Bob & Dona Pedigo

Bob and Dona Pedigo serve in Coos Bay, Oregon, a beautiful coastal area that provides opportunities for both small city and rural ministries.

The retirement community has expanded in Oregon in recent years, and shows a growing need for ministries designed for seniors. There is also a high number of ex-inmates in Coos Bay who need help re-entering the community after they have served their sentence.

Twenty-five percent of individuals in the Oregon south-central coastal field go to church, leaving an immense need for ministries that serve the “unchurched” population.

After seeing the need for ministry to seniors, prisoners, and the “unchurched” in their community, the Pedigos began reaching out through several different ministries. They have started a prison ministry and the Camron Clay House for homeless youth. They also run programs for special-needs adults and people with drug and alcohol problems. Bob works with Prison Fellowship to do aftercare for inmates as they adjust to reentry into the community after serving their prison sentence.

Bob pastors Madison Street Community Church in Coos Bay, which has a large population of special-needs children. Through its Adventure Kids program, the church introduces people with learning difficulties to the love of Jesus.

The Pedigos are also starting a new church in Coos Bay. The goal of Covenant of Grace Community Church is to create programs for those who feel left out of organized churches, have had bad experiences with churches in the past, or who feel like they just don’t belong in a church setting. The church currently offers a Bible study Thursday nights and an adult Sunday school class with Madison Street Community Church on Sunday mornings. Bob and Dona are hopeful for growth in this new ministry as they reach the unreached on the south-central coast of Oregon.

The Pedigos have served as InFaith field staff since 1984.

Bob started in ministry when, at seventeen, his home church put him on the board as the assistant Sunday-school superintendent and the whole board resigned. He preached the evening service while the church looked for a pastor. After Bob and Dona married, they did youth work together and served with the mission first in church ministry and then in area ministries.