Rivergate Community Church
Portland, OR 97203-4533
503-285-3138
Sunday Service
3:00 PM - 6:00 PM
Rev. Carren E. Woods has been the Senior Pastor at Rivergate Community Church for 23 years. She served as the Interim Pastor for 10 months prior to being called full time. Carren is a native Oregonian and received her M.Div from George Fox Evangelical Seminary. Her personal mission statement is to proclaim God's Word and care for His people. She has a great sense of humor and enjoys being part of a team to make a difference in the local community. Prior to her call to full time ministry, Carren served as a lay leader for 22+ years in a variety of leadership roles for her local church.
In addition to her work in the local church, Carren serves as Associate Executive Minister for the region, which is now ABCCPC (American Baptist Churches of the Central Pacific Coast) . She also is a National Coordinator for ABCUSA (American Baptist Churches USA) Missional Church Program. She also is member of the Minsters Council of ABCUSA.
At the “Celebrate North Portland” Event - March 17, 2012 - Pastor Carren was honored and received a plaque with the following inscription:
“Presented to Rev. Carren Woods for extraordinary dedication and commitment to the community of North Portland. Your selfless acts of time and service continue to benefit us all.”
“Carren Woods is the pastor at Rivergate Community Church and serves North Portland in many ways. You may be familiar with her because she led her congregation to partner with Habitat for Humanity to create 12 homes on an unused portion of their property. Or you may know her as the pastor who got involved at Sitton Elementary when kids were going home hungry on the weekend; now a local non-profit packs food in…
…backpacks at 12 schools in the Portland area every weekend. Or you may know her for the church's community garden that is a blessing for the entire neighborhood.
You may not know that she's also working with a team to bring a transitional housing facility to North Portland. Or that she's on the core team that hopes to bring a free medical and dental event to North Portland some day.
Carren has a very full plate, as you can tell. And all those activities are motivated by one thing: a desire to love and serve the community. She listens well, speaks wisely, moves quickly, and waits patiently. She's a terrific model for all of us who want to make a difference in North Portland.”
Visit the 
to read Carren's weekly message.