A Brief History of the church in Portland

In 1970 two couples living in Portland  began to fellowship together seeking deeper experiences of Christ. Through the book: "The All Inclusive Christ" their hearts were warmed and their hunger for more of the riches of Christ grew in them. One of the couples had attended some meetings with the church in Seattle and suggested they drive up together one Lord's day to join them for a meeting. The first meeting they attended produced such a desire in them that drew these couples back again and again. The trips up and down Interstate 5 gave them much time to pray, fellowship and to enjoy the Lord together. They discovered the riches of Christ through the ministry of Watchman Nee and Witness Lee and the tremendous benefit of meeting with the church in Seattle. During one of the meetings in Seattle a brother asked all those from Portland to stand up. To the surprise of these two couples a third couple stood up as well. The third couple had grown up in one of the churches in Taiwan and was working in Portland on a cancer research study. Now there were three couples gathering in Portland during the week and traveling to Seattle on most week ends.

In 1971 through much fellowship between these couples, the church in Seattle, and the church in Los Angeles many families picked up a burden from the Lord to migrate to Portland to strengthen what the Lord was doing there. Several families moved to Portland from Seattle and from Los Angeles during the summer of 1971. One caravan form Los Angeles came with three U-Haul trucks and four automobiles and landed at one of these couples homes. That home became the meeting place of the church in Portland in those early days of 1971. The church in Portland had a glorious beginning with saints coming together to blend from three major cities as the testimony of Jesus for the building up of the Body of Christ. From 1971 through the summer of 1974 the church in Portland grew day by day in the divine life and increased in number as the brothers and sisters remained steadfast in the teaching and the fellowship of the apostles. The enjoyment of the Lord was rich and the growth in the divine life was steady. The golden lampstand in Portland was shining brightly.

During the summer of 1974 through fellowship the majority of the saints meeting as the church in Portland were led to move to strengthen other churches in a consolidated way. A few families remained in Portland including one of the original couples from 1970. The next couple of years were trying for the saints remaining in Portland. The Lord heard the prayers of these faithful saints and in 1976 He began to draw other local Christians. In February of 1976 three seeking college students from George Fox College, who had previously been to some meetings with the church in Seattle, were brought into contact with the remaining saints in Portland. Around the same time two couples from Milwaukie, Oregon and a single mom joined with these brothers and sisters to begin a regular home meeting on Tuesday evenings. They often traveled to Seattle and at times to Roseburg to meet with churches in those cities. In March of 1976 the church in Seattle with the church in Roseburg rented a campsite in Colton (near Portland) named Camp Adams and held meetings there on a Friday evening and Saturday. The brothers and sisters enjoyed sharing’s on calling on the name of the Lord, enjoying the Lord's presence and the ground of the church. By the end of that week end eight more began to meet with these saints in Portland. Even though some of the brothers and sisters gathering in Portland moved that summer to other localities, others were compelled by the Lord to remain in Portland and these saints began again to meet as the church in Portland during the summer of 1976. The saints in Portland through continuing steadfastly in the teaching and the fellowship of the apostles grew in life and in numbers over the next many years. 

Through much fellowship in 1980 some families from both Eugene and Corvallis migrated to Portland to strengthen the Lord's testimony there. The church continued to have a steady growth in life and building. We attribute the steady growth in life and building to the local saints steadfast stand with the one unique ministry of God's New Testament economy and their endeavoring to live in the reality of the Body of Christ. Our love for the Lord and our love and care for His Body increases day by day. Our present hope and consecration is to hold on to what we have with the little strength the Lord has given us. We are simple brothers who are learning to abandon everything other than Christ and His glorious Church. It is our practice to have annual conferences in Portland or in a nearby locality, meeting with brothers and sisters from Portland, Salem, Corvallis, Bend, Eugene, Roseburg and Medford. We invite the blended brothers to come and share with us for our annual conferences. About once a month, brothers from these seven localities meet for prayer, fellowship and blending together. All the churches in Oregon enjoy the blessing of Life that is poured out on the one Body of Christ. We continue to travel to meet also with the many other churches in the northwest, including gathering about twice a year with the leading brothers from all the northwest churches. Through much visiting and blending the church in Portland is healthy and rescued from being independent. We really need all the churches to express His Body on earth.

The Lord blessed the church in Portland in 2008 with a team of brothers and sisters serving full-time with the entire church as a net for the fruit bearing, nourishing and mutual perfecting of one another for the building up of His Body. The church in Portland's labor is day by day and from house to house. We gather all together on the Lord's Day to enjoy the Lord's table and for all the saints to prophesy for the building up of the church. We also gather together weekly in prayer meetings to stand together with the Lord in His heavenly ministry to bind His enemy and to loose God's interest on this earth. What a church life we enjoy. We invite you to come and enjoy the splendid church life with us. "To Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus unto all the generations forever and ever. Amen" (Ephesians 3:21)