As membership declines, Portland churches see money and ministry in affordable housing

Phillis Whitmore remembers when the parishioners of First African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church physically marched to its current location in 1962.

“Back then, everybody seemed to be marching,” Whitmore said. “It was kind of our symbolic thing, that we were marching from the old building into our new facility, and everybody was really into it.”

First A.M.E. Zion has no plans to move again, but its historic building could soon look drastically different, as churches across the country are grappling with how to serve an ever-shifting congregation.

First A.M.E. Zion Church — called “First Church” by its members — is the oldest Black church in Oregon, having started in a living room in 1862. It’s moved several times throughout its history but has been based in its large, ornate building on North Vancouver Avenue since the 1960s.