eventually things got back in
order and it became apparent that it was
time to move on and start something
new. “We felt like we had accomplished
everything that the Lord had for us to do
in Helix,” said Mac.
Mac said he had stayed in touch
with Ralph Young, the interim pastor at
Grace Family Fellowship, through all
the crises in Helix and then finally spoke
with the church elders. “Once we all met
it was pretty much a done deal,” says
Mac. “Right off the bat it was a good fit.
We knew we had to come here.”
When asked about the number
of members at his new church, Mac
says Grace Family Fellowship averages
about 100 attendees for their Sunday ser-
vice. “I’m not big on focusing on offi-
cial membership,” says Mac. “We pretty
much consider everyone that comes as
part of the family. For some people it’s
important to have the piece of paper that
says they’re a member and we under-
stand that, but that is not our focus.”
Mac says Grace Family Fellow-
ship has an active youth group led
by Mark Brown. Brown also orga-
nizes the music for Sunday services.
The MacCallums also mentioned
new, small, weeknight bible study
groups that meet in people’s homes;
they currently have four groups in
place with the hope of having ten by
the end of the year. The MacCal-
lums were also excited to know their
church facility has hosted the Sum-
mer Meals Program for the last two
summers and are looking forward to
Vacation Bible School this June 19,
20 and 22.
The MacCallums are really try-
ing to fit into both the church commu-
nity and the community as a whole.
Jaylynn and Luke both played JV
basketball for the VHS Loggers this
past year. Luke is looking forward
to the upcoming football season.
Mac has been participating in weekly
Thursday lunches where all the pastors
from all the churches gather. Julie has
the new bed and breakfast. Grace Fam-
ily Fellowship worked with the Vernonia
Christian Church to provide activities
for families this past Halloween. The
MacCallums will also be participating
in “Make Vernonia Shine Day” on April
12, partnering with other church congre-
gations to spruce up the Vernonia Com-
munity Learning Center.
For the MacCallums the entire
community is important. “I hope that all
of the churches can find ways to work
together towards the common goal,”
says Mac. Julie agrees. “We’re trying
to build relationships and build trust and
find ways to help each other out.”
“It’s going to take some time,”
says Mac. “We understand that. If we
take one step at time maybe we can all
head in the same direction.”
“I just want the community to
hear from me that we are here for them,”
said Mac in closing. “We have a com-
fortable atmosphere at the church and
want everybody to feel welcome. It’s
not like they have to be a certain way or
look a certain way to come in and fit in.
If people come and check it out and see
what it is all about I think they will feel
comfortable and enjoy it.”
1984 mist drive, po box 321 vernonia, or 97064
MIKE PIHL
LOGGING CO., INC
Family Dining
Full Breakfast Menu
Specializing in Private Timber
Free Estimates
Burgers & Beer
Prime Rib Fri & Sat
503-429-1470
cell 503.789.1268
fax 503.429.0252
mplogging@frontier.com
