Introduction & Welcome

Peace be with you!  My name is Lance Peeler and I am the Assistant Rector of Good Samaritan Church having been called to serve this congregation in the Spring of 2008.  I am a cradle Episcopalian and a native Oregonian.  Except for 3 years, I have lived my whole life in this state.  My hometown is Roseburg, where I lived until I graduated from high school.  I then spent my college years in Salem graduating from Willamette University with a degree in Psychology.  I spent the next twelve years working the mental health field in the Portland area, primarily with adolescents having severe emotional and behavioral difficulties.  I truly value the time that I had with these young people who had as much to teach me about life as I them. 

In addition to my degree in Psychology, I also pursued my interest in computer programming and became an instructor for an information technology school in Portland.  It was after this when I first began to pay attention to a call that has echoed throughout my life – a call to ordained ministry.  This call led me and my family to leave Oregon to attend seminary in Austin, Texas at the Episcopal Seminary of the Southwest. After three years of theological education I graduated with a Masters in Divinity and was ordained to the Diaconate in the Summer of 2008.  I was ordained to the Priesthood in Spring of 2009.  It was with great joy that my wife Stacie and I accepted a call to return to Oregon from Texas with our two children Grace and Jacob to be part of this church family.

Throughout my years in the Diocese of Oregon I have had a passion for and been deeply involved in ministry to youth and young adults at a parish and diocesan level.  I was involved as a youth attending St. George’s in Roseburg.  I then served for several years on the diocesan Youth Ministries Commission and was also the Youth Minister for St. John the Evangelist Episcopal Church in Milwaukie Oregon.  This continues to be an area of ministry that I have a passion for and feel very privileged to be present alongside the youth of Good Samaritan Church who have such a desire to serve and love God.  I look forward to discerning God’s call to ministry with and to the members of this church and this community.