Peace Mennonite Church (Portland, Oregon, USA)
Alberta Community Church (General Conference Mennonite [GCM]), Portland, Oregon, began in 1928 at NE 26th and Alberta streets. The following summer the Alberta Community church building was rented. The work was sponsored by the Pacific District Conference and the Home Mission Board (GCM). On 29 June 1931 the congregation was organized with 11 charter members. In 1938 the Home Mission Board purchased the building in which the congregation had been meeting and remodeled it. The following have served the church: Catharine Niswander, Albert Claassen, Edmond Miller, Arnold Regier, Henry Wiebe, Clyde Dirks, and Harry Albrecht, the minister in 1958, in which year the membership was 74.
After a low point in the congregation's history in the early 1960s, the attendance again grew during Nobel Sacks's interim pastorate of almost 10 years. Because of overcrowding at the original location, the congregation purchased an Evangelical United Brethren church four blocks away. When Elmer Friesen arrived as pastor in 1971, the community was changing from from a white neighborhood to a predominantly African-American community. Fewer community persons attended services, and it was becoming a drive-in church.
The congregation purchased a lot in East Portland and constructed a multi-purpose building at 196th Street and Glisan Street. They began to use the new building in July 1975. At that time they changed the name to Peace Mennonite Church. With the realignment of conferences in early the early 2000s, Peace became part of Mennonite Church USA, and part of the Pacific Northwest Mennonite Conference.
Over time the congregation decreased in size and activity, dropping to 30 or less members by 2007. The congregation held its last service on 30 May 2010. The property was transferred to the Pacific Northwest Mennonite Conference, which continued to use the property for other purposes.
Bibliography
Burkholder, H. D. The Story of Our Conference and Churches. 1951.
Lind, Hope Kauffman. Apart & Together: Mennonites in Oregon and Neighboring States, 1876-1976. Scottdale, Pa.: Herald Press, 1990: 154-156.
Smith, Duncan. "New Ministries at Peace Campus." Evangel 60, no. 3 (Winter 2010): 7. Web. https://pnmc.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/evangel_2010_fall_eng.pdf.
| Author(s) | Cornelius Krahn |
|---|---|
| Sam Steiner | |
| Date Published | July 2015 |
Cite This Article
MLA style
Krahn, Cornelius and Sam Steiner. "Peace Mennonite Church (Portland, Oregon, USA)." Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. July 2015. Web. 18 Apr 2024. https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Peace_Mennonite_Church_(Portland,_Oregon,_USA)&oldid=132301.
APA style
Krahn, Cornelius and Sam Steiner. (July 2015). Peace Mennonite Church (Portland, Oregon, USA). Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Retrieved 18 April 2024, from https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Peace_Mennonite_Church_(Portland,_Oregon,_USA)&oldid=132301.
Adapted by permission of Herald Press, Harrisonburg, Virginia, from Mennonite Encyclopedia, Vol. 4, p. 1057. All rights reserved.
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