Allen Temple CME Church’s first grand opening celebration will be held Monday, February 28, 2022 at 10:00 AM with a press conference and ribbon cutting ceremony.
Rev. Dr. LeRoy Haynes, Senior Pastor and Presiding Elder felt it was appropriate to celebrate the restoration of this historic African American church on the last day of Black History Month.
On February 7, 2015, the 100 year old historic church, located at 4236 NE 8th Avenue in Portland, suffered a devastating fire. Two electrical fires caused major damages to the roof and interior of all levels of the church. It has been a challenging journey to rebuild overcoming many barriers of construction, financial and impact of Covid 19 pandemic.
Since 1949, Allen Temple CME Church has been a community-oriented church serving North-Northeast Portland communities through many outreach programs. All of Allen Temple CME Church outreach programs are operational: Emergency Aide Center, Homeless Outreach Team Services, Resurrection Drug & Alcohol Prevention and Recovery, AIDS/HIV Support Services and Social Justice Advocacy. Allen Temple CME Church is now open holding in person and live streaming services. The new day center will be operational this summer.
During construction church services were held temporarily nearby at Maranatha Church until the Covid 19 pandemic.
Navigating through the challenges our architects Bill Hart and Logan Cravens, Carleton Hart Architecture kept us focused and held the project together until we charted new direction. The $3M costs for construction included major infrastructure city code upgrades. Joel Andersen, CEO of Andersen Construction and his team answered the call to rescue the project which included 70 in-kind partners collaborating with Nate McCoy III., Executive Director National Association of Minority Contractors of Oregon.
We have many partners and donors to thank for their extraordinary commitment pushing us to the finish line.
We are planning four separate celebration events to recognize everyone who was involved in the restoration:
Monday, February 28, 2022 10 AM – Press Conference & Ribbon Cutting Ceremony
Saturday, March 12, 2022 12 Noon – Partners & Donors
Sunday, March 20, 2022 3:30 PM – Churches, Faith Based Organizations, Community
Saturday, April 30 – Church Anniversary & Building Consecration (All Covid 19 safety protocols are in place for all events)
