Letter to Pastors

January 14, 1999

A group of pastors have asked Tom Baker, Senior Pastor of Portland Foursquare Church, to be a spokesperson for Y2K preparedness.  This has led to the development of a Steering Committee to give leadership to churches for involvement in a Portland Metro area preparedness effort. 

The Steering Committee is to set policy and co-ordinate the effort on a broad scale.   It will give direction to designing a plan for churches to use to inform the community of the Y2K computer problem, educate people on practical steps to take for being prepared, and mobilize a responsible, united response to the problem.

Goals for the preparedness effort are:

  • Alert the community of potential risks, opportunities, and benefits of the computer technology problem.
  • Serve as brokers of information.  Provide people information that will allow them to make intelligent decisions.
  • Work in tandem and co-operate with existing agencies (public and private) to create tools for contingency planning; risk management, and disaster recovery protocol.
  • Develop a neighborhood model for preparedness that can be implemented city-wide.  Have a pilot test of the model done in two neighborhoods in 90 days.  Those most vulnerable in a time of emergency (the elderly, shut-in, handicapped, mentally ill, homeless, single parent families, etc.) will be given special consideration. 
  • Put the model into a business plan that can be duplicated in other neighborhoods throughout the city and/or Metro area.  This business plan will also be presented to foundations to enlist their financial support.  
  • Have a church emergency response structure in place that can be activated in crisis situations apart from any impact of the Y2K problem, i.e. earthquake or other natural or man-made disaster.

In light of these goals a full time coordinator is needed to administrate the organizational details related to this task.  To support this position the Steering Committee is asking for 30 churches to commit to giving, $100/month each, for three months, in order to get the project off the ground.  In 90 days the project model would be presented to foundations for continued funding support. 

The desire, in this preparedness movement, is to put churches on the front lines of serving their communities in a potential emergency.  We trust God would use this as an opportunity to show the love of God to our city and draw people into his Kingdom.

Sincerely,

S.O.N. Steering Committee

Vic Anfuso, James Autry, Tom Baker, Dennis Blevins, Frank Damazio, Michael Dowd, Don Frazier, Charles Goessler, Ed Grant, David Hjelt, George LaDu, Dwight Steele, John Van Diest & Kent Walton.