Allen Temple CME Church Committed to Rebuilding

On Saturday, Feb. 7, after 5 p.m. one of Portland, Oregon’s Centenarian Churches experienced major damage from an electrical fire that ran through the basement to parts of the sanctuary. Portland Fire & Rescue successfully put the initial fire out – they were called back once again when the fire broke loose at approximately 10:00PM in the inner roof of Allen Temple CME Church. This time it required a Fire Battalion to take control of the fire and suppress it. The second outbreak severely damaged the roof. The investigation of the cause of the fire is underway and preliminary cost estimates to rebuild is approximately $300,000 to $400,000.

Allen Temple CME Church in Portland, OR was built in 1912 by German Evangelical Lutherans. It was purchased in 1961 by Allen Temple CME under the leadership of Reverend Othal H. Lakey, Now Bishop Othal H. Lakey, and a Retired Episcopal Prelate.

The church was the first Christian Methodist Episcopal Church in the Northwest. It was organized in 1949 and has been a historical pivotal congregation in the City of Portland and the Mother Church to other CME congregations from Oregon to Washington to Alaska.

Presently, Allen Temple CME is under the pastoral leadership of Reverend Doctor LeRoy Haynes, Jr. and is noted for its outstanding community outreach ministeries including: Resurrection Drug Abuse Program, Emergency Food Center, Allen Temple HIV/AIDS Education Project, Allen Temple Homeless Ministry, One Church-One School Mentor Program and its Social Justice Ministry as well as it’s Chrisitian Witness.

The Church plans to restore the building and continue its dynamic ministeries in the City of Portland, the State of Oregon and throughout the Northwest. Restoration is expected to be approximately 5 to 6 months. While the church handles its displacement, they will be holding Sunday services 1:00PM at Maranatha Church 4222 NE 12th Avenue.

The Allen Temple CME congregation will continue to host fundraising events for the church restoration and has plans to start to start crowdsourcing on the Internet for added support. For information on these efforts, visit the Allen Temple Facebook page at facebook.com/meetmeatthetemple.

Information on how community members and businesses can contribute to the restoration of Allen Temple CME can be found listed below:

PayPal:
www.ninethdistrictcme.org/allentemplecmefirefund.html, Visa, Mastercard, American Express, Discover and PayPal Account

Mail Checks to:
Allen Temple CME Church, 3519 NE 15th Avenue, PMB #357, Portland, Oregon 97212

Bank Deposit:
Bank of America, Checks payable to: Allen Temple CME Church Restoration