Reid selected to head pregnancy care across U.S.

By REBECCA TUITE CNNW staff writer

PORTLAND -- Mike Reid, executive director of the Pregnancy Resource Centers in Portland, has been named president of Care Net, the national organization that coordinates 610 pregnancy care centers, including Portland's Preg-nancy Resource Centers.

Organized in 1975 as the Christian Action Council, today Care Net is the largest network of affiliated pregnancy centers located throughout the U.S. and Canada.

Based in Sterling, Va., Care Net provides options to women facing unplanned pregnancies, including free pregnancy tests, confidential peer counseling and other resources to help them make informed decisions.

It is a Christian, pro-life network of pregnancy care centers and churches, proclaiming the Gospel and providing practical help to women, men and unborn children threatened by abortion in the United States and Canada. All services provided at Care Net centers are free and confidential.

Care Net is the crisis pregnancy ministry of the Christian Action Council, which was founded in 1975 by Harold OJ Brown, with the advice and encouragement of the Rev. Billy Graham and the late Francis A. Schaeffer.

Selection of Reid comes two months after former Care Net President Guy M.Condon died in an automobile accident.

Board Chair Susan Olasky said, " The board and staff of Care Net unanimously decided to pursue Mike for the position from the onset. He will be a compassionate spokesperson for the cause of life. We're confident Mike is the person God called to head up the nation's leading pro-life organization dedicated to saving lives, one at a time."

Reid is a well-known leader in the pregnancy center movement. He has served for more than nine years as chief operating officer for the Pregnancy Resource Centers of Greater Portland, which last year provided pregnancy counseling to more than 9,000 women. In addition to that, he has served on the Care Net Board of Directors. During that time, Reid worked closely with Condon in advancing the vision of Care Net.

Reid is a graduate of Biola University in California and Western Seminary, and has served as a pastor and on the mission field. He and his wife, Jan ,have two children.

Reid will officially join the Care Net staff this spring.

Reid will move to back east in two months. He said, "I'm delighted at God's hand in my life. It's pretty remarkable when God just says I want to lift you out of where you are and move you across the nation."

"Care Net and the Pregnancy Resource Centers of Portland are both great organizations," he continued. "I'm thankful for the opportunity to provide at the national level the same excellent services to women that the PRC has been offering locally."

In the years that Reid has been at the Portland PRC, the annual client load has increased from 2,351 to 9,443; the budget has increased from $285,000 to $1.3 million, and the agency has opened three new centers and launched an ultrasound ministry. He also encouraged expansion of the Prevention Services Department, which promotes abstinence, as well as the outreach of the HEART ministry (Healing Encouragement for Abortion-Related Trauma).

When Reid was called to the Pregancy Resource Centers (then called Crisis Pregnancy Centers), there were three centers serving 315 clients per month. Under Reid's direction, PRC now operates six centers serving approximately 900 clients per month. In terms of clients seen, PRC has become the largest pregnancy care center network in the nation.

At press time, no one has been named to take over Reid's responsibilities in Portland. However, the PRC board of directors is actively seeking someone to fill the vacancy.

"Mike will be missed by the Portland PRC staff and Board alike," said Julie Johnson, director of services for PRC. " The board is vigorously looking to make a smooth transition in leadership -- seeking the Lord's direction and reviewing possible candidates from across the country... Mike is leaving behind big shoes to fill, but God is able to work all things together for good. We anticipate that the Lord will continue to bless His work at the Pregnancy Resource Centers with able leadership and ministry-wide teamwork."