by Gail Beran Neils

Lynne Faris Blessing first visited Bethany at the invitation of her friend, Dianne Ross, while traveling to Seattle in October 2002. Lynne moved to Seattle the following January, leaving her work as a Pastor for Outreach at National Presbyterian Church in Washington, D.C. (where she had served for nearly nine years), and began working with Presbyterian Frontier Fellowship (PFF).

Moving to Seattle brought a lot of change into Lynne’s life. Within three months, she met her future husband, Jim. Soon thereafter, she was hired part-time as Parish Associate for Outreach at Bethany, and later transitioned from PFF to part-time work at World Vision. Lynne and Jim married last year, and recently bought a house.

Lynne enjoys planning and participating in Bethany mission trips abroad. She also feels a deep love for racial reconciliation, and has been excited to see Bethany youth participate at The Mendenhall Ministries (where she served as an intern several times) as well as with Urban Impact (formerly Emerald City Outreach Ministries).

Her own interest in missions grew out of a faith journey which deepened greatly in her second year in high school. On a ski trip with youth from First Presbyterian Church in Houston she found the combination of fellowship and “cabin-talks” meaningful. In her college years in Colorado, she joined another “First Presbyterian Church,” where she developed a love for cross-cultural ministry through a variety of missions opportunities, such as

• traveling to Mexico,
• volunteering at The Mendenhall Ministries, and
• regularly participating in urban missions.

Her interest eventually led her to Fuller Seminary in Pasadena, where she processed a calling toward missions abroad or work as a pastor. While on a mission trip to Kazakhstan, she felt God’s confirmation to pursue ordination. Lynne has since enjoyed participating, and encouraging others to participate, in God’s mission in the world.

contact Lynne