Warm Springs Presbyterian Church, which serves the Warm Springs Reservation in west-central Oregon, was hit hard by recent regional fires. Six members’ homes were destroyed, along with several income-generating assets the reservation relies on ahead of winter.
Brian Craker, the transitional executive Presbyter for the Presbytery of the Cascades, explained that an estimated 200 heads of cattle were lost in the fires, which only touched an edge of the reservation where people actually reside. In addition to the loss of livestock, which is a huge driver of income for those in Warm Springs, one of their resorts has also been shut down as a result of the damage.
“There’s a resort called the Canita Resort that is booming in the summertime,” Craker said. “But that’s been shut down. They’ve lost millions of dollars in income for the people on the reservation, which is going to be felt in the winter months.”
Support now, worry later
Warm Springs Presbyterian has the only food and supply pantry on the whole reservation, which Craker expects to be busy over the next couple of months as a result of the losses that have taken place due to the fires.
“Right now, the church has a lot of supplies coming in,” Craker said. “There’s been an outpouring of support from community groups that are coming in and bringing supplies. Right now they’re taken care of.”
Craker went on to share the concern that some of the elders on the reservation have expressed.
“They’re worried about when the news cycle calms down and people forget about the fire,” Craker said.
The concern is a familiar one after disasters: The initial wave of support and awareness fades, and attention moves on while recovery work remains.
Craker shared the ethos of the Presbyterian denomination as a whole, and why he believes that the support for Warm Springs and their recovery won’t dwindle as a result.
“We’re not the first responders, because there are people who are called to be that,” Craker said. “But we’re the ones that come in alongside the community and say ‘We’re going to stay here until you have fully recovered physically, emotionally and spiritually.’”
The challenges of finding a new pastor
Something more that Warm Springs Presbyterian is facing is the fact that they are and have been without a pastor for two years. The church has been assisted by interim pastors, who travel from all over the presbytery — often bringing members of their congregation along with them — to come to the reservation and say a weekday or Sunday service. Craker shared that the distance that these churches travel to join together with the Warm Springs congregation has ranged from 45 minutes to almost six and a half hours.
The Rev. Beverly Crow is an ordained Presbyterian minister, who has been in and around the Warm Springs Reservation and church for many years. She explained that a part of the reason for such a long hiatus in terms of a search for a new pastor was due to the lack of a place for a new pastor to live on the reservation.
“We needed to do some major repairs on the house for the pastor to live in,” Crow said. “We’ve completed the repairs, so we’re ready to start looking for a pastor who could live there and really be a part of the community.”
Crow and Craker mirrored sentiments that the next pastor who comes in to serve at Warm Springs Presbyterian needs to be an individual who is willing to integrate as a leader not only within the church’s four walls, but also in the community.
“The Presbyterian outlook is that we don’t just hole up in a church,” Crow said. “We try to be a part of the community. Living and working on a reservation, you’re in the community.”
Craker explained what those in the church are searching for in a new pastor of their congregation.
“It needs to be someone who is comfortable with living in another culture and has a heart for the Native people,” Craker said. “We have had some people with Native descent [who] are ministers and have been able to do this, but for the most part, many of our pastors are people of non-Native descent who have an affinity for this population.”
What comes next
Craker explained that the church board had gotten close to posting the position when the fires hit the community. While this may have stalled the release date for this position, he maintains hope for the future of the pastor that steps onto the reservation.
“I’m a firm believer that God can use all things together for good,” Craker said. “I can see the possibilities of how God may choose to use the fire for opening people’s eyes to the Warm Springs people, how wonderful they are and what a blessed opportunity this could be for the right presence to come in and become a pastoral presence in that community.”
By Mia Gallegos, FāVS News Reporter
