about us


Who we are

Homestead Country Gathering is located in the beautiful Grande Ronde Valley in Northeastern Oregon. We love Jesus and invite you to come join us just as you are: boots, hats, and all! Pastor Wayne and the other pastors have a passion to share God with ranchers, farmers, and anyone who will listen.

homestead's shepherds

  • wayne pickens

    Wayne grew up in the Texas hill country; Bonnie grew up in Spokane.  The country boy and the city girl were married in 1970.  They have three children and eight grandchildren all living in the Northwest. Throughout their years together, Wayne and Bonnie have served four local churches in Enterprise, Yakima, La Grande and now at Homestead.  Growing up in Texas, Wayne says that football was his "little god" for many years until Jesus became his Head Coach and Lord of his life.  Wayne was planning to become a football coach, but after college God led him to seminary in Portland, and then into full-time ministry.  After visiting some "cowboy" country-style churches in Texas, Wayne and Bonnie came home to Oregon with the dream of starting a church in Union County where "country-type folks" would feel comfortable and hear the good news of the God-sent Savior who came looking for lost sheep.  In the fall of 2012 Homestead was born.

  • dan davenport


  • brock ewing

    Through much of his twenties Brock was a party-er who made reckless and foolish choices while under the influence of alcohol. But Brock's life radically changed in August 2003 when God gave him a new heart and he surrendered to Jesus Christ as his Lord. Immediately Brock's desires and priorities changed. In July 2009, after spending five years working as a carpenter, his local church brought him aboard as a youth ministry intern. Two years later, the Lord introduced Brock to Heidi, a gorgeous young widow with two children. On June 9, 2012, almost a year after they met, Brock and Heidi were married. God has since blessed them with two more energetic little boys. Brock began work at Homestead in January 2017. It has been an incredible ride witnessing God save people and change their lives as a result of their relationship with Him!

  • ryan fite


  • mark lanmon

    Mark is an elder at Homestead. His wife Mary is a retired elementary school teacher.  Mark and Mary were born in Texas but moved to British Columbia in their early marriage.  Five years later they moved even further north to Alaska where for 19 years they raised children, five of them.  Mark and Mary have recently spent 15 years in Asia where they participated in various Kingdom activities.  They have come to La Grande to spend their last years in fellowship with Homestead Country Gathering.  Their goal is to encourage, strengthen, and stand beside other believers as we together, follow Jesus.  M&M have lots of interesting and personal story lessons, learned the hard way, illustrating how Jesus teaches us to fully trust in His guiding Spirit and precious Word.

what we believe

THE BIBLE

We believe the 66 books of the Bible are God's absolute, objective truth for all people for all times. The Bible is without error in concept or detail in the original writings. It is breathed out in its entirety by God, divinely preserved and, therefore trustworthy.


THE TRINITY

We believe in the one personal, transcendent, living God – the creator, sustainer, and sovereign ruler of all things. He is self-existent, unchanging, and works all things according to the counsel of His will in order to bring glory to Himself. He eternally exists in three persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. They execute distinct but harmonious roles in creation, providence, redemption, and consummation.


GOD THE FATHER

We believe in God the Father: one in essence with the Son and the Spirit. He is the creator, sustainer, and sovereign ruler of all things through His Son Jesus Christ. His fatherhood involves both His designation within the Trinity and His relationship with the redeemed. The Father adopts as His own, through Jesus Christ, all those He calls to Himself.


GOD THE SON

We believe in God the Son: one in essence with the Father and the Spirit. He is the one and only eternal Son of God, the preeminent revelation of God. At the right time He emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-slave. He was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary as Jesus, the Christ – fully God and fully man. We believe in His sinless life, His voluntary submission to His Father’s will that culminated in His substitutionary death on the cross, His burial, and His bodily resurrection. His death on the cross atoned for our sin and satisfied the righteous demands of the holy God.


GOD THE HOLY SPIRIT

We believe in God the Holy Spirit: one in essence with the Father and Son. He was sent by God the Father and God the Son to convict the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment. The Holy Spirit glorifies Jesus Christ and implements Christ’s work of redemption and baptism. He regenerates, baptizes, seals, gifts, and indwells all believers at conversion, progressively sanctifying, and securing them in Christ forever. 


HUMANITY

We believe that humanity, male and female, is sacred in God's eyes and was uniquely created by Him, in His image and for His glory, to exercise dominion over the earth and to enjoy a relationship with Him forever. After sin entered the world, humans still possess the image of God, though tainted by sin.


FAMILY

We believe that in God’s design for humanity, life begins at fertilization. God established the institution of family through the union of one man and one woman in marriage. Marriage is to be an example of the relationship between Jesus Christ and His church. Christian fathers and mothers are both responsible for the spiritual nurture of their children, but fathers bear a particular responsibility for the spiritual leadership of their families. 


SIN

We believe that sin is any action or attitude that is contrary to the nature or Word of God, which constitutes a rejection of His authority, resulting in alienation from God. Sin entered the world when Adam, representing humanity, disobeyed God. As a result of the one sin of Adam, his descendants – the whole human race – are separated from relationship with God, spiritually dead, and therefore in a fallen state. 


SALVATION

We believe that salvation is a gift of God, received by grace alone through faith alone in the Lord Jesus Christ alone to the glory of God alone. Salvation was purchased by the blood of Jesus Christ on the cross, and it is received by faith alone apart from any human merit, works, or ritual. Salvation is based upon the sovereign, free election of God before the foundation of the world apart from foreseen faith.  All who repent and believe in Jesus Christ are forgiven of all their sins, justified in God’s sight by the merit of Christ’s righteousness, adopted into His family, and have equal access to God. The consummation of salvation is that those who have accepted God’s gift of salvation through faith in Jesus Christ shall be resurrected, and glorified.


THE CHURCH  

We believe that the New Testament Church is composed of all persons who have been regenerated by the Holy Spirit since Pentecost. We believe that the Church is the spiritual body of Christ, of which He is the Head. We believe that this body expresses itself in local assemblies in which believers are in a covenant relationship. Biblically that relationship is expressed corporately through hearing the Word of God proclaimed; engaging in worship; practicing the two ordinances of believer’s baptism by immersion and the Lord’s Supper; building up each other’s faith; holding each other accountable through biblical love and discipline; and engaging in local and world evangelization. We believe the function of eldering is reserved for biblically-qualified males.


ANGELS

We believe God created angels as spirit-beings possessing power and intellect, to worship and serve Him and to minister to believers. Satan is a fallen angel who masquerades as an angel of light. While Satan and his demons are powerful, they are subject to Christ’s authority and judgment. Satan and his demons have been defeated for eternity by Jesus Christ through His death on the cross and victorious resurrection, sealing their everlasting damnation. At the time of final judgment, they will be consigned to eternal separation from God in the Lake of Fire.  


LAST THINGS

We believe in the sudden, visible return of the Lord.  We believe that those who have accepted God's gift of salvation through faith in Jesus Christ, at the point of physical death, enter into God’s eternal glory. They shall be resurrected and transformed to His body of glory, and they shall receive their inheritance in the Kingdom of their Father. We believe that all unsaved persons, at the point of physical death, are destined for eternal damnation. They will be resurrected, separated from the righteous, judged, and cast into an existence of eternal punishment.