Spiritual Leader

George Abrams, pastor of Cheney United Methodist Church, 204 Fourth.

Background: Abrams, 58, was ordained in 1995 after receiving a master of divinity degree from the Vancouver (B.C.) School of Theology. He has been a volunteer chaplain for the Cheney Police Department for nearly a year and recently ended two years as a volunteer chaplain in the oncology ward at Sacred Heart Medical Center.

Prior to his ordination, Abrams spent 27 years with the Washington State Patrol.

First stationed in Vancouver, Wash., he spent two years on patrol before moving into safety education at schools for 10 years.

He then moved to Olympia and worked in the patrol’s administrative offices as a planner putting together budgets and doing staff studies. Abrams also received a master’s degree in education in 1972 from the University of Portland and a master’s in business administration in 1982 from the University of Puget Sound.

Personal: He and his wife, Jan, have been married for 35 years and have two grown children, Kristine and Mark. Jan Abrams is employed in the Social Work Department at Eastern Washington University.

Quote: “One of the things I like to do is catch the Holy Spirit in our lives, and I do that by looking for coincidences. … If it’s two or three events in a row, I start looking at it as God’s work.”