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.