Dr. LaVerne Lewis joins Innovation Vitality Team as Assistant Director of Innovation for a New Church
Dr. LaVerne Lewis is the newest member of the Innovation Vitality Team (IV Team) for the Greater Northwest Area of The United Methodist Church. Serving in a part-time role as the Assistant Director of Innovation for a New Church, Lewis joins forces with Rev. Dr. William Gibson in the work of resourcing planters/innovators in the area of entrepreneurship, social enterprise, financial sustainability, and intentional multiplication.
“We are incredibly excited about LaVerne joining the ongoing work of the IV Team,” said Rev. Dr. William Gibson, Director of Innovation for a New Church and Team Leader. “LaVerne brings a broad range of experience and gifts in an important area of concentration for our work this season — that of financial sustainability and entrepreneurship. Her experiences as a successful entrepreneur, tax consultant, and college professor are invaluable. She and I speak the same language, and I am over-joyed about our collaborative work moving forward.”
Raised in the African Methodist Episcopal Church, Lewis has faithfully served as a member of Gresham United Methodist Church in Gresham, OR, and as the Church Treasurer. She was instrumental in the development and launch of the Rockwood Center — previously Rockwood United Methodist Church — where she also served as the Executive Director. Since 2017, she has served as a lay representative on the Oregon-Idaho Conference’s Congregational Development Team and engaged in social entrepreneurship coaching with planters/innovators in support of the IV Team’s work.
Most recently, Dr. Lewis was named as a board member of the Northwest United Methodist Foundation. After 18 years of service, she retired as a Law Enforcement Officer from the Multnomah County Sheriff’s Department, where she also specialized as a Training Instructor at the State of Oregon Academy in Salem. As a recently elected official, Lewis serves as a board member for the Mt. Hood Community College and has garnered over ten years of experience as an adjunct professor. An experienced entrepreneur, Lewis started several businesses throughout her career. She has also been an enrolled agent admitted to practice before the IRS and credentialed for 35 years in the area of taxation, accounting, and small business consulting. She annually volunteers in global communities abroad, leading teams who serve the unhoused and underserved.
In her new role with the IV Team, Lewis will work alongside Gibson to consult and resource planters/innovators and pastors in the area of entrepreneurship, social enterprise, and financial sustainability, related to creating new places with new people. The Innovation Vitality Team focuses on vitality across the Greater Northwest Area, which includes the Alaska, Oregon-Idaho, and Pacific Northwest Conferences. Encouraging and resourcing the practices of Inclusion, Innovation, and Multiplication, the team supports the strategic initiatives of the Bishop and the Greater Northwest Area Cabinet.