Warner Pacific president

emphasizes college's role

in Portland community

     PORTLAND — Warner Pacific College has been a part of Portland for a long time — almost 75 years — but its calling to serve the Rose City is increasingly clear, says college President Andrea Cook.
     During a June speech in Anderson, Ind., for the Church of God, the college’s parent church fellowship, Cook explained the school’s focus on the city.
      “While the college has faithfully served the church for seven and a half decades, Warner Pacific is beginning to be understood as a jewel in the city of Portland as well,” she said. “Over the past few years, our focus to be ‘in the city, for the city’ has crystallized in profound ways that are beginning to impact our campus, neighborhood and the city of Portland.”
     Cook described Portland as “a place of challenge, but also a place of grace” — a paradoxical city with both great blessings and also great challenges.
     Cook quoted the admonition in Jeremiah 29 to “seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you ... Pray to the Lord for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper.”
     “Our new perspective on Jeremiah has caused us to believe that we are called to embrace the city in which God has placed us,” she said. “We cannot live out our calling as an urban institution without a proper understanding of who we are collectively and why God has placed us in this city.”
      Attracting a student body with greater urban diversity, the college has grown from 578 students in 2005 to an expected enrollment of more than 1,700 this fall.
     “The world is urbanizing — and cities need diverse, faithful, educated Christians who understand the dynamics and implications of an urban setting. To love the city is to be committed to its infrastructure…its environment … its economy …. its people … and its soul,” she said.
       About 17 months ago Cook appointed a commission to plan how the college can best engage its location and equip its students to lead and serve in an increasingly urban, needy world. The result was a 51-page document, and various elements of the plan are now starting to be implemented.
      “Our students today believe they can make a difference — they love Jesus and they want to engage in significant ways to make a difference for the Kingdom of God,” said Cook. “Our role as an urban Christian liberal arts college is to prepare them to do this work as faithful servant leaders able to authentically engage in sharing the gospel with their neighbors.”