Two distinct offices exist to preserve both the word of the church (elders) and deed of the church (deacons). Deacons serve the church in specific areas of administration, service and ministries of mercy. Whether it’s coordinating volunteers for a special event, serving those in need in the surrounding community, or organizing a team serving Sunday morning, our deacons strive to serve so that conflicts are minimized. We see this displayed in Acts 6, where deacons were originally appointed when an issue of logistics threatened to divide the church. To address this issue of unity, the Apostles appointed deacons to oversee this administrative challenge, so that the Apostles could devote themselves to prayer and the ministry of the Word.
Every deacon is carefully selected, meets the qualifications given in 1 Timothy 3:8-13, and is recognized and appointed by the congregation. Depending on the specific needs of the church and the unique gifting of an individual deacon, they can serve in a wide range of ministries. Deacons “who serve well gain a good standing for themselves and also great confidence in the faith that is in Christ Jesus” (1 Timothy 3:13).
To contact the entire elder team, please send an email to: deacons@gatheringcc.org
LeeAnn Bennett
Office Manager and Deacon
LeeAnn was born in Longview, Washington and has lived in the Pacific Northwest her entire life. Her family went to church most of her childhood, but it was in high school that LeeAnn asked the Lord into her heart and was baptized. It wasn’t all smooth sailing from there though. She rebelled against God and had a 6 month period of denying Christ and living a life not glorifying Him. She renewed her commitment to Christ in January 1990 and has been living for Him ever since.
LeeAnn met her best friend for life, Todd Bennett, in October of 1991 and married him in September of 1992. Todd and LeeAnn had big plans for a large family and a homeschooling lifestyle but this was not to be; God had other plans for them. Although Todd and LeeAnn were not able to have biological children God did provide children for them another way. In January of 2001 they received their first bouncing baby girl of 11 years old, her name is Tamara. Then in August of that same year their niece, also 11, came to live with them as a daughter. Instant family! Her now adult daughters are both married and she is also blessed with 2 grandbabies and one more on the way. LeeAnn testifies that God’s way is always best even if we don’t realize it at the time.
LeeAnn and Todd came to The Gathering Church in July of 2015. LeeAnn became a deacon in March of 2018 and started working as an administrative assistant for the church in July of 2018. She loves the church and is humbled and honored to serve the church in whatever capacity God provides.
Todd Bennett
Deacon
Todd was born into a nominally Catholic home in Michigan in 1967. His parents split up when he was four years old, which was the early days of a new phenomenon in the U.S. This was the last time Todd remembers attending any church. After kindergarten, he moved to Idaho and would have a different address and school every year from then until he began high school in Redmond, Oregon. Without goals or plans for his future, he joined the navy where he taught sailors a thing or two about cursing.
Around the age of 20, Todd sat in a bar where, by God alone, he was dramatically convinced of his lack of eternal security. That hour, Todd phoned a Christian friend, who led him in the sinner's prayer. Within a year, he descended into a four year period of spiritual neglect, yet God in his wonderful grace rescued Todd from near destruction, marking the day where faith and works finally met.
In 1992, God again showed Todd immeasurable grace when he gave him his wife, LeeAnn. The couple have two adult daughters and two grandchildren, with more on the way. God has given Todd great zeal for the body of Christ, and he has served in most positions in every church he has attended. His love for the body puts him wherever he is needed.
Joel Maynard
Deacon
Joel was blessed to be born into a Christian home in Chula Vista, CA, to loving parents and an extended family that loved and served the Lord for several generations.
Although considering himself a Christian throughout his early years and through high school, it wasn’t until his second year in college, while far away from home amidst the difficulties of rigorous collegiate life in small town Michigan, that he was truly challenged to live by faith. By the grace of God, who surrounded him with peers and mentors in the faith, he answered the call to repent from his sins and be baptized.
Since that day in 2004, life has been no less fraught with difficulty or worry, but the steadfast love of the Lord endures forever. He is blessed to share life with so many dear friends and his best friend, Michelle, whom he married in 2009.
An attendee of the Gathering since 2012, Joel now lives in Gresham, OR with his wife Michelle and his five children David, Andrew, James, Audrey, and Lydia. He enjoys roasting coffee, woodworking, home improvement projects, putting chocolate syrup on corn dogs, wrestling with his kids (they always lose), making terrible dad jokes, creating legendary scones, and learning how to solve a Rubik's Cube with his kids.
- written by David Maynard
Michelle Maynard
Deacon
Michelle, a lifelong Oregonian, was raised in the church by loving, God-fearing parents. Service and commitment to the church was part of her family's DNA.
At the age of 10, while mourning the death of her beloved great-grandfather, Michelle became angry at God. For a year her young heart and mind wrestled; oscillating between anger, fear of death, and the deep pain of loss. After a year, she asked the Lord if He was real to prove it. The Lord had mercy and poured peace over her weary soul. As the anger washed away, she knew Jesus was real. He had renewed her soul. She was soon baptized and - through God's mercy and grace - has never looked back.
After graduating from highschool, Michelle began a decade-long career in Oregon politics. She worked candidate and ballot measure campaigns and worked at the Oregon Capitol for Oregon Senators. She quickly realized that while she thought of herself as a "political junkie" her heart wasn't in Party politics. She left Oregon to earn a college degree.
Upon returning home Michelle felt called to advocate for the unborn, elderly, and handicapped. She found a home at Oregon Right to Life PAC where she worked with candidates and voters and served as a pro-life lobbyist. The work was difficult and draining but Michelle found purpose and satisfaction in it. Yet, her heart's desire was for a family of her own.
In her late 20s, with no marital prospects in sight, Michelle began to wonder if the Lord would call her to singleness. She eventually made peace with the idea. Then she met Joel Maynard. Michelle was instantly drawn to him. It took some time but they eventually started dating. In July of 2009 she was delighted to say, "I do." Almost 13 years and five beautiful children later, she has no regrets.
Michelle has since left the political jungle and now works full-time in a jungle of her and Joel's own making seeking to nurture, civilize, and homeschool her children. Her hope is to give them the same gift her parents gave her - a childhood full of Jesus and His church and a family DNA that loves people.
Nathan Winslow
Deacon
Nathan Winslow grew up in a christian household and learned early from his parents how to trust in and pray to God. He attended Hillsdale College after high school where he earned a BA in history with a minor in religion. After graduating from Hillsdale college in 2007 Nathan started a young adults study group with some friends that provided a platform for college age adults to pursue God and serve the community together.
During this time in 2008 Nathan met his wife, Amanda, after being set up by friends on a casual date, which led to Nathan shortly after moving to San Diego to develop their relationship where they married in 2010.
After discovering that they were pregnant with twins, Nathan and Amanda moved back to Portland where Nathan is from in 2013 to be near family to help support them as they raised their young and growing family.
Nathan works for Kaiser Permanente as a data and reporting analytics consultant and has been working for Kaiser in various roles since 2010. He is currently pursuing a masters in data analytics with plans to graduate in 2022.
Nathan and Amanda have 6 children and Nathan enjoys running, roasting coffee, pulling shots of espresso, and taking his family on camping trips.Nathan has spent significant time since 2019 working to improve communication with his wife thanks to the 'How We Love' curriculum. Through this curriculum, life's challenges, and God's faithfulness, Nathan is learning more about leaning on God to address shortcomings and rely on God's grace as he grows to be more like Christ and reject the lies of sin.
Amanda Winslow
Deacon
Amanda moved to Portland in 2013 before the birth of her twins and has been a member of TGC since 2014. She wasn't raised in the church, but through a family crisis the Lord pulled her out of her college party days to come back home to care for her newly disabled mom. This change of pace as well as stripping her of all her valued "freedoms" of college made ample grounds to reevaluate life. The pain in her family as her mother struggled to recover from strokes and memory loss was an opportunity by God to turn Amanda's heart away from the world and into Him. So in early 2007 Amanda repented and believed. She married Nathan in 2010 and they have 6 fantastic kids.
She enjoys naps a lot. She also likes kickboxing, jogging, camping with her family, and reading. Three books she has loved are Teaching From Rest by Sarah Mackenzie, A Praying Life by Paul Miller
and The God Of Great Reversals by Timothy Cain. She loves to be with her husband's extended side of the family as well.
Amanda has served the church body as the coordinator for newborn meal registry for 5 years and if you have visited our church you will see very quickly we love kids and there are a lot of them! So many in fact that the job of only coordinating meals for new births falls to one person to keep track of. She also has served in other various roles and the extrovert in her especially loves to connect with people. She desires for the church to be connected and intimate in one another's lives.
Noah Martin
Deacon
Noah hails from up and down the east coast. He was born in Connecticut and raised in Virginia in a large, homeschooling family. He has traveled extensively within the country. Having visited 43 out of 50 states, he feels just as much at home on the road as in his own house. He confessed faith at an early age, and has since been a member of churches of varying denominations, but has landed at the Gathering since moving to Portland in 2019.
While in high school, Noah started traveling with TeenPact Leadership Schools, and quickly acclimated to the fast-paced nature of youth ministry. He has served in various roles with TeenPact over the years, currently as the State Coordinator for Oregon and event staff for their largest events. Noah is a lifelong creative with a habit of learning new skills in trials by fire. Whether it is in his own home or in large venues, his favorite thing to make is space for folks to be welcomed.
By day he works as an Account/Project Manager at a photo studio; by night he volunteers his time with TeenPact, the new TGC youth ministry, coaching MS and HS youth ultimate frisbee, and captaining a club ultimate team.
James Walker
Deacon
James was born and raised in the Portland. His parents taught him and his brothers that Jesus should be the center of who we are and how we live our lives. By the time he was 10, he knew Jesus personally and desired to honor Him with his life.
When he was 17, James took the Perspectives on the World Christian Movement course. He had formerly thought that global missions was a painful, tedious chore that some people were called to. He discovered, however, that God delights in taking the gospel to every people group, and that He invites His people to share in what He loves. This new understanding led James to spend two years working at an orphanage in Mexico after he graduated high school. He came back to Portland and began working as an electrician. He continues wanting to join in God's heart for the church and for the lost whether here at home or in the farthest corner of the world.
A couple of James' passions are for living in Christ honoring community and discipling teens. He loves hanging out with friends, especially having deep conversations about life, playing board games, sports, etc. He also loves Lord of the Rings, walking in the woods, giving a listening ear, and of course, wrestling with his nephews.