Section
SANDY, OREGON THURSDAY, APRIL 30, 1981
People
Home & Garden
Features
A rea News
The Sandy Post
Not your average
place of worship
At first glance, the Boring United Methixlist
Church appears to be just your average
neighborhood church
But the inside is entirely unique
First of all, very little is known about the
history of the church Then, there is an
absence of stained glass windows, but in their
place are some beautiful windows of pressed
leaves And the final difference is that the
pastor of the Boring church is a woman
I he church's history is somew hat vague
because the congregation split some time ago
and many of the current church-goers joined
recently. The church became part of the Con
nectional Methodist system in 1904, which
means a pastor was appointed at that time,
according to Pastor Elisabeth Gray
One of the congregation. Joanna Bitter,
said that the church was officially dedicated
June 23. 1907 when it was the Methodist
Episcopal Church The president of
Willamette University at the time, Dr John
H Coleman, was the guest speaker
She hopes to help the children w rite and per
form a play
“ I wanted us to have something a little
more unusual,” she said “ We re really ex
cited about the anniversary and children are
so creative, a workshop seemed the perfect
thing
Along with the anniversary
plans, which include old-time fiddling and a
barbecue, Gray hopes to dig up a little more
history about the church Some maintenance
work is planned — a little painting, a little
window repair and some fundraising to buy a
new stove
The projects are nothing unusual for a little
neighborhixxl church and from the outside,
passersby probably won’t even know the dif
ference.
It takes a closer look to realize that the Bor
ing United Methodist Church is not an
average place of worship
One of the church's original pews still
stands inside, a testimony to the long history
of the building The pulpit was handcrafted in
oak by George Ferret in 1950 and donated by
Orville and Lucy Boring
The newest decorations are leaves and
flowers from all over the world, pressed and
made into w indows by Jo Van Houten Includ
ed are leaves from many of the states, a daisy
from Jerusalem, a rose petal which fell on a
walk near the Canterbury Cathedral, a flower
from the Isle of Rhodes, another frm Cypress
and even a leaf from a maple tree in the yard
of the Boring church
The condition of the church is far from
perfect, however A broken window mars the
tower, the white coat of paint is several years
ol0 These projects may take time, but’ they
are ail being planned, according to Pastor
Gray.
The biggest project, however, is a June 14
celebration of the church's 77th anniversary
(•ray plans a children's creative workshop as
part of the celebration, a slight departure
from the traditional vacation Bible school
stories, photos
- V '- v
by Mark Floyd
■ 3 fiK
___ _ 4
Pressed leal windows are unique
Pastor Elisabeth («ray and Mabel Johnson outside the Boring United Methodist Church.
A woman becomes pastor
From prison to the pulpit
The road to the pulpit hasn't
necessarily been a smooth one for
Elisabeth Gray, but she knew she
would get there eventually
It was in her blood.
Pastor Gray took over as minister
of the Boring United Methodist
Church last year And while she is
one of the few women ministers in
this part of the state, the pastor is
one of many in her family.
" I come from a long line of
pastors, she said. "M y mother
(E lis a b e th H a m p to n ! was a
Methodist minister and my father
(Harry Hampton) was an ordained
Presbyterian minister They're both
retired now. My mother's parents
were missionaries in Scuth America
and my father is from the Hampton
family — John Hampton came to the
country in the early 1700s and was
thrown in prison because he was a
Presbyterian minister
“I have more than 20 relatives ser
ving as ministers or missionaries
now, mostly in South America or
Africa.” she added.
With a fam ily background that
oriented to religion, it is little sur
prise that Gray followed suit.
I've known from the time I was
little that I was supposed to be a
m inister,” she admitted. “ When I
was in third grade in Reedville, I liv
ed next door to the church and it was
next to the school I'd stop on the
way home, go up to the pulpit and
preach to a congregation that wasn t
there ”
It was a long time before Gray was
able to preach to a real church con
gregation, although she certainly
earned the right She traveled with a
singing group called The Sonlites,”
touring Oregon and conducting
church services The head of the
s.
.*
; ¿5
Oregon Gospel Ministeries heard
Gray and asked her if she w ould con
sider working with prisons
She didn't answer immediately —
in fact, it took her several months to
finally make a decision - and in 1972
she took over as chaplain at South
Fork Prison on te Wilson RiVer
Highway.
“ I ’ve been very well ac
cepted here. I consider
myself a pastor first, then a
woman. I ’m not out to prove
that I can do a man's job.
“ We held services Sunday morn
ing and on Saturdays we were allow
ed to let the families and children of
the prisoners come to prison,” she
recalled "We had Bible studies, pic
nics and several of the men were
baptized in the river. And it was
cold!
"We had someone escape from
South Fork once and we knew where
he was,” she added “ His wife was
taking their daughter out-of-state
and he wanted to see her once more
It was difficult to decide just when to
tell the officials where he was.”
Gray also put in some time at
Hillcrest, a reform school for girls,
and MacLaren. a boys' reform
school She said that she was more
apprehensive at Hillcrest than at the
prison because she was locked in the
basement of the building, although
the apprehension left after the first
couple of meetings
” 1 felt safer at South Fork than I
feel anywhere else," she said,
took my children in there with me
In prison they have a pecking order
and child molesters are at the hot
tom Right next to the bottom are
rapists If anyone would have done
something to me or my children, I
think the other prisoners would have
killed them.”
Gray stayed at the prison until
1976, then enrolled at Lewis and
Clark College and got a degree in
elementary (‘duration During that
time, she owned and operated a
kindergarten and preschool.
In 1979, Gray appeared before the
Board of Ordained Ministeries and
"they turned me down," she said
They felt there wasn't a church
that was ready for me."
Bishop Jack Tuell disagreed with
them and overrode the committee's
decision He appointed her to the
Boring church last June
"I'v e been very well accepted
here, she said " , consider myself a
pastor first, then a woman, ,'m not
out to prove that I can do a man's
job I m just trying to do the job the
Lord has given me to do ”
There were 12 people at her first
service, now the congregation is up
to 40 And her job is no small task
when you consider that Boring
United Methodist Church's pastor is
a mother of four Matthew is a
freshman at Clackamas Community
College. Mark is a high school
junior, Marvin is a seventh grader
and Melissa is a fourth grader Don't
be too surprised if one or more of
them turns out to be a minister as
well
Il's been a long tim e since
Elisabeth Gray preached her third
grade gospel to that empty con
gregation in Reedville Now she has
her own; a real one
But then, it's not really surprising
After all, the ministry is in her
blood