How it all started...
The Williams Location
the beginning
In 1957, Dr. Esther Turner had a vision to reach out to children in North Portland. She prayed and shared her God-given vision with a few of her other colleagues. The small group of professors banded together and formed the Immanuel Interracial Free Methodist.
In the Early 1960’s, the Immanuel congregation built their first church building. The building was an A-frame structure built by the hands of the members and friends. The building was located on 311 N Ivy and was utilized for ministry and worship by the congregation until the mid 1990’s.
the arson fire
On June 20th 1996, the Immanuel Christian Fellowship suffered an arson fire. The fire was a result of a young man throwing two Molotov cocktails through the window of the sanctuary. This horrible incident provided the church with a wonderful opportunity to share the gospel with thousands of people. It was a difficult, but an exciting and miraculous time.
the purchasing of craigo's
For a number of years in the in the 1990’s Life Change had a desire to purchase our current facility, which at the time was a grocery store called "Craigo’s". It was a blight in the community with rampant drug abuse, prostitution and alcohol abuse present. From the time God gave us the building until the time we were able to remodel the building was roughly a nine-year process. Our congregation gathered in a small section of the building and held two services. During those years, God expanded and grew Life Change Church spiritually and numerically.
Expanding the vision...
The Glisan Location
the beginning
God gave Pastor Mark & Marla a vision/direction that Life Change will be a one thousand member church. In approximately 2006 we began to realize that our vision of one thousand members may not necessarily be in one location. So we began to pray about acquiring other properties. For several years we attempted to purchase buildings in close proximity to our Williams Ave site. During the years of 2006-2016 we either considered or made offers on properties within our current neighborhood (Boise Eliot Neighborhood/Williams Ave Corridor). We were turned away or denied on all of our requests to purchase properties during about a ten year stretch. Towards the end of 2017 we started praying again about acquiring another property.
the purchasing of walgreens
In the Spring of 2018 Pastor Mark asked Pastor Jerrell Waddell, an associate pastor, if he knew of a Walgreens store close to the area. Pastor Jerrell indicated he’d not seen a Walgreens in the area. Two weeks later Pastor Mark asked again about a Walgreens store located at approximately 148th and Glisan. Pastor Jerrell went out to the site to investigate. Turned out the Walgreens store was at the corner of 162 & Glisan St. Pastor Jerrell immediately called Pastor Mark because the Walgreens store was listed for sale. Life Change Church made an offer on that Monday to purchase the building. God miraculously helped us raise all the needed funds to get that building. Hallelujah!
