Zion's Watchman, Vol. 1, No. 4

More about this item

Identifier

ghs20240010116

Description

Volume 1, No. 4 of a publication titled Zion's Watchman, published by the Zion Evangelical Church, Roberts Avenue, Gresham Oregon. Eight pages of church information and advertising for local businesses. H. B. Gebhardt was the pastor. People: Gebhardt, H.B.

Rights

http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/NoC-US/1.0/

Location

Gresham, Multnomah County, Oregon, United States

Date

1923-01

Creator

Zion Evangelical Church The Outlook Publishing Co.

Subject

Newspapers

Advertising

Zion Church

Churches

Provenance

The Zion Evangelical Church, originally the German Evangelical Church, was founded in 1906 by German-speaking immigrants from Germany and Switzerland. Most members of the early congregation were dairy farmers and other agricultural workers who were an influential part of Gresham's economic growth in the early 20th century. Despite their influence, however, this immigrant community faced virulent prejudice during World War I. The Gresham Town Council unanimously voted to instruct the congregation to stop holding services in German. Despite the congregation president's argument that the U.S. Constitution protected their right to conduct services in German, public pressure prevailed, and the church held all services in English by 1930. The congregation purchased the lot at 5th and Main in 1926. They engaged Portland architect Philip Chappell-Browne, better known for the National-Register-listed St. James Lutheran Church in Portland, to design a new church for the lot. Then they built the church in phases beginning with a basement in 1928, followed by the tower, auditorium/nave, and sanctuary in 1931. W.E. Fuller of Fuller Construction in Portland built both phases. The imposing, architect-designed brick building was part of a new era of development in Downtown Gresham in which permanent brick structures replaced the wood frame buildings that had pervaded in earlier years. A 1950 fire damaged the north side of the roof and initiated a year of repairs to address fire and water damage. During the fire, bystanders rallied to save the contents of the church from water damage - and a group of women who were preparing a turkey dinner in the basement kitchen continued their work virtually uninterrupted, serving the dinner on time in the downstairs dining room. The Zion Church congregation took on locally and internationally significant charitable work. Members sewed quilts and collected food for people in need, including migrant workers. They developed an aid program for migrant families working at Sandy Farms, contributing needed items and organizing social events for the families for 10 years in the 1960s and 70s. They sent milk to Korea during the Korean War and made clothing for infants in Vietnam during the Vietnam War, at the request of congregation member Thomas Brugger who was serving overseas as a doctor. Ron Bergeron purchased the building in 1974 as the congregation was raising money for a new building. He converted it to a bookstore, which occupied the building until it became a restaurant in 1981. Except for a brief stint as a wedding venue, it has remained a restaurant ever since. In 2016, with the congregation's dissolution, Gresham Historical Society received the church's records. GHS purchased the historic Zion Church building, then a restaurant, in 2017.

Type

Text

Relation

Gresham Heritage

Item sets

Gresham Heritage