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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 18, 2015)
February 18, 2015 The Portland Observer Black History Month Page 5 Adding Up the Losses continued from front restoring the historical building, which is over 100 years old. “We want to stay here, and we will do anything it takes to stay in this location,” Haynes says about the rebuilding effort. The dire prospects might be a reminder to community members who tried to save another black church completely lost by fire in 2007. Morning Star Missionary Bap- tist Church fundraised for years to rebuild at Northeast Rodney and Cook, but ended up moving to the Cully Neighborhood a few miles away. The congregation sold the land to developers who constructed condos where the church had served the community for genera- tions. Haynes insists that this is far from what the Allen Temple CME Church’s plans are. “We are committed to staying here,” he says. “This is our home and we own some of the land and houses in the area on top of just the church, so we need to stay near all of that.” The fire, which broke out last Saturday night, started in the base- ment with some faulty electric wires. It spread to the main floors, destroying the bathrooms and several windows, which are now boarded up. The fire then spread to part of the main service room and up towards the balconies, where pews, wheelchairs, hymn books, bibles, and several sets of stairs stand charred. The roof, which caught fire separately later that evening, will make up the bulk of the repair costs. “We understand that the inside of our church will need to be stripped, and that it is likely we will have to replace pew, carpets, and walls,” said Haynes. “It will take at least four to five months if we get started now.” While the church handles its dis- placement, they will be holding ser- vices at Maranatha Church, located at 4222 N.E. 12th Ave. The Allen Temple community also will be celebrating its 66th an- niversary throughout the end of the The electric fire at Allen Temple CME Church in northeast Portland, which started in the church basement, quickly spread to the second floor, destroying pews, carpets, windows, and walls. month despite their current set- backs, and welcomes the commu- nity to attend a workshop service at the Marantha Church on Sunday, Feb. 22 at 3:30 p.m. with a speech from visiting Rev. Robert C. Jointer of the Bethesda Baptist Church. A prayer breakfast will be held the following week on Saturday, Feb. 28 at the Ramada Inn near the airport from 9 a.m. to noon, with tickets starting at $25. Finally, on Sunday, March 1st at 4 p.m., there will be a Friends and Family Worship Service with visit- ing speaker Bishop C.T. Wells of the Emmanuel Temple COGIC, also at the Marantha Church. The Allen Temple CME congre- gation will continue to host fundraiser events for the church repairs and has plans to start crowdsourcing on the Internet for added support. For more informa- tion on these efforts, visit the Allen Temple Facebook page at facebook.com/meetmeatthetemple.