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The Cascade Mountain range provides the western
boundary of the Episcopal Diocese of Eastern Oregon. The Diocese is
bounded by Washington state to the north (though it includes Klickitat
County, Washington), and by Idaho to the east, and Nevada and California
to the south.
This part of the state has many differences from the more populous and
wetter west side of the state. Eastern Oregon is vast in its 69,000 square
miles, and has a different beauty from the western side of the mountains.
In Eastern Oregon, you will find mountains and deserts, high chaparral,
and ponderosa pine forests. Some of the country’s most productive sweet
cherry and winter pear orchards are found here, as well as golden wheat
fields, grazing lands, meadows and sagebrush plateaus. Besides the
Columbia River and its tributaries, there are many smaller streams, and
lakes of all sizes, including Crater Lake. The elevation range on this
side of Oregon varies greatly from near sea level at Hood River and The
Dalles to almost a mile high at Lakeview.
In this part of Oregon, you will find space for solitude, and yet,
particularly in the small communities and rural areas, you will find
strong connection with one’s neighbors and the community.
The twenty-three congregations of the Diocese are spread out primarily
along the main traffic arteries of I-84 and US 197/97. Each congregation
embodies out of its own particularity its call to serve Christ and live in
the context of the Sacrament of Baptism. To do the work God gives us
requires us to be innovative, creative, and open-minded. This process also
calls us to a profound sense of rootedness in the Anglican Tradition. We
are deeply mindful of the pioneer heritage which taught us not only to
take care of ourselves but also that we are inextricably bound to one
another and need one another. We are the Body of Christ, and as St. Paul
reminds us, one cannot say to another, “We don’t need you.”
The Diocese of Eastern Oregon is deeply committee to the understanding of
Church that affirms Holy Baptism as the ground of all ministry. Within
that ministry, God calls us through the Spirit to various ministries,
including the ordained ministries. We understand and seek daily to live
this understanding that all God’s people are gifted and empowered to
contribute both to the life of the Church and to the world. We seek to
call forth everyone’s gifts, to equip ourselves through education and
training to use these gifts well, and to apply our gifts generously and
effectively. Under girding this life-long way of living is a commitment to
life-long formation. We have tagged that dimension of our life in Christ
as being “Transformed by Grace.” We are always being formed, always being
transformed, always growing and becoming, as individuals and as
congregations, and as a Diocese. It is in the openness to the Spirit and
one another that we are continually guided by the Spirit into the holy
adventure God opens up before us.
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