Februaiy I, 2012____________________
Portland O bserver B la c k H is to r y M o n t h
____________________________ PageS
The Rev. Robert N. Probasco Sr. leads Portland’s oldest African-American congregation as senior
pastor o f First A.M.E. Zion Church. Also known as ‘First Church, ’ the congregation at North
Vancouver Avenue and Skidmore Street will celebrate its 150th anniversary this coming April 12-15.
Living History
c o n t i n u e d f r o m fr o n t
as com m on as w eddings. H ow ever,
a strong sense o f com m unity and
passion still reign for m em bers o f
the church.
' "The dynam ics o f the co m m u
nity have changed," said Sails, a
church stew ard w ho grew up at First
C hurch after his fam ily jo in e d the
congreg ation in 1976 w hen he w as
10 years old. "But the problem s and
issues have not, th a t’s w hy the
church m ust survive."
C hurch leaders said First A .M .E.
Z ion has never veered from its origi
nal m ission o f providing an open
door to the sick and suffering, the
disenfranchised, the sidelined, the
hom eless, and the "w hosoever’s".
T he 150th anniversary them e,
O ccupy til I Come: Luke 13, will mark
a celebration to take place over three
days, and underline the m in istry ’s
m ission, and its relevancy to the
ideals o f econom ic ju stic e and fair
ness, issues that have grow n m ore
pronounced since last fall w ith the
O ccupy W all S treet protests that
started in N ew Y ork City.
"The church needs to take back
its rightful place in the com m unity,"
said Sails.
L eading the church through the
ever-changing tim es o f the 21 st cen
tury, how ever, is easier said than
done, he said.
T he church m inistry struggles to
breach a generational gap w hich
keeps youth from becom ing m ore
involved.
T hough not quite at the hip-hop
level, P astor P robasco attem pts to
translate m essages from the bible in
today ’ s language o r from “form al to
"street talk," as he said, "to keep the
fire lit in the eyes o f the younger
o n e s."
H e d o e sn ’t ju s t try to preach a
good serm on, but a serm on that w ill
do som e good.
"W e m ust m ake sure w e are rel
evant to the tim es," he said.
T ext m essaging in the pew s is
even allow ed.
"K ids are m ulti-tasking and ev an
gelizing," he said, h olding up a cell
phone w ith an anim ation o f a purple
cat preaching ‘Y ou better w ake up
this m orning and praise G o d .’ "It
gets the m essage through, though
som e m ight be insulted."
F a th e r’s C om m u n ity N etw ork, 100
G ood M en, and C onnected. C hurch
m inisters w ill w alk in the parks to
engage w ith youth.
"W e w ant to stay visible, ac
co u n tab le, and a ccessib le," said
Sails.
First C hurch has m anaged to keep
the spirit alive. Prayer, m usic, fa m
ily, and friends are the glue that has
held the con g reg atio n together over
the m any decades.
A lthea Sails, church ad m in istra
photo by
C ari H achmann /T he P ortland O bserver
The Rev. Robert K. Kemp during a recent Sunday service a t First
A.M.E. Zion Church. Kemp is also the presiding elder o f the
Cascade District o f the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church.
she later becam e m ore involved.
She recalls a snow storm , w here
people w ho had no heat huddled
to g e th e r fo r w a rm th in sid e the
c h u rc h , th e c o u n tle ss b re a k fa st
m ornings h osted for fam ilies and
m em bers, and the giant d in n er c e l
eb ratio n that had e v ery o n e ’s eyes
fixed on the T V , w atching the e lec
tion o f B arack O bam a as the first
black president.
Phillis W hitm ore, the c h u rc h ’s
m in ister of m usic and pianist, re
m em bers the day she m arched along
side others to th eir cu rren t church
location.
T h e a c t o f m a rc h in g w as q u ite
fa m ilia r fo r b la c k s d u rin g th e tu
m u ltu o u s 1 9 6 0 ’s c iv il rig h ts era.
W h itm o re w as 19 an d h a d ju s t
jo in e d th e c h o ir, fo r w h o m h e r
p a re n ts h a d su n g sin ce th e 1940s.
photo by C ari H achmann /TH e P ortland O bserver
In trig u e d by th e s p iritu a l rh a p s o
Breanna Probasco-Canda sings out in praise during a recent
d ie s o f c h u rc h m u sic , sh e la te r
performance with the First A.M.E. Zion Church choir.
le a rn e d to p la y p ia n o fro m the
f o r m e r c h u r c h p i a n i s t , M rs .
P ro b asc o said ad d re ssin g the tor and w ife o f M aury Sails, says T u rn e r. S he h a s h a rd ly m isse d a
needs o f young p eople is a priority. rem em bering the church a cc o m S u n d a y s e rv ic e e v e r sin ce .
"W e w ant to find them w here plishm ents are ju s t as im portant.
D eco ratin g the w alls o f First
"The
c
h
u
rc
h
’s
survival
says
a
lot
th e y ’re at, not sit b ehind the b attle
A .M .E . Z io n ’s S u n d a y S c h o o l,
ab
o
u
t
fam
ilies
sticking
together,
m ents o f the building and throw
alongside old and recen t photos o f
soap and w ashcloths at them and expanding, and grow ing over tim e," the choir, are black and w hite p o r
she said . S h e re m e m b e rs F irst traits o f im portant figures in A fri
say, clean y o u rself up."
In response to the heartache o f A .M .E .’s history by its co n n ectio n c a n -A m e ric a n h isto ry , lik e S o
young lives lost through gang affili to people. H er m em ories began after jo u rn e r T ruth, Frederick D ouglas,
ation, the ch u rch has created sev she m arried h er husband and raised and H arriet T u b m an all o f w hom
e r a l o u tr e a c h p r o g r a m s : T h e h er children in First C hurch, until were m em bers o f the national A.M .E.
Z ion C hurch.
Laverne Toliver, w ho jo in ed First
C hurch in 1968, rem em bers m any o f
h er friends, fo rm er m em bers and
m inisters w ho have passed on o r are
sick, and shut in.
"The first day I cam e here, Rev.
N ellie T h om pson m ade m e feel at
h o m e,” she said.
Prayer requests are sent out to
those w ho cannot m ake it to ser
vices, including retired Presiding
Elder Em eritus Rev. L. J. Thom pson,
Rev. N ellie and O dell T hom pson,
Rev. Z. Jam es Purifoy and m any
other sisters and brothers.
F irst A .M .E . Z io n w as th e first
c h u rc h to h a v e a flo a t in th e R o se
F e stiv a l, an d to d ay , th ey c o n tin u e
to p a ra d e in th e c o m m u n ity at
G o o d in th e N e ig h b o rh o o d . T h e
c h u rc h a lso h o sts the W o m e n ’s
H o m e an d O v e rse a s M issio n a ry
S o c ie ty , an d th e R e s to ra tiv e L is
te n in g P ro je c t, w h e re c o m m u n ity
m e m b e rs h e a r o n e a n o th e r a b o u t
h e a lin g an d re c o n c ilin g issu e s o f
g e n trific a tio n .
H a v in g s u rv iv e d 150 y e a rs ,
church leaders say First A .M .E. Z ion
C hurch intends to o ccupy its place
in the com m unity o f north and north
east Portland by follow ing G o d ’s
w ords w ell into the future.
In the end, the ch u rch m ission is
sim ple, as voiced by S enior P astor
Probasco, "L et’s save the people."