New Director of Missio Kids

From Pastor Tim

Dear Missio Community,

I’d like to share some exciting news regarding Missio Kids. We have over 80 children between birth and 5th grade who are part of our community! That is not only a lot of kids, but we also know that these are formative years, often when people first decide to follow Jesus as Savior and King. We also celebrate the over 40 volunteers who serve each month on Sundays with Missio Kids! We pray that each one of our kids is discipled to know and follow Jesus.

Missio Kids is such a key part of the life of Missio, so it is with great excitement that I share we have hired Grace Severn to join our staff team as the Director of Missio Kids! Grace comes to Missio with a wealth of ministry leadership experience, a passion for kids ministry, and deep roots in Portland. Most recently, she served as the Children’s Ministry Director at Riversgate Church since 2015. Some of you may remember Grace from our VBS partnership with Riversgate and Greater Portland Bible Church over the past two summers.

We spent the past three months seeking the right person to step into this key leadership role on our staff team. During the month of August, we had several conversations with potential leaders. Then, a week after announcing that Tim and Leslie Boettcher would be finishing their time on staff later this Fall, Grace inquired about the role. Over the past two months, we walked through a hiring process with Grace, including multiple interviews with key volunteers, staff, and leaders, conducting reference calls, and spending time with Grace and her family. Last week, we offered Grace the role, and she accepted! We’ll be sharing the news this Sunday, November 3 during our Expression, then introducing Grace to our community in person on Sunday, November 10. Her first Sunday on staff will be November 24.

Tim and Leslie will overlap with Grace for a week and conclude their time on staff at the end of November. This timing gives them a few extra weeks to rest and prepare for their trip, which begins December 24. We’ll celebrate and send off The Boettchers on Sunday, December 22 during the Expression.

Thank you for praying that God would provide a gifted leader for this role. Please warmly welcome Grace, her husband Brandon, and their three boys to Missio when they arrive on Sunday, November 24!

Following Jesus,

Tim Osborn
Interim Lead Pastor

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From Grace

Hello, Missio Community!

I’m Grace Severn, a born-and-raised Oregonian, married to Brandon, who was also born and raised here in SW Portland. We met at Riversgate Church over our shared love of music. We have been married for 12 years and have three boys: Waylon, Wesley, and Owen.

With over 20 years of serving in various roles in kids' ministry, I am passionate about coming alongside parents to raise a generation of kids to become committed followers and resilient disciples of Jesus.

I strive to live as Deuteronomy 6:5-7 says: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your strength. And you must commit yourselves wholeheartedly to these commands that I am giving you today. Repeat them again and again to your children. Talk about them when you are at home and when you are on the road, when you are going to bed and when you are getting up.”

When I’m not at church or homeschooling, you’ll find me enjoying a good cup of coffee with friends and family, listening to music, thrifting, and cheering on the Ducks and Blazers.

Our family is excited to join Missio and get to know you all!

Grace Severn
Director of Missio Kids