Portland's Downtown Churches - SW Portland

PORTLAND'S DOWNTOWN CHURCHES

This walk goes by thirteen historic "downtown" Portland churches, all generally west of the city's commercial and cultural core area. All but two are monumental structures built before World War II, several in the 19th century. One of the two more modern churches was designed by famous modern architect Pietro Belluschi, and the other is a beautiful Northwest Contemporary wooden structure. Only one of the structures (the oldest, built in 1882, now known appropriately as the "Old Church") is no longer being used for religious services. This walk will also take you through part of Portland's scenic South Park Blocks, which also host Portland's art and history museums. You will also see Providence Park, home of the wildly popular Portland Timbers and Portland Thorns soccer team. Many of these churches undoubtedly have beautiful interior spaces as well - the best way to see the interior of one of these buildings is to visit it on a Sunday morning for services. A sign on the outside of the building or the church website will list the service times.

The walk starts at the First Presbyterian Church, at the intersection of Southwest 12th Ave. and Alder St., but your journey can really start just about anywhere along the route. Street parking is available along the entire route - for a price ($1.60 per hour from the meters). The walk is exactly two miles in length, on fairly level terrain.

The First Presbyterian Church was established on this site, in this building, in 1888. The congregation is a member of the Presbyterian Church USA, a "mainline" protestant denomination with 1.8 million members. Presbyterianism's Scottish founder, John Knox, was a disciple of John Calvin in Geneva, Switzerland. He led the breakup of the Scottish church from Roman Catholicism, and the official Church of Scotland is the mother of all Presbyterian congregations worldwide. Presbyterian Church USA is undergoing divisive struggles over doctrine and positions on social issues, with many of the more conservative congregations leaving the organization for breakaway Presbyterian factions.  First Presbyterian operates the beautiful Menucha Retreat, located on the Historic Columbia Gorge Highway east of Portland.

At 12th Ave., turn right and head south. In the back of the First Presbyterian Church you will see a restful looking garden area, which is normally accessible only from the church interior. Continue two more blocks to the corner of 12th and Taylor St., where you will see the First Baptist Church.

The imposing First Baptist Church has been occupied by its congregation since it was opened in 1894. This congregation is a member of the American Baptist Churches USA, originally known as the "Northern Baptists" (as opposed to the more well-known and numerous Southern Baptists). The organization has a national membership of approximately 1.2 million. While individual congregations are given wide latitude to develop a religious position, the American Baptist Churches USA are generally seen as the "liberal" Baptists as opposed to their more conservative Southern Baptist brethren.  The Baptist movement began in the early 17th century as a "dissenting" church in England, and continued that pattern in the American Colonies - the most notable first American Baptist was Roger Williams, the Massachusetts renegade who founded the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations. All Baptists believe that this Christian sacrament must be performed on conscious adults instead of infants, just as the most famous Baptist, John, did on the banks of the Jordan River more than two millennia ago. Of particular note regarding First Baptist Church is that it holds weekly services in Cambodian to serve that immigrant community.

Continue one block south on 12th Ave., and at the corner of 12th and Salmon St. you will find the First Unitarian Church.

The First Unitarian Church is actually a combination of several buildings. The Eliot Chapel, on the corner of 12th Ave. and Salmon St. (the spired structure in the picture) was constructed in 1924 for the Unitarian Church and is on the National Register of Historic Places. However the distinct building located on 12th Ave. and Main St. to the south of Eliot Chapel was originally constructed in 1921 for the First Church of the Nazarene Congregation. When this congregation moved west into Washington County in 1979 the Unitarian Church purchased it, and now holds its main services in this building. Meanwhile, the Buchan Building facing 13th Ave. was added to the original Eliot Chapel in 2009, and includes additional church facilities and offices. The Unitarian Universalist Church has its roots in early Christianity among those who challenged the orthodox "Trinitarian" view of the faith, and its history and basic theology is described well in this passage from the congregation's website.. Throughout Christianity's history a Unitarian strain of thought has bubbled through now and again, most notably with the "Socinians" of the 16th century and the establishment of Unitarian churches in what is now Romania. In the United States Unitarianism caught fire in the 19th century. Unitarians are known to question their faith, and search for truths in other world religions. Among other organizations using the church, the Northwest Academy, whose headquarter are a block away, holds classes there. The Eliot Chapel is named for Thomas Lamb Eliot, first minister of Portland's Unitarian Church in 1867, among his many other accomplishments.

Continue one block further on 12th Ave. and then turn left onto Main St. Go three blocks on Main St. until you reach the South Park Blocks. Cross Park Ave. into the Park Blocks, and then turn right at the walkway in the middle of the park. You will see Portland's statue of Abraham Lincoln in the middle of this block. The churches you will be viewing are on both sides of the Park Blocks. The first one, on the left, at the intersection of Madison St. with the Park Blocks, is the First Congregational United Church of Christ.

The First Congregational United Church of Christ building, finished in 1895,  is on the National Register of Historic Places. The building is a majestic presence on Portland's South Park Blocks, with its large tower. The United Church of Christ, with 1 million members nationwide, is a descendant of New England's austere puritan congregational churches of the 17th century. But today's UCC is a very liberal denomination, perhaps the most liberal mainline protestant sect in terms of its support of gay rights.



One block farther, at Jefferson Street on the right, is St. James Lutheran Church.

St. James Lutheran Church, another stately religious presence on the South Park Blocks, was constructed beginning in 1891 and finished in 1910. St. James is a member of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America (ELCA), a mainline denomination with 4 million members nationwide. It was formed in a merger of three separate Lutheran sects in 1988, and has had some rocky times in the past few years over the issue of gay clergy - the ELCA decision to authorize ordination of same sex clergy in monogamous relationships has led to breakaway Lutheran factions around the nation. The Lutheran Church was founded by the most famous Protestant of all, 16th century German monk Martin Luther, one of the most controversial and charismatic figures in the history of Christendom.

The next block is Columbia St. On the left is the First Christian Church, while on the right is the Sixth Church of Christ, Scientist.

First Christian Church, the next South Park Blocks grand religious building, was constructed in 1923. It houses the First Christian Church of Portland, which is a member of the Disciples of Christ. The Disciples of Christ is one of the smaller mainline protestant denominations, having its beginnings in Kentucky in the early 19th century. The denomination rejects any test of faith other than a belief in Jesus - all other religious beliefs are open to discussion and debate. Individual congregations within the Disciples profess a wide variety of doctrines. Among U.S. Presidents, Lyndon Johnson and James Garfield were lifelong members of the denomination, and Ronald Reagan was a Disciple in his youth. Among the interior features of this church is a labyrinth, Many Christian churches feature labyrinths, which are considered a metaphor for life's journey.

The Sixth Church of Christ, Scientist, located on the Park Blocks right to the south of St. James Lutheran Church, was opened in 1931. The church was founded by Mary Baker Eddy in the late 19th century, and is best known for its belief that sickness can be cured by prayer alone. This was obviously a controversial doctrine, leading to quite a few early 20th Century prosecutions of parents for refusing medical assistance to their children. From 270,000 adherents in 1936, church membership has declined to about 100,000 today. As a result, the "flagship" Christian Science church in Portland, located a little more than a mile away in North Portland, closed in the 1970's. The Sixth Church of Christ Scientist does not have an active website, but the church's message boards indicate two Sunday services and a Sunday school.

Continue one more block on the South Park Blocks, and then turn right onto Clay St. Continue one block on Clay, and at the northeast corner of Clay and 10th Ave. (to the right) is the Portland Korean Church.

The Portland Korean Church apparently still occupies this building. I say "apparently" because a 2011 Daily Journal of Commerce story indicated that the building was for sale, and that the congregation was planning to move to Beaverton. However, all signs on the property indicate that the Korean Church is still ensconced in the building. As for the church website, other than a few words in English (including the church address at this location), the site is entirely in Korean. Anyway, this historic church was originally constructed in 1905 and was the home of the First German Evangelical Church.

A sign on the building façade reads in German, "Erbaut 1905." The congregation was most likely an ethnic German Lutheran or Reformed (Calvinist) Church. At some point in the 1960's that congregation disbanded, and a series of new religious users, culminating in the current Korean Church, have made this building their home. Thus the story of this building exemplifies the need of America's ethnic communities to band together in religious congregations, and perhaps the lessening of that need as the ethnic group assimilates into wider American culture and society. Christian missionaries in the 19th century had much more success in Korea than in either China or Japan, perhaps because the missionaries identified with the subjugated Koreans rather than with their colonial Chinese and then Japanese overlords.

Continue on Clay St. one more block, and at the corner of 11th and Clay (on the right) is the Old Church.

The Old Church is no longer in operation as a church, but instead is an event venue. The oldest of the existing downtown church buildings, it was built in 1882 by the Calvary Presbyterian Church, which moved out in 1948. After a couple of other congregations came and went it was purchased for its current use in 1968. Unlike most of Portland's downtown historic churches, it is constructed of wood.

Continuing on Clay, at the corner of Clay and 12th Ave. is Grace Bible Church.

Grace Bible Church was constructed in 1910, and has been occupied by the same congregation since its opening. The church began as an Evangelical Reformed congregation serving ethnic Germans in 1874. However, in 1955 when the group of churches the congregation was in association with joined the United Church of Christ (see the Portland Congregational Church discussion above), this congregation decided not to join and became a non-denominational church, not associated with any grouping or association. Grace Bible has what can be described as a conservative belief system as expressed on their website, including a belief that the Bible is the inspired and infallible word of God. This site has some interesting material on the Grace Bible church building (as well as some of the others on this tour), noting a mysterious stone owl on one of the building's turrets.

Continue on Clay. at the Corner of Clay and 13th Ave. (on the right) is St. Stephens Episcopal Parish.

St. Stephens Episcopal Parish (individual Episcopal

churches are either called parishes if self-supporting, or missions if supported by the diocese of Oregon) was constructed in 1925, although it includes a few elements from an earlier 1890 structure that was mostly destroyed by fire. The red doors (standard for Episcopal Churches around the U.S.) house ministries for the homeless, LGBT community, and even what could be best described as a community of rebellious Roman Catholics. Another notable feature of this church is its bicycle shrine, noted proudly on the church signs outside, dedicated to memorializing those who have died in bicycle-related accidents in Portland.

St. Stephens is on the northwest corner of SW 13th Ave. and SW Clay St. Turn the corner (right) on Clay and head north on 13th - the noisy 205 freeway will be on the other side of the street to your left. On your right will be this Episcopally red doorway for a side entrance to St. Stephens, displaying information about two of the charitable projects the church hosts.

Continue north on 13th Ave. to Columbia St., then turn right. Go one block and then turn left onto 12th Ave. One block later, at the intersection of 12th and Jefferson St., you will see this building with a Mexican flag, and if you are walking by during working hours, you will see people going in and out of the building and hear them speaking Spanish. You are walking by Portland's Mexican Consulate.

Turn left onto Jefferson St. and proceed west. In a couple of blocks you will cross the Interstate 405 freeway, which skirts the west side of downtown Portland. Former Portland Mayor Vera Katz (Mayor from 1993-2005) proposed covering parts of this freeway with a park similar to the award-winning covering of Interstate 5 in Seattle. While a park would be a big improvement in this location instead of an open freeway cut, the massive expense of such a project was too daunting. The idea, at least in a much smaller form, remains alive today, but we'll see if it ever happens.

Once you cross the freeway, continue on Jefferson St. to 18th Ave. You will come to a roundabout that integrates the intersection of Jefferson and Columbia Streets, 18th Avenue, and Portland's East-West MAX light rail line. At the roundabout go to the left past Columbia, and you will see The First United Methodist Church.

The First United Methodist Church is located in this beautiful Northwest Contemporary structure, part of a large complex of buildings. The Methodist Church began with John Wesley and other Anglican priests who decided, after many years, to form this new non-established church in both England and in the American colonies. Wesley and the early Methodist clergy were known for taking their religious fervor out of the cathedrals and church buildings and directly to the people at open air meetings and camp revivals. First United Methodist describes itself as a reconciling congregation, which mobilizes Methodists of all sexual orientations and gender identities to transform the Church and world into the full expression of Christ's inclusive love.

After viewing this church, turn around and head north on 18th Avenue for three blocks, to the intersection of 18th and Salmon St. On your left is the Zion Lutheran Church.

The Zion Lutheran Church opened in 1950. It was designed by renowned modern architect Pietro Belluschi, and it is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It replaced an earlier Lutheran church that was home to the same congregation starting in 1890. The congregation is a member of the Missouri Synod group of Lutheran Churches, with 2.2 million national members. The Missouri Synod is the more conservative branch of the Lutheran church groupings in the United States, believing that the Bible is the only standard by which Church teachings can be judged, but that scripture is explained by the Book of Concord, a series of 16th century confessions of faith composed by German Lutherans. The Church believes in biblical inerrancy and also believes that the story of creation in the Book of Genesis fully explains the Earth's origins. The church's website states that "Zion has chosen to stay with a traditional setting for worship, combined with a timely message that is personal, practical, and positive."

Continue north on 18th Ave., and as you cross Salmon Street on your right will be Providence Park, the stadium that serves as a shrine to Portland Soccer. The Major League Soccer men's team Portland Timbers and the National Women's Soccer League Portland Thorns play here. The stadium was once owned by the Multnomah Athletic Club, located on its south end, and the club still has its own private grandstand seats, which you can see attached to the club at the stadium's left end.

Continue north on 18th Ave., and on the left side of the street between Morrison and Alder Streets you will find on a small triangular parcel the Portland Firefighters Park. This park is dedicated as a memorial to Portland firefighters who have died in the line of duty. You will find more information about this little memorial park here.

At Alder St., turn right. A five block jaunt will bring you back to your starting point at First Presbyterian Church.