Rev. Laurie Lynn Newman will join Tualatin Presbyterian Church
on April 1, 2026, as our Stated Supply Pastor. Laurie was drawn
to ministry because of her roots as a PK (preacher’s kid) and the
sense of extended family she has always experienced through
church. Growing up in Tennessee and Colorado, she loved to
play in the forests and. ride horses. She sang in church choirs,
sometimes visited parishioners with her father, and helped to teach Sunday School.
She attended Philips University, a small liberal arts college in Enid, Oklahoma, for undergraduate work, attended the University of Chicago for her graduate degree, and migrated to the West Coast to attend San Francisco Theological Seminary. When she ran down the beach to stick her toes in the Pacific Ocean for the first time, her mother said, “I
just know she’s never coming back to Oklahoma!” And that turned out to be correct.
Laurie moved to Portland in 1990 and has served as associate pastor at Southminster Presbyterian Church and Westminster Presbyterian Church for 10 and 20 years, respectively. Much of her ministry has been focused on congregational care and fellowship.
A word from Pastor Laurie: “I am thrilled to serve as the
stated supply pastor at TPC. The heritage of “creative traditional”
worship at TPC resonates with me. This feels like just the right
time to add my care and passion to this community and ministry.
Together, we are at an intersection where all our collective gifts
will come together to help meet the world’s aching needs.”
Laurie took on head pastor and head of staff duties doing transitional work for churches in Beaverton, Olympia, and Tigard. Laurie likes to find ways to link mind, heart, and body to worship. She’s a singer of Bach cantatas, a writer of poetry, and a social dancer (waltz, lindy hop, swing, salsa, cha-cha, and rumba). You can find her lap-swimming most mornings, followed by meditation and morning coffee.
Her young adult sons are both in college. Aaron is a senior at the University of Oregon, where his interests lie in the areas of psychology and philosophy. Alex is a Ph.D. candidate in mathematics at the University of Wisconsin, Madison.