About First Church
MISSION & VISION
As a Peace Church, we declare that we will be an advocate for peace in our local communities and world.
As a Reconciling Congregation, all are welcome to participate in the full life of the church, including all races, abilities, ages, classes, gender identities, and sexual orientations.
As a Creation Care Congregation, we advocate for lifestyles and social policies which bring healing and renewal to our precious earth.
AFFILIATION
First United Methodist Church is within the Columbia District of the Oregon-Idaho Conference of the United Methodist Church.
The United Methodist Church believes...
- God, who is one, is revealed in three distinct persons.
- in the mystery of salvation through Jesus Christ. God became human in Jesus whose life, death, and resurrection demonstrate God’s redeeming love.
- that the Holy Spirit is God’s present activity in our midst. When we sense God’s leading, God’s challenge, or God’s support or comfort, it’s the Holy Spirit at work.
- that human beings have been made in the image of the Creator. Like God we have the capacity to love and care, to communicate, and to create.
- that the church is the body of Christ, an extension of Christ’s life and ministry in the world today.
- that the Bible is the primary authority for our faith and practice.
- that the kingdom or reign of God is both a present reality and a future hope.
MEMBERSHIP
Membership can be a meaningful way to join our shared ministry with one another and with our neighborhood. Participate in periodic New Member Classes to prepare you for membership at First Church. Dates are announced in our weekly newsletter. Fill out the New Member Form to let us know you’re interested in joining First Church – we're so glad you’re here!
HISTORY
The History of First Church [find historic photos here]
The history of First Church – the first church in Portland – is long, spanning over 175 years and five different locations throughout Portland.
The congregation now known as First United Methodist Church began as “Methodist Episcopal Church” with seven members in 1848. Our first building, constructed in 1850, was on SW 2nd & Taylor. The church prospered and built its second building, an English gothic structure, in 1867 on SW Taylor and 3rd. In 1884, Methodist Episcopal spun off a new congregation, Grace Methodist Episcopal. The two congregations later reunited in 1912 as “First Methodist Episcopal” in Grace's newer building on SW 12th & Taylor.
The church was a founding member of the Portland Council of Churches in 1919 (today's Ecumenical Ministries of Oregon). Pastor Clarence True Wilson became a national leader in the woman suffrage movement, and First Methodist led in the establishment of the Portland Goodwill Industries in the 1920s. In the 1940s, First Church helped establish the predominantly black Hughes Memorial Methodist Church and supported it with monthly donations to its pastor’s salary for forty years.
In 1957, now known simply as First Methodist, we moved to our current campus at 1838 SW Jefferson St, and built the church using Northwest materials exclusively, including laminated arches, fir siding, and a slate roof. The stained-glass window in our Sanctuary is the largest of its kind in the Northwest, and in our narthex is Portland's oldest bell, cast in 1850.
After uniting nationally with the Evangelical United Brethren Church in 1968, the church changed its name to First United Methodist.
In March of 1993, we were among the first churches to become "reconciling congregations" committed to work toward full participation of all races, abilities, classes, ages, and welcoming LBGTQ members. First Church members and clergy have marched in the annual Pride Parade for years.
The church opened the Goose Hollow Family Shelter in 1994, providing private sleeping spaces and other services to unhoused people. This program thrived, later becoming Path Home, a separate nonprofit that moved to its own location in 2018. FUMC continues to support Path Home to this day.
In the late 1990s, two additions were added to the current building, adding a chapel on the south side and an accessible entrance from the Goose Hollow TriMet station on the north side.
On September 10, 2023, First Church celebrated our 175th anniversary. As was spoken in the closing liturgy on that day, “This place, these people, this community is called First United Methodist Church of Portland. It has moved, and grown, and changed with the seasons and with the city. And, beholding all that has come before, today, we give God thanks for this place.”
Land Acknowledgment
First United Methodist Church of Portland is located on the traditional land of the Cowlitz, Clackamas, and Tualatin Kalapuya nations. With gratitude, we honor the land itself and the people who first called this home, and we are grateful for their stewardship of it.
We recognize the ancestors of this unceded land, and we also acknowledge the sacrifices forced upon them. In remembering these communities, we honor their legacy, their lives, and their descendants. We pray for, and commit ourselves to, the righting of past wrongs related to this reality.
