October 21. 2009
Page A2
Church to Rebuild from the Ashes
Morning Star
breaks ground
for new
construction
by J ake T homas
T he P orti . am ) O bserver
Almost three years ago the
congregation of the Morning
Star Missionary Baptist church
was thrust into uncertainty and
tumult when the 87-year-old
church was destroyed by a tire.
But Saturday was a cause for
celebration, when church mem­
b ers and o th e rs w ho have
partnered with the church gath­
ered at the vacant lot to break
ground on a new home for
Morning Star's 500 members.
The fire, the cause of which
was never fully determined by
investigators, left the congrega­
tion homeless, until Rose City
Cemetery & Funeral Home of­
fered them the use of its chapel.
Alberta Phillips, a longtime Morning Star Baptist Church Pastor Rev. Alberta Wayne Johnson (left) leads supporters in a ground breaking ceremony Saturday for the construction of
church member who serves as
a new church at the site o f the former sanctuary which was destroyed by a fire almost 3 years ago.
its historian, said that losing the
church was difficult for the con­
and is particularly proud of for the rebuilding was going, here will rise again, and will
gregation. Some members had
Morning Star's work with the Johnson began quoting scrip­ never be d estro y ed again,"
trouble with the funeral home
ture at length before conclud­ boom ed P asto r J.W . M att
poor and young people.
setting and stopped coming,
Although the displacement ing with, "It’s not our church; Hennessee of Vancouver Av­
she said.
enue First Baptist Church, who
was difficult for the congrega­ it's His church.”
“We didn’t know whether we
"I th in k you g o t som e has helped out with fundraising
tion, it drew hope from know­
would be scattered or what,”
ing they would be returning one fundraising to do," quipped a and opened his church's doors
said Phillips.
day, which kept them together. reporter from the local Fox af­ to d isp la c e d M o rn in g S tar
Phillips joined the church in
congregants.
Phillips also said church mem­ filiate.
August 1955, when it the con­
Rain drizzled down onto on­
After the press conference,
bers are looking forward to re­
gregation was about 125 people
establishing M orning Star's Johnson chatted with pastors lookers who stood on the lot
and located at the intersection
presence in the neighborhood. from o th e r local B a p tist strewn with rubble and weeds
of North Kerby Avenue and
“We want them to feel a new churches that have partnered while greetings from Portland
Fargo Street. The congregation
era in an old p la c e ,” said with Morning Star during its Mayor Sam Adams and Gov.
was displaced in 1959 when the
rough spot, while crews set up Ted Kulongoski were read.
Phillips.
Fremont Bridge was expanded,
Pastor David Wheeler, of First
On Saturday, Pastor Albert a stage covered by a canopy.
and took o v er a L u th eran
Baptist,
spoke to the crow d
Later that afternoon, roughly
Wayne Johnson o f M orning
church on Northeast Ivy Street
about
how
the tragedy had
Star told reporters at the site 100 people gathered for the
and Rodney Avenue where it
brought
other
local B aptist
that because the church was a breaking ground ceremony at
remained until the fire.
churches
closer
to together to
historic building it has had to the vacant lot where Morning
She had all six of her children
help
out
Morning
Star.
meet specific architectural re­ Star was once located.
baptized at Morning Star, and
”1
won't
be
too
caught
up or
On
the
stage
next
to
a
pile
of
quirements before it could be­
rem em bers having to go to
swallowed
up
in
my
own
stuff,"
the
church's
remains,
the
Morn­
gin rebuilding. He said that the
other churches for the c e r­
ing Star ch oir sang rousing he said.
photo by J ake T iiom as /T he P or i eand O bserver church had to get architects and
emony because her church's
After everyone had spoken,
songs
in betw een speeches
lawyers to help it meet require­
sanctuary lacked a baptismal Alberta Phillips, a member of Morning Star Baptist Church
people
grabbed shovels and
from
c
h
u
rc
h
m
em
b
ers
and
m ents im posed by the city.
for generations, looks forward to re-establishing the
pool for many years.
dug
them
into the soft earth,
people
who
are
working
to
help
They still don't know when the
During her time at the church, congregation on the same lot as the former church in the
b
e
g
in
n
in
g
the first step in
get
it
back
on
its
feet.
building will be finished.
she saw many beautiful wed­ Eliot Neighborhood at Northeast Ivy Street and Rodney
Morning
Star's
resurrection.
"Whatever
is
dead
and
gone
When asked how fundraising
dings and musical performances. Avenue.
High Jobless Rates Could Last Years
Economists
say some jobs
lost forever
(AP) — Even with an eco­
nomic revival, many U.S. jobs
lost during the recession may
be gone forever and a weak
employment market could lin­
ger for years.
That could add up to a "new
normal" o f higher joblessness
and lower standards of living
for m any A m ericans, som e
economists are suggesting.
The words "it's different this
time" are always suspect. But
economists and policy makers
say the job-creating dynamics
of previous recoveries can't be
counted on now.
Here's why:
• The auto and construction
industries helped lead the na­
tion out of past recessions. But
the carnage among D etroit's
automakers and the surplus of
new and foreclosed homes and
empty commercial properties
make it unlikely these two in­
d u stries w ill be en gines o f
growth.
growth anytime soon.
• Higher-income households
• The job market is caught in
a vicious circle; Without more are spending less because of big
jobs, U.S. consumers will have losses on their homes, retirement
a hard tim e increasing their plans and other investments.
sp en d in g ; but w ithout that Lower-income households are
spending, businesses m ight cutting back because they can't
see little reason to start hiring. borrow like they once did.
That the recovery in jobs will
• Many small and midsize
businesses are still struggling be long and drawn out is some­
to obtain bank loans, impeding thing on which economists and
their expansion plans and con­ policy m akers can basically
stra in in g overall econom ic agree, even as their proposals
for remedies vary widely.
Retrenching businesses will
NEW S E A S O N S
f
_____________J
m a r k e t
]
N O W D E L IV E R IN G
be slow in hiring back or replac-
ing workers they laid off. Many
o f the 7.2 m illion jo b s the
econom y has shed since the
recession began in December
2007 may never come back.
"This Great Recession is an
inflection point for the economy
in many respects. I think the
unemployment rate will be per­
m anently higher, or at least
higher for the foreseeable fu­
ture," said Mark Zandi, chief
econom ist and co-founder of
Moody's Economy.com.
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