Closed church: Mt. Scott Park Presbyterian Church

ex Mt. Scott Park Presbyterian Church

5512 SE 73rd Avenue

Portland, Oregon  97206

///epic.bank.school

TriMet | OpenStreetMap

This morning, on August 31, 2025, Mt. Scott Park Presbyterian Church held its final worship service and voted to dissolve itself after 118 years of its history. 

Originally called Millard Avenue Presbyterian Church, and later Mt. Scott Park United Presbyterian Church, it celebrated its centennial just this past year on August 18, 2024. 

The congregation is being absorbed into Oak Hills Presbyterian Church in Milwaukie, Oregon, where it will join for worship beginning next Sunday, September 7. 

The building, completed in 1924, is located behind the Mt. Scott Community Center on Southeast Harold Street. Southeast Harold Street was once called Millard Avenue. According to the City of Portland records, the church building may have expanded in 1943 under the War Code (a wartime emergency measure to increase the supply of housing by relaxing building regulations). 

The congregation, still legally named as "Mt. Scott Park United Presbyterian Church" (a legacy of the pre-PCUSA denominational affiliation), was incorporated on February 25, 1907, making it just over 118 and a half years old.

As with many Mainline Protestant churches post-COVID, Mt. Scott Park has suffered dwindling attendance and membership. As of 2024, the church was left with 36 members (as of 12/31/2024), with 24 congregants attending. Oak Hills, with 143 members (as of 12/31/2024) and 97 congregants attending services, the combined church would be 179-member strong and over a hundred people worshipping together (barring some of Mt. Scott Park members who choose to attend another PCUSA congregation in Southeast Portland that may be closer to where they live, such as Mt. Tabor and Kenilworth).

Chapel to be dedicated. The Sunday Oregonian, July 24, 1904, Part 2, p 11

Note the mentions of "Mt. Scott Railway" and "Mt. Scott car line" in news articles of this time period. During the early part of the 20th century, Portland was known for its extensive streetcar and interurban rail networks.

Goes to Millard-Avenue Church. Morning Oregonian, May 13, 1907, p 9

(The "Men's Resort" was a social service ministry of First Presbyterian Church of Portland, which was a precursor to more recent ministries such as Julia West House and DayWatch.)

Mt Scott Herald, January 31, 1919, p3

I do not know which street was called Woodmere at the time, but street names of Southeast Portland were extensively changed in the early 20th century. Some of the older street names are still visible in the form of sidewalk inscriptions at various intersections. 

The Sellwood Bee, July 27, 2024

Like many in Mainline Protestant churches, Mt. Scott Park Presbyterian Church was not immune to controversies that arose from time to time. In the 1990s, the church and its then-pastor, the Rev. Bruce Swanson took a position to support a denominational proposal to restrict ordination of gay and lesbian ministers to those who are celibate, while many other PCUSA churches and pastors in Portland opposed such a measure. Swanson, however, took a humble and conciliatory note while voting in favor of what was known as Amendment B to the Book of Orders.

The pastor of Mt. Scott Park Presbyterian Church in Portland passed out hundreds of Oregon rocks to delegates and told them they could hurl them his way or bring them forward to build a temple of new understanding. "For me, that still becomes the task, which is to try to find a meeting ground for people within the church," Swanson said. "This whole thing is not done at all. This will be with us for a while." Swanson admits he's not sure his beliefs about the sins of homosexuality are correct. He acknowledges that adults and children will be hurt by the amendment. He even points to Susan Leo as someone the denomination has done wrong.

-- Brent Hansberger. "Praying for answers in gay debate." The Oregonian, May 24, 1997.

(Note: Susan Leo was a candidate for ministry in PCUSA but was rejected by the Presbytery of the Cascades for being a lesbian. She ultimately went on to found Bridgeport Community Church, which later joined the United Church of Christ. A graduate of San Francisco Theological Seminary, Leo earned a doctorate in ministry in 2013 at what was then known as George Fox Evangelical Seminary, now Portland Seminary.)

Just Out, Oct. 1, 1999, p 15

The Presbytery of the Cascades, the regional body of PCUSA for Oregon, Southwest Washington, and Northern California (today the Presbytery only covers Central and Western Oregon and parts of Southwest Washington), voted down the amendment by 223-185 at its meeting in Eugene.

Watch the final worship service of Mt. Scott Park Presbyterian Church, including the dissolution vote, on Facebook.

Here is the final archived copy of Mt. Scott Park Presbyterian Church's website, as of August 31, 2025.

Notes: 

Old newspaper clippings are from the Historic Oregon Newspapers digital archive at the University of Oregon and from the Newsbank database.