VGI Updates

Zion Lutheran Church was established in 1898. The first building was erected in 1900, two miles south of the Zion Lutheran Cemetery. It was enlarged and renovated in 1918. It served the congregation for 64 years. The present church building is located in the town of Hurley. It was moved there from south and west of Freeman. The congregation in Hurley and the one in Centerville are served by the same pastor.
Zion Lutheran Church in Hurley is affiliated with the Lutheran Church – Missouri Synod.

Zion German Congregational Church was organized at the home of Conrad Helzer on 13 April 1914 by The Rev. John H. Hopp and a group of members from Ebenezer Congregational Church.

The Church Officers elected at this first meeting were:

John H. Krieger, Chairman
George Hinkel, Trustee
John Hohnstein, Trustee
William Lind, Trustee
Conrad Repp, Deacon
Peter Schnell, Deacon
George Weitz, Deacon
Henry Schwarz, Secretary
John Weber, Treasurer
Christina Schnell, Organist

Lutheran missionary The Reverend Edward Doering arrived in Portland during the summer of 1881. He had been born in Saxony (Germany) on 12 June 1852. Rev. Doering founded Zion Lutheran Church on the west side of the Willamette River in downtown Portland in 1889 and Trinity Lutheran the following year. The new congregation was called "Trinity German Evangelical Lutheran Church of Albina." The following men were elected provisional officers: Ernest F. Kümpel, Alfred Kräft, George Rupprecht, elders; H. C. Schröder, treasurer; H. E. Dittrich, secretary.

The St. Paul's Evangelical Church dates from early 1904 when it was founded with the leadership of the Reverend Jacob Hergert, a minister serving under the Evangelical Synod of North America. Meetings were first held in a rental hall on Union Avenue. The location chosen was the corner of NE 8th and Failing Streets where the present building still stands. The original building constitutes part of the present structure. The congregation and church were incorporated as "Die Deutsche Evangelische St. Paul's Kirche."

St. Mary's Catholic Church, founded in 1885, was the "mother church" of the Catholic Volga Germans that settled in the Albina neighborhood of Portland. Its name was changed to Immaculate Heart of Mary Catholic Church to distinguish it from the St. Mary's parish that was located in downtown Portland.

Location:

2926 N. Williams Ave.
Portland, OR 97227-1628
503.287.3724

In April of 1911, St. Agatha Mission was established in the small village of Sellwood across the Willamette River from Portland. Mass was celebrated in the homes of Sellwood's Catholic residents. The parishioners met with Father John Cummisky, OSB, the pastor, and it was decided that a two story brick building would be built to serve as a school and chapel. A bungalow residence was built for the pastor adjoining the parish. On Thanksgiving Day, 1911, the new combined church and school building was dedicated.

Under the direction of the Rev. Heinrich Hagelganz, a group of 29 Volga Germans met on 22 June 1913 to organize the Second German Congregational Church in Portland, Oregon. In the same year the congregation became affiliated with the Congregational denomination. The new congregation made arrangements with a Seventh Day Adventist Church to use their building on Sunday as a place of worship, while their own new building was being erected at NE 8th and Skidmore Streets.

This church was organized in 1891 with members meeting in private homes. This congregation had a large number of Volga German families involved in its early ministry in the Albina Neighborhood. The first church structure was built in 1896 at the corner of NE Stanton and Rodney Avenue.

The second church was built in 1911 at SW 4th and Mill and the name was changed to Trinity Baptist Church.

First German Congregational Ebenezer Church was founded in 24 April 1892. The following Volga Germans were charter members of the Ebenezer Church:

On 13 September 1922, the Brethren Congregational Church was organized. It had its beginnings in 1900 as the Free Evanglical Brethren Church which was located at 3605 NE Mallory Street. In 1927, the congregation moved to a new facility at the corner of NE Mason & Garfield. In 1932, a fire partially destroyed the sanctuary.

When the Congregational Christian Churches united with the Evangelical and Reformed Synod, the church joined the merger and became affiliated with the United Church of Christ.