WELCOME
to the First Baptist Church
of Portland, Oregon!

On this website, you'll be able to find information about First Baptist Church, our beliefs, our service to the community and the world, and our church family.  We are an American Baptist congregation committed to being "Ambassadors for Christ to the Heart of the City."

We'd be delighted to have you join us any Sunday for worship or Sunday School, or for one of our other weekly gatherings.

Ordination of Pastor Abraham Bates: An Ordination Council was convened on Saturday, April 26, and unanimously voted to ordain Pastor Abraham.  We are sponsoring the recognition of his ordination by American Baptist Churches of Oregon and ABC-USA.  Be sure to congratulate Reverend Abraham the next time you see him!

Right hand of fellowship:  A very special welcome to the following new members of our church!  Nora Russell, Chris and Sandy Carter, Abraham and Nancy Bates, Santiago and Eva Pena, Momthavy Yuok, Savannarith Yin, and Sovathara Yim.

Baptisms:  We rejoice as the following people entered the waters of baptism this month: Nora Russell, Nate Delta, Alexander Noble, Paul Sombatt, Savannarith Yin, Sovathara Yim, Aylee Talley, and Marshall Talley.

Volunteers needed: if you would be interested in helping supervise 2- and 3-year old children during the 11:00 hour, please contact Xan Eriksson via E-mail or at (971)732-5921.

Our America for Christ offering reached $5327, passing our goal of $5000.  This yearly offering supports American Baptist efforts for domestic disaster relief and other home mission on our doorstep.  If you'd like to contribute, please use one of the special offering envelopes, or indicate "AFC" on your check.

Youth Auction will be on Friday June 20! Save the evening for our annual auction to benefit youth ministry at FBC.  This year will bring a number of great items to bid on, many tables of silent auction, raffles, and -- most importantly -- our customary assortment of great desserts!

Mother's Day is May 11!  We're planning a special presentation for which we need pictures of you and your mother.  They don't have to be recent -- childhood pictures are OK.  If you'd like to contribute, you can E-mail a picture to Steve Shearer, or bring it in on a Sunday morning or Wednesday evening and he'll scan it for you.

Pentecost Sunday is also May 11.  We celebrate with the Voices of Pentecost, in honor of the events in the book of Acts chapter 2.  If you can speak the words "Jesus Christ is my Savior and Lord" in a foreign language, and would be willing to do so in front of the church, please contact Genie Bridwell.

Spring Concert -  Music Minister Travis Hatton will lead our Temple Choir combined with the Sunnyside Adventist Choir and Orchestra to present "The Creation" by Franz Haydn on Sunday, May 18 at 6:00 P.M.  Admission is free, but donations will be gladly accepted.  This is a great opportunity to invite family, friends, and neighbors to church for an event everyone will enjoy.

Downtown Fellowship events for May:

Guest Speaker Karen Gaffney, Thursday, May 8th 10:30-12:00, Social Room
Karen Gaffney is a 30 year old woman who has accomplished two physical feats that very few people could do. She was diagnosed w/ Down Syndrome's very early on in her life but this did not stop her from swimming across both the English Channel and Lake Tahoe.  We hope you will join us to hear Karen's remarkable story of overcoming adversity.

Rose Festival Princesses, Thursday, May 22nd 10:30-12:00, Social Room
The 2008 Rose Festival Court will be our guests, with each Princess telling her history, dreams, and plans, with time for questions from the audience.  Mary Lou Crosby will also entertain us with patriotic and love songs.  You'll certainly want to stay for lunch afterwards; how often do you get to dine with "royalty"?

Church Digital Photo Album available!  Did you know our church has an electronic photo album?  Look there for pictures from the life of our church, including services, music, special events, and more!  Click on the camera to explore what's available.