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As superintendents’ terms end, Northwest United Methodist Church shifts to team leadership model
A new model championed by Bishop Cedrick Bridgeforth restructures district leadership across Eastern Oregon, Southern Idaho and beyond as the Rev. Karen Hernandez concludes her tenure.
By Max Broennle | FāVS News Reporter
DES MOINES, Wash. — After eight years leading United Methodist churches across the Pacific Northwest, the Rev. Karen Hernandez is stepping down as Columbia and Sage District superintendent on June 30. Her role won’t be filled by a single successor.
United Methodist Church policy limits superintendents to eight consecutive years. Hernandez said she is finishing that term June 30.
“I am leaving the superintendency role, and there is a team that’s following me, but I will not be part of the team,” she said.
The Columbia District covers churches from Eastern Oregon to Portland; the Sage District stretches from Eastern Oregon to Southern Idaho. Beginning July 1, both districts will be served by the Rev. Melissa Harkness, the Rev. Duane Anders, the Rev. Rob Walters and the Rev. Troy Lynn Carr.
The changes in the superintendent position were originally proposed in 2025 by Bishop Cedrick Bridgeforth in his official blog post on United Methodist’s website.
Rather than replacing outgoing superintendents with full-time successors, Bridgeforth wrote that he would appoint small teams of two or three pastoral leaders who would split their time between the superintendency role and their local congregations, with each overseeing no more than 20 churches.
A new model for the Northwest
A total of 17 people will be covering the UMC in the Greater Northwest area as superintendents. A list of who will be directly serving each church can be found here.
In a later blog post on May 26, Bridgeforth said, “Our churches and pastoral leaders need connection, support, and guidance that are closer to the ground, more collaborative, and more sustainable.”
Those values align closely with how Hernandez approaches ministry. She will carry them into her next role at Morningside United Methodist Church in Salem, Oregon.
Collaboration and community are also on the forefront of Hernandez’ theology as she will be going on to work for Morningside United Methodist Church in Salem, Oregon.
Current Morningside pastor, the Rev. Jenny Smith, will be leaving Morningside as Hernandez begins her appointment with the congregation. Smith has spent three years with Morningside and said she is looking forward to Hernandez filling this role.
“She has a beautiful reputation for being a really centered and grounded person. I always get this sense when I’m hearing her speak and lead that when she says something, she’s really processed that and really believes it and there’s just like this confidence to her leadership. Certainly in these days there’s an ethic and a morality to her,” Smith said.
Hernandez said that theology of human connection is at the heart of her ministry.
“I think it’s crucial that we have relationships directly with God, where we connect with God or the triune God — Father, Son and Holy Spirit, creator, redeemer, sustainer — but I also think that if we can’t find God in other people and in human connection, then we’ve got a lot to keep looking for,” Hernandez said.
Building bridges across difference
As Hernandez reflects on her time as superintendent, she said how some of the most impactful moments for her were when she worked with people who held beliefs different from herself.
Several churches in her districts chose to leave the UMC after the denomination became more inclusive on human sexuality, Hernandez said — a process that put her in direct conflict with congregations who held fundamentally different theological views.
“We had fundamentally different theology and yet we built a relationship of trust and mutual respect and were able to work together really well and have stronger relationships at the end,” she said.
While occasionally working with communities who might not share the same views on theology, Hernandez continued to implement both queer and racial acceptance wherever she could.
“I worked really intentionally — starting more than eight years ago, but especially in these last eight years — on my own cultural competency and anti-racism work and that has had a profound impact on my faith. I’ve said, for a lot more than eight years, that I am just convicted to learn how to love all of my neighbors and to learn to see the image of God reflected in all of my neighbors,” Hernandez said.
Morningside United Methodist Church has been a reconciling church for over 30 years — meaning that people from all walks of life have been welcomed to their congregation since 1995, according to Smith.
“We designate to say, ‘Hey, really, truly, queer people, like, you are safe here. They are not trying to, you know, change you, like, as a child of God –- fully beloved and welcome,’” Smith said.
Hernandez begins her appointment at Morningside on July 1.
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