Apostolic Faith Mission on Burnside

Hello! It has been over a year since I last posted here. Life gets in my way! The purpose of this blog, "Hometown Pilgrims," is to inspire your curiosity while you are out and about and to tell some interesting backstories about local buildings and places as they intersect with the colorful history of religion in the Portland-Hillsboro-Vancouver metropolitan area (and sometimes in the Willamette Valley area). 

Apostolic Faith Mission (now Roseland Theater)

Address: 8 NW 6th Avenue, Portland, OR 97209 ///stands.upgrading.media

Lots of TriMet lines serve this area, including the MAX Orange/Yellow Line, Line 12, and Line 20. 

Did you know that Portland, Oregon, played an important role in the history of Pentecostalism? Those who are familiar with the history of revivals or U.S. religious history are likely to know the Azusa Street Revival, which took place in Los Angeles (a few blocks from what is today Little Tokyo). 

Azusa is often seen as the beginning of the global Pentecostal churches (although this is not exactly accurate, as what we think of "Pentecostalism," characterized by speaking in tongues, originated in Kansas prior to this). William Joseph Seymour, a Black preacher who studied under Charles Fox Parham, arrived in Los Angeles in 1906 to fill in as a pastor of a Holiness church. On April 9 that year, a small group of people who attended the church service suddenly began speaking in tongues. The next day, Seymour found that he was unceremoniously fired from the church, and the door was locked.

Soon, Seymour found a house at 312 Azusa Street in Los Angeles, where he established the Apostolic Faith Gospel Mission. 

Florence Louise Crawford joined the Apostolic Faith Gospel Mission, and by the following year she had a "complete consecration" experience in which she dedicated her life to God. She divorced her husband, Frank Crawford, and she traveled with the Apostolic Faith organization to various conventions and revivals. After William Seymour's controversial marriage to Jennie Evans Moore, "Sister Florence" left Los Angeles, returned to her hometown of Portland, taking with her the mailing list of the Apostolic Faith Gospel Mission (this was with the blessing of William Seymour, although I have heard of unproven insinuation that Florence basically "stole" the mailing list out of spite and fled to Oregon, presumably because Florence wanted to marry William). In Portland, Florence Crawford established the Apostolic Faith Mission, which was officially incorporated in the State of Oregon on October 12, 1909.

Looking at the Articles of Incorporation of the Apostolic Faith Mission, the narrative that Florence Crawford "broke away" from Azusa because of her disapproval of Seymour's marriage to Jenny falls apart, however. One "Jennie E. Seymour" (William Seymour's wife) is one of three incorporators of the Portland Apostolic Faith Mission (but Florence is not listed as an incorporator), and the Articles of Incorporation also state that the Apostolic Faith Mission is to "conduct religious services... in accordance with the established laws of the place and Spiritual... as interpreted by the Board of Elders of the Apostolic Faith Mission of Los Angeles, California, to which body this organization is auxiliary" (emphasis mine). So, at the very least, the separation was amicable on its surface. 

In 1922, the Apostolic Faith Mission of Portland, Oregon (the organization officially appended "of Portland, Oregon" to its name that year) purchased the lot at the corner of West Burnside Street and Northwest Sixth Avenue from the estate of A. Meyer, demolished the saloon, and constructed the building that stands to this day. 

The building housed a printing press, a chapel, and a 1,150-seat meeting room, in addition to eleven storerooms. The Apostolic Faith Mission of Portland, Oregon, held worship services and operated its offices in this building until 1981, when the church decided to sell the building. 

During this era, the building was known for its iconic "⭐ Jesus, the Light of the World" neon sign atop its roof. 

Larry Hurwitz bought the building and converted it into a nightclub called Starry Night, which operated from 1982 to 1991. In 1991, Hurwitz sold the building, and the new owner renamed it Roseland, which remains in operation today. 

The Apostolic Faith Mission's global headquarters is now located on Southeast Duke Street at Southeast 52nd Avenue.