On Thursday night, Oct. 15, 2026, a joint coalition of Oregon Conference's nominating and executive committees elected Jonathan Russell to serve as Oregon Conference vice president for administration, filling the role vacated by Kara Johnsson.
Russell has ministered in Oregon Conference for more than 20 years. His experience spans local church ministry, hospital chaplaincy and communications leadership. Most recently, Russell has served as assistant to the president since 2023.
Russell's leadership has had a notable impact on Oregon Conference over the years. In his work with camp meeting planning, he oversaw the implementation of a 25% reduction in cost while maintaining a comparable experience to previous years. In his work as assistant to the president for communication, Jonathan built and streamlined the media and communication departments into a coordinated service team in order to meet the needs of local churches, departmental teams and Oregon Conference administration.
As assistant to the president, Russell served a leading role in pastoral placement and in aiding congregations in conflict. Across multiple roles, Russell has developed and executed vital strategic and communication strategies in order to increase transparency during multiple crises and pivotal senior leadership changes.
Among his other new duties, Russell will step in to continue the preparations for Oregon Conference constituency session, which is scheduled for September 2027.
“Russell’s leadership abilities have benefited Oregon Conference's sisterhood of churches in many ways, including in responding with creativity and clarity to the crisis experienced in 2024,” said John McVay, Oregon Conference president. “I am pleased that Russell is willing to step into yet another leadership role in service to us all and to our shared mission.”
