President's Report: Leading by Serving Others

By David Jamieson

UCC President

Serving One More can be accomplished through a variety of actions. For some this is physical service for someone in your local community, church, or neighborhood. For others, it is building long-term friendships with this same group. For still others, it is through quiet servant leadership that they Serve One More. Two such examples came to mind recently. 

Tyler Kern serves as the chaplain for Shine 104.9 FM in Spokane. In this context, Tyler connects with friends in our community. He is building relationships and finding ways to serve. This has resulted in Home of Shalom, a worship experience for those in the community who have been wounded by their church. During their last worship event, more than 140 people from the community were present. 

Tyler organizes regular opportunities for service that is uniting these new friends and changing neighborhoods. From serving at food pantries to cleaning up graffiti and trash in local parks to fellowshipping and praying with their transient neighbors, Tyler’s group is making an impact both in downtown Spokane, but also in the hearts of those who choose and desire service. 

Home of Shalom is also partnering with other organizations to address suicide prevention in our public schools. Tyler’s servant leadership is helping others develop a relationship with Christ.

Another example, is Pastor Darayl Larsen. Darayl passed away August 26, 2025, at the age of 83, following a brief illness. He has served on our Executive Committee for the past several years, which is how I met him. He was very humble, and so I had no idea of his long history of leadership and service in the conference and around the world. 

I also want to honor him for his many years of faithful and dedicated service as a pastor of seven different churches in UCC, and his work as an elder. In addition to this, Pastor Darayl was a church and conference Pathfinder leader for more than 40 years, impacting the lives of young people for generations. 

Throughout his life, Pastor Darayl was deeply committed to pastoral service, notably spending 13 years pastoring Moses Lake Adventist Church. 

Before settling in the Northwest, he dedicated 13 years to church service in Colombia, South America, alongside his wife and family, serving God and his church in many different capacities. During this time, he spent three years in the Amazon jungle piloting a small boat along the Nechí River, where he and his wife, who is a registered nurse, provided health care to remote villages. He also learned basic dental care and extracted hundreds of teeth for villagers who had no access to dental or health care. 

Upon returning to the United States and later residing in Moses Lake, he proudly served as a chaplain at Samaritan Healthcare and volunteered many hours helping young people through Pathfinders. 

When Pastor Darayl was not busy at church or the hospital, he enjoyed leading mission trips, hiking and camping. 

What a beautiful life well-lived! Pastor Darayl spent his life living out the motto of Upper Columbia Conference, to Serve One More. Our thoughts and prayers continue to be with his wife Sandy and the Larsen family.

Christ has asked each of us to live in this manner — to love all, to reach out to those around us, and to serve all in servant leadership. 

May we all be committed to serving one more and looking for ways to be a blessing to those around us. 

David Jamieson

President, Upper Columbia Conference of Seventh-day Adventists

I wanted to share what happened at our recent executive committee in my President's Report with you, along with how God continues to bless in our Conference. We prepared the report as a pdf that will allow you to share it with your church, school, or friends easily. You can view my report by going to news.uccsda.org/president1025.