Rev. Dr. Steven Koski

Lead Pastor

Contact Info

Phone: 541-382-4401
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/steven.koski
Instagram: @stevenkoski
Twitter: https://twitter.com/skoski

Serves as:

All Profiles > Rev. Dr. Steven Koski

About Rev. Dr. Steven Koski

I am at First Presbyterian because I am crazy blessed to get to serve an extraordinary, loving, compassionate, brave, creative, mission-hearted, curious, and fun community of faith. And for some reason they put up with me.

Before serving here, I was cheering loudly for the Chicago Blackhawks as Senior Pastor at First Presbyterian Church of LaGrange, IL, a western suburb of Chicago.

I love being constantly reminded that I am one lucky guy to have married “up” to Laurie and to be blessed to be dad to two amazing young men, Jacob and Jonah. I love yoga. Although, the people next to me in yoga class look like pretzels while I look and move like a block of cement. I love walking the many beautiful trails of Bend. I love, love, love, love sports. My dream job would be a sports talk show host sharing my limitless sports wisdom with the rest of the world. I love Scrabble, a good book, U2, single malt scotch, theater, and ballet (not necessarily in that order).

You can reach Steven at [email protected], and follow him on Instagram: @stevenkoski.

The 20th century was the century of getting ahead. In our race to get ahead, far too many have been left behind, left out and left alone. The 21st century must be the century of healing. We are the healers we are waiting for. The most important question is, “How can my life be used in service for the healing of the world?” David Orr wrote, “The world does not need more successful people. The planet desperately needs more peacemakers, healers, restorers, storytellers and lovers of all kinds.” What can you do? Something. What should you do? Something. It’s easy to be paralyzed by the magnitude of suffering and brokenness in this world. The question what I should do with my life is too large and overwhelming. Better and more empowering questions might be, “What do I do next? What is the work of love that is mine to do today?” The people who seek to be important will not heal the world. The world will be healed by ordinary people, like you and me, who show up each day and inhabit our place in the world doing what’s most important. The world will be healed by those, like you and me, who know we can’t do everything but are faithful to the one next thing we can do. Edwin Hale said, “I am only one, but I am still one. I cannot do everything, but still I can do something; and because I cannot do everything, I will not refuse to do the something that I can do.” What is the work of love that is yours to do today? What is the next thing? You may not be able to care for the whole garden but what seeds of goodness can you plant today?
The 20th century was the century of getting ahead. In our race to get ahead, far too many have been left behind, left out and left alone. The 21st century must be the century of healing. We are the healers we are waiting for. The most important question is, “How can my life be used in service for the healing of the world?” David Orr wrote, “The world does not need more successful people. The planet desperately needs more peacemakers, healers, restorers, storytellers and lovers of all kinds.” What can you do? Something. What should you do? Something. It’s easy to be paralyzed by the magnitude of suffering and brokenness in this world. The question what I should do with my life is too large and overwhelming. Better and more empowering questions might be, “What do I do next? What is the work of love that is mine to do today?” The people who seek to be important will not heal the world. The world will be healed by ordinary people, like you and me, who show up each day and inhabit our place in the world doing what’s most important. The world will be healed by those, like you and me, who know we can’t do everything but are faithful to the one next thing we can do. Edwin Hale said, “I am only one, but I am still one. I cannot do everything, but still I can do something; and because I cannot do everything, I will not refuse to do the something that I can do.” What is the work of love that is yours to do today? What is the next thing? You may not be able to care for the whole garden but what seeds of goodness can you plant today?
  • Breathe
    Posted: Sun, Nov 17, 2019
    “Sometimes your joy is the source of your smile, but sometimes your smile can be the source of your joy.” ~Thich Nhat Hanh Thich Nhat Hanh said smiling is spiritual…
    Details
  • Life is not a lesson to be learned but a gift to be unwrapped
    Posted: Sun, Nov 17, 2019
    Life is not a lesson to be learned but a gift to be unwrapped layer upon layer trusting there are hidden jewels waiting to be discovered. I don’t believe things…
    Details
  • Happy Pride Month!
    Posted: Sun, Nov 17, 2019
    “The wrong idea has taken root in the world. And that idea is there are lives that matter less than other lives.” ~Fr. Greg Boyle God’s love revealed in Jesus…
    Details
  • We need each other. We don’t need who we pretend to be.
    Posted: Sun, Nov 17, 2019
    “How are you?” “Im ok.” “No.Really? How are you?” And just like that my impenetrable walls of defense crumbled. I felt seen and loved. Some people possess a superpower. They…
    Details
  • Let the Beauty of the World Heal You
    Posted: Sun, Nov 17, 2019
    “I don’t think of all the misery but of the beauty that still remains.” ~Anne Frank Let the beauty of the world heal you because the world is crying out…
    Details
  • How can I best love you?
    Posted: Sun, Nov 17, 2019
    “What would love look like for you today? How can I best love you?” Those questions asked of me yesterday left me stunned. I was used to being asked is…
    Details
  • Life happens.
    Posted: Sun, Nov 17, 2019
    The definition of stress is when the demands of life exceed your “perceived” resources to meet those demands. We focus on the demands of life and like a magnifying glass…
    Details
  • Your thoughts are a useful servant if they are serving a greater Wisdom.
    Posted: Sun, Nov 17, 2019
    Your thoughts are a useful servant if they are serving a greater Wisdom. Your thoughts can be a relentless tyrant imprisoning you behind the bars of anxiety. The key to…
    Details
  • I don’t know.
    Posted: Sun, Nov 17, 2019
    The more I know the more I realize how little I know. The more I know the more I realize how easy it is to settle for easy answers and…
    Details
  • “God, grant me patience and give it to me NOW.”
    Posted: Sun, Nov 17, 2019
    We jokingly pray, “God, grant me patience and give it to me NOW.” The irony is that NOW is precisely the gift patience gives us. Patience is the space between…
    Details

Contact Rev. Dr. Steven Koski