Q – What Was Montavilla’s First Black Church?
A – The Sunday edition of the May 7th, 1916, Oregonian, announced the formation of a Black church in Montavilla. By this time, the Black population of Montavilla had grown from only two in the 1900 U.S. Census to numbers large enough to warrant a mission church, that is, one by a larger religious organization. The Oregonian photograph shows a congregation of 40 men, women, and children. A few years later, Mission Church became Shiloh Baptist Church.
The 1916 Oregonian photo shows the Mission Church congregation standing in front of a brick wall. This is undoubtedly the east side of Scenic Theater, where services and Sunday school were held. The Scenic Theater — located at the northwest corner of Stark and 79th — was still an operating movie theater and also a meeting place for several Montavilla groups.
The Oregonian credited George Gardner (1880-1937) and Ida Thompson (1872-1960) — misspelled “Thomas” — with founding the Mission Church for the sake of Montavilla children, who needed a local Sunday school. Mrs. Thompson already had experience operating a Sunday school. Before moving to Portland, she lived briefly in Denver, Colorado, and there supervised the Sunday school at Bethlehem Baptist Church. Once Shiloh Baptist church was established in a new location, she managed its kindergarten for many years and became known as the Mother of Shiloh.
In 1916, George Gardner was not yet a consecrated pastor. He was ordained in 1920 and served periodically as Shiloh Baptist’s pastor.
In 1916, the Montavilla Mission congregation hoped to build its own church. But by 1919, the congregation had dwindled to only nine. That’s when Mrs. Thompson and her friend, Mrs. Sarah James (1885-1953), sprang into action. Lacking funds for a new building, they purchased a house at the northwest corner of NE Everett and NE 76th, which they converted into Shiloh Baptist Church. (Coincidentally, this was just one block from today’s Highland Christian Center.)
Shiloh was and still is a popular name for Black Baptist churches throughout the U.S. This Hebrew name is associated with the New Testament Messiah. One famous example is the Shiloh Missionary Baptist Church in Selma, Alabama, which was a stop on the 1965 march from Selma to Montgomery.
Rev. Alexander E. Reynolds (1862-1923) was Montavilla’s Shiloh Baptist Church’s first minister. He was recruited from Bethlehem Baptist Church in Denver, where he had been pastor for 11 years. Perhaps he was recommended or recruited by Ida Thompson, his former parishioner and Sunday School supervisor. Perhaps Ida hoped Rev. Reynolds could perform the same miracles for the Montavilla church that he had done in Denver. In Denver, he had raised church membership from 12 to 125 and increased the church treasury from zero to an amount sufficient to buy two lots for a future church.
Unfortunately, the Montavilla congregation — despite repeated efforts — never had its own purpose-built church. The house on Everett remained its home until the 1950s. Despite the small space, the congregation grew. The Oregonian of July 19th, 1921, reported that the new church had “a large audience” of both Black and White churchgoers.
Rev. Reynolds left in 1921 to take a new position in Yakima. Later that year — the week of July 17th — Shiloh Baptist brought in an evangelist, Rev. Lowe of Cleveland, Ohio, to lead a revival. Did the Shiloh community need spiritual solace after learning of the recent horrible Tulsa massacre — one of the worst incidents of racial violence in U.S. history? Were they seeking to expand their congregation? Whatever the motivation, The Oregonian reported a large turnout of both Blacks and Whites.
In 1923, the church had a run of bad luck when the new pastor, Rev. Elijah Moseley, was arrested in a police moonshine raid. Rev. Moseley and two others were suspected of violating Oregon’s prohibition law. Rev. Moseley was accused of being disorderly and fined $10. The indiscretion was exposed in the October 11th and 13th editions of The Oregon Journal.
In 1924, Shiloh Baptist almost lost its property. But Rev. J. W. Anderson and Rev. W. D. Carter of the Northwest Coast Baptist Association came to its rescue. The Shiloh congregation publicly expressed its gratitude in The Advocate.
In 1926, George Gardner — now Reverend Gardner — returned to Montavilla Shiloh Baptist as an ordained minister. For the next couple of years, things seemed to go swimmingly for the church. It was enlivened by Christmas celebrations, guest speakers, plays, an athletic club, barbecues, street fairs, chitterling dinners, Halloween socials, a Freewill Workers’ club, and stirring sermons by Rev. Gardner. Sunday School attendance was also up, with regular attendance at 40.
In November 1927, Rev. Gardner resigned, leaving a list of complaints published in the November 12th issue of The Advocate. He said he was not only the pastor. He was also the janitor, the woodchipper, the fire builder, the window washer, and the errand man. He regretted leaving the church without a pastor and a debt of $300, but he was tired of preaching mostly to his wife, since church members seemed to prefer going to movies or staying home. Still, he did not forget Shiloh Baptist. He returned to reminisce for the church’s 8th anniversary in February 1928.
Despite repeated efforts to build its own church, the congregation continued to meet at the house on Everett until the 1950s. It was a convenient location for most of Montavilla’s Black residents who lived between Burnside and Glisan, from NE 74th to NE 79th.
More changes came quickly, starting in 1928. Ida Thompson gave up kindergarten supervising and moved to her six-acre chicken farm in Barton, Clackamas County. Yet she continued to play a pivotal role at Shiloh Baptist to its bitter end.
A succession of pastors came and went between 1928 and 1929. By 1929, the church was finally out of debt and once again dreaming of building a church. Rev. Gardner returned once again in 1931.
Greater stability came in 1933 with a new pastor, Rev. Robert E. Donaldson (1885-1966), who was fresh out of Chicago’s Moody Bible Institute. He would serve Shiloh Baptist for 14 years, the longest period of pastoral stability in the church’s history.
Rev. Donaldson initiated several benevolent and outreach initiatives. For example, in 1938, he founded a retirement home for Black clergymen — the first of its kind in the Northwest. It was located across the street from the Church, in the 1890 house at 7524 NE Everett, which still exists.
Shiloh Baptist carried on — although not without problems — until 1961, when the last known pastor, Rev. Robert H. Anderson (1890-1963) retired. Beginning in 1943, the church’s name changed several times: People’s Community Baptist Church, then Shiloh Missionary Baptist Church, then New Shiloh Baptist Church, and finally back to Shiloh Baptist Church.
These name changes occurred during a period of difficulties and discord, much of it stemming from the condition of the church facility. By the 1940s, it was in disrepair, and in 1948, the City of Portland condemned it. There were efforts to restore it or build a new church, which led to the congregation splitting into two factions: Ida Thompson, Sarah James, and Rev. Donaldson on one side, and congregants loyal to the current minister, Rev. Robert H. Anderson, on the other. The battle finally devolved into litigation.
Three of the main actors in the Church’s history died before the conflict could be resolved: Sarah James in 1953, Ida Thompson in 1960, and Reverend Anderson in 1963. The battle over how to sustain the church was over.
In 1965, the Crown Construction company tore down the house that had served the Shiloh Baptist congregation for over 40 years. It was replaced with a duplex that is still in use.
The story of Shiloh Baptist Church is remarkable, with many ups and downs, but it is also a story of persistence. The Church faltered at several points in its history, and yet it survived for over 40 years.
Someday, perhaps a plaque will mark the spot where Shiloh Baptist stood. For now, its memory is preserved in the National Register of Historic Places, as part of a multiple-property listing approved by the National Park Service in July, 2020.
This is part of Montavilla History Questions Answered, a series of history related articles. If you have questions about Montavilla’s past that you’d like answered, local historian Patricia Sanders will investigate your question. Please email your questions to history@montavilla.net and we may feature it alongside Patricia Sanders’ research in a future.