Valley Community Presbyterian Church sits on a leafy stretch of SW Brentwood Street in Portland, Oregon, where the West Slope and Raleigh Hills neighborhoods meet. The congregation's own words on its front page are a simple greeting: "You Are Welcome Here!" The mission that follows the greeting says the rest: "Cultivating a community of followers who embody Jesus' message of grace and love for all people." On Sunday mornings that mission takes the shape of a 10:00 a.m. intergenerational service in the sanctuary, the steady hum of bell and chancel choirs, kids streaming down the aisles with bells in hand, and coffee poured in the gathering space afterward. On weekdays the building becomes a preschool, a classroom for a children's choir in three languages of music (Alegria, Melodia, and Armonia), a recycling drop-off site, and a place where knitters gather to make prayer shawls.
Sunday Morning in the Sanctuary
The Sunday schedule is built around one main service and one main gathering. Adult Learning Opportunities begin at 9:00 a.m., and the intergenerational worship service starts at 10:00 a.m. in the sanctuary. Music plays a central role. The congregation sings music both old and new, traditional and modern, all of it pointing, in the words of the church's own description, "to Jesus' grace and love for all people." The Sanctuary Choir sings in worship roughly twice a month, and on many Sundays the Intergenerational Bell Choir, made up of teens and adults reading music together, shares its ringing from the back of the room.
The style is "orderly but not formal," as the church describes it, with the passing of the peace likely to go on a while as people greet newcomers and old friends. At 11:00 a.m., worship yields to coffee and refreshments. On the second Sunday of every month the rhythm shifts: children in kindergarten through fifth grade are dismissed at 10:45 a.m. to gather at the base of the bell tower and ring in worship, then head to Room 16 for fun, food, and faith. Middle and high schoolers leave at the same moment to meet at the Youth House for their own time of fellowship. Adults can stay in coffee hour longer, knowing their children are engaged with trained, vetted leaders.
A First-Time Visitor's Guide
The church has gathered practical answers for newcomers on a single page. Parking is easy: an adjacent lot, on-street parking, or a TriMet lot two blocks south on SW Laurelwood Avenue. The building is mostly accessible, including the primary worship and gathering spaces, and listening-assist devices are available. People wear informal, casual clothing to worship, so visitors can come as they are. Kids are welcome in the service, and loving nursery care is provided for children from birth through age 4. The worship gatherings are described as warm, welcoming, and intergenerational, with a variety of music styles and an encouraging message focused on the grace and love of God.
For those who cannot make it on Sunday morning, services are broadcast on YouTube. The Sunday bulletin can be downloaded in advance, and previous broadcasts can be watched anytime. Each week the production team brings the sanctuary into living rooms so that members who are homebound, traveling, or curious can still participate.
A Building Full of Music
Music is one of the defining features of life at Valley. Three musicians form the core of the program. Thomas Rheingans, who holds a master's in piano performance from the University of Illinois and has composed for plays, musical theater, and independent film, leads the music ministries from the keyboard and has recorded ten albums spanning classical, jazz, pop, folk, and contemporary praise music. Phill Hatton, a bass-baritone and music educator who studied vocal music education at the University of Louisville and is now pursuing a master's in choral conducting at Portland State University, serves as assistant director and oversees the Sanctuary Choir. Amy Rheingans directs youth and children's music; she joined the staff in 1996 and brings a Kodaly certification to the early-elementary choirs.
Adult singers rehearse on Thursday evenings at 7:15 p.m. in Armitage Hall and sing in worship about twice a month. The intergenerational bell choir meets on Sunday afternoons. For the youngest singers, the program is built around names drawn from Spanish musical vocabulary. Alegria (Joy) is for children in first and second grade and meets on Wednesdays at 5:00 p.m.; Melodia (Melody) is for children in third through fifth grade, meeting at the same hour; Armonia (Harmony) is the middle school ensemble, meeting Wednesdays at 6:00 p.m. Each of the three choirs presents a musical in the spring, and the spring performances have become one of the highlights of the church year.
Programs for Children and Youth
Programming for the youngest members begins before they can walk. Family Music Class meets on Tuesday mornings at 9:30 a.m. in the Fireside Room and welcomes children from birth through age five along with a grown-up, with songs, instrument play, and stories aimed at each stage. Children in kindergarten through fifth grade are welcomed into the sanctuary itself with interactive materials that invite them to follow the worship service rather than being sent out of it. On the second Sunday of each month those children leave for their own gathering in Room 16.
The church also offers Faith at Home Boxes: curated kits with experiential activities for families who want to talk about faith together during the week. Boxes are available outside the sanctuary or in the church office.
For middle and high schoolers, the rhythm of the year is built around Second Sundays, which begin in the narthex at 10:45 a.m. and continue in the Youth House after the sermon. During the summer, the congregation hosts a Drama Camp that culminates in a performance, and youth have the chance to participate in mission trips and outings, including beach clean-ups with the Westside Youth Collective.
Valley Christian Preschool
Just off the sanctuary entrance, Valley Christian Preschool serves children ages two through five and has been a ministry of the church for many years. Director Kylie Goldader, who came to the church in 2020 and guided it through the pandemic, leads a program that emphasizes hands-on learning, open-ended play, and the modeling of faith principles such as love, patience, kindness, compassion, self-control, and forgiveness. The preschool is a celebrated resource in the broader SW Portland and Raleigh Hills community, and many of its families are not members of the church but neighbors who appreciate the warm, play-based environment.
Adults: Small Groups, Books, and Shawls
The church describes itself as a community that does life together, and the adult programming reflects that. A book group gathers on the fourth Friday of each month at 10:00 a.m. in the library, choosing a new selection each time. The Prayer Shawl Ministry meets on the first Tuesday of each month at 2:00 p.m.; members knit shawls that are prayed over and then given to people welcoming a new baby, facing health challenges, grieving a loss, or simply in need of knowing someone is praying. Anyone who loves to knit, or wants to learn, is welcome.
For those navigating life's harder passages, the church offers a confidential ministry of prayer, conversation, visits, communion, and even rides to church. Anyone in the congregation or community can reach the office at info@valleycommunity.org to be connected with a pastor or deacon.
Serving Beyond the Building
The church's own page on service begins with a quote from Martin Luther King Jr.: "Darkness cannot drive out darkness, only light can do that." Outward ministry is organized into three areas.
Hunger and Food Insecurity
Valley collects food and money for the Oregon Food Bank, with donations benefiting Washington County residents. On the first and third Thursday of each month from 10:00 to 11:30 a.m., volunteers staff a non-perishable food collection in the East parking lot, with all donations going directly to the food pantry at St. Matthew's Lutheran Church. The Cents-Ability offering, gathered monthly, supports the Presbyterian Hunger Program's local, national, and global work. Valley's own Mission Endowment program funds grants twice a year in the areas of health, education, housing, and food.
Creation Care
Valley Community is a PC(USA) Earth Care certified congregation. Twice a year it hosts community-wide recycling events with local partners, and it maintains ongoing on-site recycling. The Earth Care team also collects rigid Styrofoam on the first and third Thursdays of the month in the East parking lot. Sustainable practices shape worship, fellowship, facilities, outreach, and education across the congregation's life.
Education
The church partners with its neighborhood elementary school, Raleigh Park, to provide weekly one-on-one tutoring, school supplies, and books. A local chapter of Together Women Rise gathers on the third Sunday of each month at 11:30 a.m. in the Fireside Room for a potluck lunch and conversation about global projects supporting women and girls. The church has also hosted seminary interns as part of its commitment to forming the next generation of pastors.
Beliefs and Identity
Valley Community Presbyterian is part of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), a denomination of more than 1.1 million people worshiping in nearly 9,000 congregations across the country. The church's own statement of belief begins with a sentence: "We believe God loves every person without exception." Its core values are anchored in worship, community and celebration, engagement with Scripture and the world, welcoming and serving all people, and investing intentionally in the next generation.
The vision statement draws on the language of the larger Reformed tradition: Presbyterians affirm that God comes to us with grace and love in the person of Jesus Christ, who lived, died, and rose for us so that we might have eternal and abundant life in him. The Spirit is sent to dwell within the congregation, giving energy, intelligence, imagination, and love to be faithful followers in the world. In the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), women and men are welcomed equally into all leadership roles of elder, deacon, and minister.
The Pastoral Team
Reverend Susan Tindall is the pastor. A lifelong Presbyterian who grew up in church nurseries, she earned her degree in Christian Education and Youth Ministry and a Master of Divinity at Princeton Theological Seminary. She has served as a Sunday school teacher, youth leader, Christian educator, and associate pastor in congregations of many sizes and settings.
Reverend Dr. Jenny Hale is the pastoral associate. A Lewis and Clark College graduate who earned her Master of Divinity at Fuller Theological Seminary, Jenny first visited Valley at age four and was ordained into ministry there. She supports the pastor, assists with communion, and visits members. Outside the church she serves as the director of Second Home, a non-profit providing housing for unaccompanied youth in the Portland area.
Kylie Goldader directs Valley Christian Preschool. Thomas Rheingans serves as Director of Music Ministries and Amy Rheingans as Director of Youth and Children's Music. Phill Hatton is the Assistant Director of Music Ministries and a graduate student in choral conducting at Portland State University.
Getting Involved
Visitors who want to see worship before they arrive can watch the most recent broadcast on YouTube. The Sunday bulletin can be downloaded in advance. Those who want to support the congregation's ministries can give online. Those who want to roll up their sleeves can join one of the Thursday morning food or styrofoam collections, sign up for a bell or chancel choir rehearsal, drop in on a book group, or knit a prayer shawl. Newcomers looking for a starting point can find the visitor guide online, and the church office is always reachable at info@valleycommunity.org or 503-292-3537.
A Neighborhood Hub
Valley Community Presbyterian is the kind of church whose calendar reveals the congregation's life at a glance. There are recycling days and pumpkin festivals, second Sunday breakfasts and Easter egg hunts, a preschool that opens its doors mid-morning, and an Earth Care team that takes the parking lot seriously. The sanctuary fills on Sunday with children ringing bells, choirs singing everything from chant to contemporary praise, and a pastor who came to ministry through Sunday school teaching and youth work. The building is a little more than a church; it is a community center, a music school, a food collection point, a recycling hub, and a place where knitters pray with their hands. On SW Brentwood Street in West Slope, that has been the work of the congregation for years, and it remains the work the church sets out to do each Sunday morning.