Methodist church gets new minister

By Debbie De Carlo

The Forest Grove News-Times, Jul 8, 2009, Updated Oct 30, 2009

ADVERTISEMENTS

Pastor Dan Benson and his wife, Karen, were busy packing as they prepared to leave their home in John Day and move into the Methodist parsonage in Banks July 2 with their three young children.

Benson is leaving churches in John Day and Prairie City to be the minister at the Community United Methodist Church in Banks.

Pastor Brian Shimer, who ministered to the Banks church for the last 15 years, is moving to the Westside United Methodist Church in Beaverton. The move comes at a good time for Shimer and his wife, Karen.

“Our youngest daughter just graduated and will be going to college this fall,” Shimer said. “Karen home schooled all four of our girls and is a student herself, taking distance learning classes at Asbury Theological Seminary as she pursues ordination,” he added.

“I’ve loved this great, small community,” Shimer said of Banks. “There’s huge wisdom in this congregation. There are so many memories. Our girls still talk about the time they stayed with a woman in the congregation, who, making them pancakes for breakfast, ran out of milk and substituted 7-Up. The girls thought those were spectacular pancakes.”

Benson, who grew up in Maine, said he’s looking forward to getting to know people in Banks. Both he and his wife, who is originally from Portland, are looking forward to being closer to her family.

They’ll also continue visiting his parents, who live in Texas. “It’s a little over half an hour to the airport from Banks,” Benson said. “That’s five hours closer than it was in John Day.”

Benson graduated from Garrett Evangelical Theological Seminary in Evanston, Ill. Karen Benson hopes to continue working as a substitute teacher in Banks.