INTRODUCTION

In an early draft of this history, Herman Grafe, the All Saints’ parish historian, wrote:

"From earliest dreams to present reality lies a volume of history barely visible and sparely reported. Our goal is not to reveal for all to see every detail of our predecessors' work, sacrifice, pain and joy. We seek only to erect a framework on which to build an appreciation of our gifts from the past as we work here and now to plan for the future."

That will be the theme of this present work as our parish celebrates its 100^th Anniversary, and we look ahead to a new century.

PART I: THE MISSION

In the village of Woodstock, seven miles from Portland, at the corner of 41st Street Southeast and 60th Avenue South (it was still unpaved, and would not become Southeast Woodstock Boulevard until much later), where the streetcar tracks turned east, stood a building, erected by the Evangelical Association in 1891, which had served as a school as well as a place of worship. The building, raised at a cost of $1,700 on a 100 by 100 foot corner lot, and furnished with stove, lamps, an organ and seats for 100 people, was offered to the Episcopal Church in 1903 for $1,000, payable in annual installments of $100.00. The then Bishop of the Diocese of Oregon, the Rt. Rev. Benjamin Wistar Morris, described the acquisition of the building in these words:

"Though this property was offered to us on such favorable terms, it was still a serious question whether I could venture upon its purchase for $1,000, when a gentleman in Portland, without solicitation, offered $25 toward the payment of the first hundred, and a friend in the East sent me $150 -- also unasked for. To this good beginning I added $75 from my Diocesan funds, and we were now in possession of the property, with one quarter of the purchase price paid -- at the cost of only $75 to the Diocese."

In his annual address for 1903 Bishop Morris noted, speaking of the new mission in Woodstock Village:

"A new work, of much interest and promise, has been undertaken in a suburb of the city, known as Woodstock, which has a history worth recording. The Evangelical Association has a good church building, seating one hundred persons, in this beautiful and growing part of the city."

The new mission took the name of the Church of Our Saviour, and was intended as a dual effort with St. John's Memorial Mission in Sellwood, which had been built in 1893 at the corner of Southeast 15th and Harney (at that time called Multnomah Avenue). The first service at Our Saviour was held on 25 January 1903, the Third Sunday after Epiphany (and the celebration of the Conversion of Saint Paul). The appropriate text for the day's service was from Isaiah 52:2:

"Enlarge the place of thy tent, and let them stretch forth the curtains of thy habitation; spare not, lengthen thy cords and strengthen thy stakes; for thou shalt break forth on the right hand and on the left and thy seed shall inherit the Gentiles and make the desolate cities to be inhabited."

The original leader of the mission was a lay reader, Mr. Courtland Parker, who served in that capacity for two or three years. From 1906 to 1908 the mission was in the care of the Rev. H. D. Chambers, first as a General Missionary, then as Archdeacon. In 1909 the Rev. J. E. Forsyth was in charge. The Rev. Oswald Taylor, priest in charge at St. John's Memorial, Sellwood, also took charge at Our Saviour until early 1911, when care of the mission reverted for a time to the Archdeacon.

In the beginning, the population that the mission could draw from was limited; Woodstock had been established only in 1889 and the area still included many open lots, and Eastmoreland wouldn't be platted until 1910. Initially, growth of the mission was slow: records from 1910 reported an average attendance at services of nineteen, and average attendance at Sunday school was two (though five children were reported to have attended at one time or another), and the mission was still without the services of a regular vicar.

Moreover, at a meeting called on 6 July 1909 by two members, Dr. Johnson and Mr. Day, and reading the Episcopal canons and considering the history of the mission to that date,

"...it seemed clear that no organized mission had ever been formed."

Agreement was accordingly reached to petition the Diocese for canonical recognition, and warders were elected. Also, a pledge of $200.00 per year was voted to the Diocese. At this meeting it was also noted that a Women's Guild was organized and active.

The original register of the Mission of Our Saviour is now one of the parish's most treasured artifacts, though greatly in need of a major restoration and rebinding effort to prevent further deterioration. The register opened with the baptism, 6 December 1911, of Margaret Helen Ruth Sheel, daughter of John Dietrick Sheel and Mary Gertrude Agnes Moore. The first confirmations took place 28 July 1912, of Irene Lacey, age 19, and Helen Victoria Day, age 16. The first marriage in the register appears only on 6 June 1917, of Clarence Clark King, age 23, and Edna Mae Gentry, age 22. The officiating clergyman was Archdeacon H. D. Chambers. The roster of burials opened 31 January 1912, with the interment of Frances Holder Malleis, age 82, at Mt. Scott Cemetery.

On pages 286 - 288 of the register can be found a brief handwritten summary of the mission's history from 1903 until 1930. The last baptismal entry in the register was on 2 January 1938; the list of confirmations ended in 1921, marriages in December 1937, and burial reports ended 11 October 1937 with the service for the Rev. Charles Chandler, vicar at the mission from 1925 to 1937.

Though the recording of baptisms, marriages and burials began late in 1911, only $160 of the $200 pledged to the Diocese had been raised, and the future of Our Saviour was uncertain. However, when Bishop Charles Scadding called a meeting to discuss the mission's fate, he was impressed by the spirit of the small but enthusiastic congregation, particularly of the women, and he agreed to find clerical leadership.

The first resident vicar, appointed in July 1911 to the Mission of Our Saviour (and who also served at St. John's Memorial Mission in Sellwood), was the Rev. Edward Huntington Clark, who came here from Chicago. He would hold a Sunday service of Holy Communion at 8:00 a.m. whenever anyone came. The biblical text, "whenever two or three are gathered together,” was often all too literally true. And, on the first and third Sundays each month at the principal service at 11 a.m. such frequent communions came as a bit of a shock to what had been a low church and informal congregation, accustomed to the service of morning prayer conducted by lay readers.

One of Father Clark's first activities was to canvass the neighborhood, and fifty-five families were found with an Episcopal or Anglican background who were not associated with the mission. A letter, sent to them by the vestry, said in part, "As our needs are urgent at the present time, we trust that you will consider carefully and prayerfully what you can do to help us". The response to the latter was positive enough to allow the mission to install running water, put in concrete steps, and improve the grounds by planting four catalpa saplings and twelve rose bushes, purchased for $7.50 (the catalpa trees remain). Members of the congregation attended to the installation of new shingles on the roof in 1913.

In his first quarterly report to the Bishop, dated 31 October 1911, shortly after his arrival at Our Saviour, Father Clark wrote:

"A good spirit is shown by all connected with or interested in the Mission, and the members hope by means of regular Services to be able to build up a substantial work. [Moreover, all that lies in our power ought to be done to accomplish this much desired result, as the little church building is only some five blocks from the 'Campus' of Reed Institute, and we owe it to the Church to be firmly entrenched at so important a point."

The number of people who supported the mission grew slowly, though attendance at church services and at Sunday School remained small and variable. Fr. Clark would record attendance by name in his journal each week, and the record shows that there were normally only one or two men in the congregation.

In June 1914 the vicar moved his residence to Woodstock and occupied the house next to the church on the north, thus allowing for more frequent services. However, that October the Bishop placed Fr. Clark in charge of work at McMinnville. The mission reverted to the care of the Archdeacon, with Dr. Henry Cline Fixott as lay reader. This remained the situation until the Bishop returned Fr. Clark to Our Saviour in May 1918, and also made him priest in charge at St. John's Memorial, Sellwood. He was assisted by lay readers, Mr. Paul Henderson at Our Saviour and Mr. Clarence Porter at St. John's Memorial.

In the fall of 1918, just as World War I was winding down, the epidemic known as Spanish Influenza struck, forcing the temporary suspension of public gatherings, which included, of course, church services. The vicar used the time to make improvements to the inside of the church. His work provided two vesting rooms, recessing of the chancel, and erecting a rood-beam and placing the rood thereon. A note added later in red ink in the original register stated, "The first Rood in the city in our churches." The rood was long a feature at All Saints’ and is today placed high above the altar, mounted on a large wooden cross. The record does not indicate whether the vicar accomplished all these improvements by himself, or if he had the help of brave members of the congregation who were willing to risk going out.

Father Clark ended his association with Our Saviour in November 1920, when he became Chaplain at St. Helen's Hall, the diocesan girls' school. In the following month the Rev. John Bryan McCormick was given charge of the mission and of the mission in Sellwood as well, where he remained nearly two years. He had served with the American Expeditionary Force in France during the First World War, and had only recently returned to the United States. Eventually, however, he was forced to resign on account of ill-health, occasioned by “shell shock” while on duty at the front. During his tenure, in 1921, a choir was organized.

Archdeacon Black assumed oversight of the mission in September 1922, and with the help of lay readers and other occasional priestly ministrations, continued the work of leadership until the Rev. Reginald A'Court Simmons, from Edmonton, Alberta, became vicar in July 1923. He left after just one year to become rector at St. Mark's. In September 1925 the Rev. Charles Herbert Leedale Chandler came to the mission, and also to St. John's Memorial in Sellwood, as vicar. He was from Pocatello, Idaho, and had previously been at Oregon City.

An understanding seems to have existed that nothing would be done to promote or encourage the mission in Sellwood, which closed soon afterward, following which services for both missions were held at Our Saviour.

By 1925 the building originally purchased in 1903 was proving no longer adequate for the needs of a growing mission, and negotiations began to purchase the building formerly used by All Saints’ Mission, which had been established by St. Mark's Church in northwest Portland. The building was completed in 1898 at Northwest 22nd and Reed, and after the Lewis and Clark Exposition was moved in 1905 to Northwest 25th and Savier Streets, where for a time it became a self-supporting parish. However, the neighborhood became increasingly industrialized, which forced the closure of All Saints’, and its congregation rejoined the Parish of St. Mark.

In 1926 the building housing the Mission of Our Saviour was valued at between $10,000 and $12,000, and it was estimated that $3,000 would be required to bring it up to optimum condition; hence the negotiations to buy the building that had housed All Saints’. While negotiations were ultimately successful, the purchase agreement required that Our Saviour change its name to All Saints’. Also, the memorial windows at All Saints’ were removed at the direction of their donors and taken to Grace Memorial Church.

Following the purchase, the building that had been All Saints’ was dismantled into easily handled wall and floor sections and taken by dray to the Willamette River, then moved by barge to Sellwood, where it was re-loaded onto a dray and hauled to the location of Our Saviour, a total distance of eight miles. The original building, the one bought in 1903, was moved to the back of the lots turned 90' to face 41st, and reconditioned with a basement and a floor furnace to be used as a parish hall and community center. As a parish hall the building had its idiosyncrasies. As Edith Johnson, a long time member of All Saints’, would write in 1965, “The parish hall was drafty in winter, hot in summer, most inadequate as to heating or for preparing church suppers since the kitchen was in a partial basement and always either flooded or damp.”

The building that now housed All Saints’ Mission was in its new location, but its south end was covered in canvas where the memorial windows had formerly been. Grace Memorial Church was petitioned for replacement windows, but it replied with a plea of congregational poverty. Here the Bishop stepped in with an offer to match contributions, and sufficient donors were eventually found to assure a satisfactory outcome. The missing windows were replaced with memorial panels dedicated to the Glory of God, and in memory of Cadet Charles Chandler, Captain John and Annie Griffith, George and Nancy Small, and Thomas,James, and Howard Dawson.

At the time of its demolition, in a page one article in the Sellwood-Moreland Bee 14 October 1965, Edith Johnson paid tribute to the building that had served the All Saints’ congregation for forty years:

"To those of us who recall services held in the All Saints’ Episcopal mission during winter, there was always somewhat of an element of suspense and excitement. The heating system, which was an antiquated furnace in a dirt enclosure, below the church, and which was approached only from the outside of the church, was apt to blow up on windy days with a great puff of smoke, and even flame, through the one large grating which heated the church. It was a common sight to see the congregation huddled over the grating before the start of the church service, to lap up the warmth from the glowing monster in the dirt enclosed cell. One could look down and see the large logs of wood used to heat the church. The minister did not have to beg his congregation to sit in the front pews. Since the grating was in the front of the church, those pews closest to the heat were at a premium on a cold winter morning."

Furnace work in the parish hall was completed by the Woodstock Community Club in exchange for use of the hall for meetings. A member of the Community Club obtained the old Woodstock School bell for the mission. It is the bell you hear today calling parishioners to worship, now housed in the copper-clad tower of the present All Saints’ building.

The Young Peoples Fellowship (Y. P. P.) was organized in 1929, with twenty-six members and guests. The program flourished with corporate communions, dances, city-wide group meetings, day hikes, skating parties and outreach activities. Another interest of Father Chandler was the music program, which became an essential element in worship. Another program, that became part of the mission's fall events, was the annual Harvest Home festival, to help reconnect the congregation to the country's rural roots, as well as to those of some of the members. The church would be decorated and filled with harvest bounty, and after the service the produce would be donated to Good Samaritan Hospital.

The early 1930s saw the worst years of the Depression, but there seems little mention of it in this church's records. There is a note that in 1934 the local branch of the Unemployed Citizens League exchanged interior decorating for use of the parish hall for its meetings. Also noted was Fr. Chandler's sincere spirit and helpful tasks that kept up the morale of the members under tragic circumstances.

A chapter of the Brotherhood of St. Andrew operated under the leadership of Mr. W. R. (Bill) Jones. One man, his name unfortunately not remembered, is reported to have walked five miles to attend the men's and boys' corporate communion and prepare the group's breakfast.

In his last report to the mission before his retirement in 1937, Father Chandler listed 170 communicants, and 62 enrolled in the church school. Fr. Chandler died in Portland that year on 6 October and is buried at Riverview Cemetery.

Upon Fr. Chandler's retirement the Bishop of the Diocese of Oregon, the Rt. Rev. Benjamin D. Dagwell, assigned the mission to the care of the Rev. Louis Bowes Keiter. Father Keiter received his B. A. degree in 1933 from Carleton College in Northfield, Minnesota (scene of the disastrous bank robbery attempt of September 1876 by the Jesse James gang), and graduated in 1936 from Seabury Western Theological Seminary, Evanston, Illinois, with a degree of doctor of Systematic Theology. He served as a deacon in Evanston before coming to Oregon, where he taught for a time at St. Helen's Hall. He was ordained to the priesthood in 1936 by Bishop Dagwell, and his first assignment was as vicar of St. John’s, Milwaukie. He would become well known as a biblical scholar, theologian and liturgist, and from 1961 he would serve on the Standing Liturgical Commission of the National Church.

By the late 1930s the country was slowly recovering from the Depression and the Woodstock area was experiencing rapid residential growth. The mission, which in 1903 had been in a distant suburb, was now in the midst of an area bounded in the south by St. John's, Milwaukie; St. Paul’s to the east on Southeast 76th Avenue and Woodstock Boulevard, and to the northwest by St. David’s at Southeast 12th and Belmont. Many new subdivisions had by this time been created, which led to an infusion of new families into All Saints’, and with Fr, Keiter's leadership would provide the energy and resources for expansion.

In 1938 and 1939, a basement was dug under the church and a gas furnace was installed, which ended the annoyance of wood smoke in the nave. Outside, the stucco was replaced with shake siding, and in one budget year new lighting and a new roof were installed. In August 1939, a rectory at 3932 Southeast Woodstock Boulevard was donated by Grace Schwab Goldberg. The vicar and his family occupied the ground floor while Mrs. Goldberg resided on the upper floor until her death.

Among the interesting documents in the parish archive is a proposed budget for the year 1940. It counted on balancing receipts and expenditures at $2,500, of that, the vicar's salary and pension contribution amounted to $967.76; allowance for organist and janitor came to $144.00, diocesan assessment was $243.00, and the mortgage payment was $360.00. These were all annual figures, remember, not monthly. Income was derived almost entirely from pledges, loose offering, Easter and Christmas gifts, plus a sum of $270.00 under the heading of “Church Organizations.”

Pressures from a growing congregation and church school, and the deteriorating condition of the old parish hall (the building originally purchased in 1903) mandated the decision to build a new parish hall, designed to accommodate 350 children for church school, and provide a center for community groups to meet. Bishop Dagwell dedicated the new parish hall in May 1942. In 1943 the basement was finished, which provided recreation and study space for men attending Reed College under the Army Specialist Training Program (A. S. T. P.).

In January 1945 the last annual meeting of All Saints’ Mission was held.

All Saints’ was now self-supporting, and became a parish in union with the Diocese of Oregon, with communicants numbering 295. Father Keiter was immediately chosen to be the first rector of the Parish of All Saints’.

PART II: THE PARISH

Under the leadership of Father Keiter, All Saints’ became an early and enthusiastic participant in the study and training program that produced the first group of perpetual deacons in this Diocese. Those ordained in this way to the diaconate included the Revs. Clifford Goold, E. S. Clark, Stanley Ports, and Paul Anderson, each of whom served at one time at All Saints’.

All Saints’ was also the site for the Board of Examining Chaplains, who tested new seminary graduates. Some of these post-seminarians became assisting priests at All Saints’, including the Revs. John Cantelon, David Stone, and Frank Cross.

An early annual report of the parish, dated 27 January 1948, reported a growth of communicants in the preceding year from 349 to 380. The financial statement showed that receipts increased from $9,813.32 in 1946 to $12,839.29 in 1947. Disbursements grew from $8,569.85 in 1946 to $13,103,62 in 1947. The rector's salary increased from $3,075 to $3,325 and the diocesan assessment doubled, from $690.40 to $1,462.92. The proposed budget for 1948 anticipated an increase in the rector's salary to -$3,300, with the diocesan assessment growing to $1,718.

The report showed a church school enrollment of 217, with twenty-six officers and teachers, and a junior choir of twenty-three members. Forty-five women were members of St. Anne's Guild and the Altar Guild numbered ten members. The parish sponsored Cub Scout pack #137 with thirty-two boys, and Boy Scout troop #137, but its numbers were unfortunately unreported. There was also a men’s club with 200 members, of whom 75 attended regularly. In 1947 the parish recorded 57 baptisms, 25 confirmations, 17 marriages, and 25 burials.

As the fiftieth anniversary of the establishment of the Mission of Our Saviour approached, communicants numbered 539. A committee was appointed, under the leadership of Mr. Kelsey Slocum, to plan an appropriate celebration for the occasion. The committee's focus, however, quickly switched from considering a celebration to planning for a new church building. To prepare for this, vestry and congregational support, under the leadership of Mr. John Merrifield, made possible the acquisition of the three remaining lots, on which stood two houses, so that the parish now occupied the entire block between Southeast 40th and 41st Avenues, and Woodstock Boulevard and Knight Street. One of the lots, at the corner of 40th and Woodstock, had one of the largest and most beautiful dogwood trees in the City of Portland.

The cornerstone for the new edifice was laid on Whitsunday, 20 May 1956. Items deposited in the cornerstone receptacle included a cross by Mr. Charles Littlehales, president of the Acolytes' Guild; a Holy Bible from Mrs. Irving Wells, vice president of the Women's Council; a Book of Common Prayer by Gordon Morris, Senior Warden; a record of officers and donors from Mr. Slocum, Chairman of the Building Committee; and hand-wrought nails from the original church building by Dr. Henry Cline Fixott who had been lay reader in charge of the mission from 1915 to 1918. The completed structure, the one in which we now worship, was dedicated "to the glory of God and His service to the community", on 4 November 1956 by Bishops Dagwell and James W. F. Carman, Bishop Coadjutor.

As Edith Johnson wrote in her Bee article in 1965:

"All the precious parts of the small church [were] removed to a permanent place in the new All Saints’ Episcopal chapel, known as the Chapel of Our Saviour. The altar, the altar rail and two stained glass windows embellish the chapel and the large crucifix, which was taken into the large new church, hangs high above the main altar."

Two additional lancet windows were made to match to two windows from the old church. The chief symbols on 'the Gospel side are the two great sacraments, the dove for baptism and the chalice for Holy Communion. On the Epistle-side are the Star for the birth of Christ and the Easter Lily for the Resurrection. The symbols across the top are those of Christ: the Good Shepherd, the Lamb of God, the crown of thorns, and the "Nika" -- Christ Victorious.

Lenten potluck dinners and adult Christian education classes were established in the 1950s. In order to provide a broader base for Lenten class opportunities, other ministers participated. The program expanded to become an ecumenical event with participants and teachers from many denominations, including a rabbi. Parish activities in the 1950s and 1960s also included a Canterbury Club for college students, chiefly from Reed College, and a Sea Scout unit, which generally had between twenty and thirty young men and trained on the vessel "Tradewinds". The number of communicants in the parish continued to grow, and in 1961 reached 763.

A new rectory at 7136 Southeast 20th Avenue in Westmoreland was acquired in 1963. In 1964 the Rev. F. Orlo Hoye became Associate Rector and in the following year Fr. Keiter was granted a long-deserved sabbatical leave, and he accepted a teaching post at the Church Divinity School of the Pacific in Berkeley, California. In 1965 also the old church building, the one hauled in sections from northwest Portland in 1926 and used as a church school overflow since the dedication of the new building in 1956, was razed. A new and larger education wing, named Keiter Hall, was built and dedicated on 14 September 1967. The folder for the dedication service concluded with the words honoring Fr. Keiter: "Si monumentum requiris, circumspecie" (if you seek his monument, look about You).

Father Keiter returned from sabbatical in 1967, but continuing health problems necessitated his retirement from active parish ministry, and he returned to the Church Divinity of the Pacific. In the previous forty years just two priests had held the leadership of All Saints’: The Rev. Charles Chandler from 1925 to 1937, and the Rev. Louis Keiter from 1937 to 1967, an enviable record of leadership stability.

The Rev. Joseph S. Young became the second rector of the parish in November 1967. He received a B.A. degree in 1937 from the University of Kansas, and a bachelor of divinity degree from Seabury-Western Theological Seminary, Evanston, Illinois, in 1940. Following his ordination to the priesthood in 1942 Fr. Young served several missions in Kansas before taking up the rectorship of St. John's Church, Norman, Oklahoma, from 1950 to 1963. From then until his appointment to All Saints’ he was rector of St. James' Church, Wichita, Kansas.

Father Young had a sense of humor that would often conceal an important lesson. For example, when someone expressed objection to attending church because of all the hypocrites there, Fr. Young's reply was, "There's always room for one more!" He was also committed to addressing national and world needs as well as those of the parish, and contributions to those causes increased, despite increasing parish financial difficulties.

The first woman elected to the vestry at All Saints’ was Jean (Mrs. John) Jackson, who served in the 1968 - 1971 term. She was followed in 1972 by Inez Whitmore, and in 1973 by Diane Knapp and Alicia Swindell. Thereafter, women were elected to the vestry so frequently as to occasion no comment whatever, and by the end of the century, women were as likely as not to constitute a majority of the vestry at any given time.

During Father Young's tenure, beautification of the sanctuary received considerable attention. The altar was moved to a free-standing position, brass candles and a cross were mounted, and a rose window was dedicated 10 March 1973, to replace the aging dossal curtain. Memorials also provided additional beautification to the sanctuary.

The financial resources of the parish were never sufficient to allow for the hiring of a full-time curate, but several part-time curates assisted Fr. Young. They included the Rev. Herbert McMurtry, who held a full-time position at Portland Community College, the Rev. David Olson, the Rev. Herbert Parlour, and the Rev. David Ferry. Paul Anderson continued his service as perpetual deacon.

At some point in the late 1960s All Saints’ began to lose communicants, but the exact extent of the loss is hard to determine. In 1965 and 1966 the parish recorded a total of 930 communicants, the highest number ever. But in 1967, “communicants in good standing" totaled only 456, and 425 others were termed “Confirmed persons not otherwise included in total above.” Since the parish obviously did not lose nearly half its membership in the space of a year, it is clear that the method of calculating communicants changed. The trend, however, is unmistakable: communicants in 1953 numbered 539 and grew in every year until the early 1960s, when they ranged from 740 to 930, however they were determined. From the late 1960s into the early 1970s the numbers hovered between 571 and 452, and continued to decline thereafter. That this was a phenomenon occurring across Protestant churches generally did not make the problem any fewer communicants also meant growing financial difficulties for the parish, easier to cope with.

Father Young left All Saints’on 31 October 1974, and accepted a position as Episcopal Chaplain at the University of California, San Diego. The Rt. Rev, James W. F. Carman, retired Bishop of Oregon, occupied the position of interim rector until the Rev. Arlin Rothauge was called to become the third rector of All Saints’ in August 1975.

Father Rothauge began his ministry as a pastor in the Christian Church. He first became acquainted with the Church of England while doing postgraduate research in Britain, and he received a doctorate in Systematic Theology in 1968 from the University of Glasgow. He was ordained to the diaconate in the Episcopal Church at Advent 1973 by Bishop Carman, and to the priesthood by the Rt. Rev. Matthew Bigliardi, Bishop of Oregon, on the first Sunday of Advent, 1974. He then became Chairman of the Department of Religious Thought in the Upper and Middle Schools of Oregon Episcopal Schools. At the time of his appointment to All Saints’ he was also lecturing in Eastern Religions at Portland State University. One of Fr. Rothauge's concerns involved the introduction of a new prayer book, and he served for two years on the Diocesan Department of Christian Education in the area of liturgy, and he was also appointed by the Bishop to the Diocesan Liturgical Commission. When the new prayer book was introduced during his tenure at All Saints’, not all parishioners enthusiastic about the changes.

Under Fr. Rothauge the Sunday School was reorganized, and a program to train lay readers and chalice bearers was instituted, which led to the licensing of several lay readers. The original licensed lay readers included Gordon Janney, Kenneth Meeker, Lucille Pierce and Rod Williams, but only one, Chuck Bateman, continues his ministry to the parish in that capacity. A prayer group was also developed, which met in members' homes. In 1975 the church thrift shop, the Mustard Seed, opened its doors under the leadership of its first director, Grace Latham. In the years since its inception the Mustard Seed has been one of the parish's strongest community outreach programs. During these years the parish also sponsored an Ugandan student at Lewis and Clark College.

Two Priests joined All Saints’ as associates during Fr. Rothauge's tenure: the Rev. Asa Butterfield in September 1978, and the Rev. Arthur Latta in July 1979. Fr. Butterfield also did counseling and gave seminars in holistic religion. He left All Saints’ in October 1979 to assume the leadership of a parish in Panama. Fr. Latta augmented the adult education program with a Bible study group, and study groups that met on Thursday evenings and Sunday mornings. He would later depart for a parish in Dillon, Montana. He claimed to love the trout fishing in the Big Sky Country.

In The Episcopal Church, in order for a place of worship to be consecrated (as opposed to dedicated), it must be debt-free. Unfortunately, the decline in the number of parishioners and pledges made meeting the mortgage obligation increasingly difficult. That the parish might be relieved of the burden of making payments on the mortgage, a decision was made to pay it off by raising money, among other ways by selling the rectory in Westmoreland. That sale netted a total of $39,334.74 and accordingly, on 4 November 1979, the Sunday nearest to the parish's patronal festival, the church was consecrated by Bishop Bigliardi. Clergy in attendance included the Rt. Rev. James W. F. Carman, retired Bishop of Oregon and former interim rector at All Saints’; the Rev. Arthur Latta, associate rector of All Saints’; the Rev. Arthur Andrews, a former All Saints’ parishioner; the Rev. Clifford Goold; the Rev. Herbert McMurtry; the Rev. F. Orlo Hoye; and the Rev. Paul Anderson. A mortgage burning party followed the service of consecration.

In 1980, memorial stained glass windows were installed on the north side of the nave in the main church, to replace the old colored glass windows. Fourteen windows illustrated "the sweep and grandeur of the passage of Christianity to us here at All Saints’ in Portland, and were dedicated in November of that year. A pamphlet, designed by Joyce Grafe and compiled by her and Fr. Latta, described the windows, beginning with a memorial to Joseph of Aramathea at the west end, continuing through a memorial to Bishop Morris (window #12), who presided over the Diocese of Oregon when the Mission of Our Saviour was established in 1903, and concluding with window #13, the Shield of All Saints’, and window #14, the Shield of the Anglican Communion. The pamphlet described each window, explained the significance of the symbolism in each, and concluded with a list of the donors whose gifts made the windows possible, and in whose memory they were contributed.

Father Rothauge resigned in January 1981 to accept a position on the National Church Staff in New York having to do with church growth. The interim rector this time was the Rev. Eric Gration, a retired priest. The Rev. Joseph Tiernan became the parish's fourth rector in September 1981. Fr. Tiernan's ministerial career began in the Roman Catholic Church. He received his education for the priesthood at St. Mary's Seminary and University, Baltimore, Maryland, and the Catholic University of America, Washington, D. C. He was ordained to the diaconate in 1970, to the priesthood in 1971, and was received into the Episcopal Church in 1974. As Fr. Tiernan said of himself,

"I grew up a Roman Catholic, fed upon the rich liturgical educational and spiritual traditions offered me, loved my work as a priest, but soon realized I have a very Anglican soul and mind."

Before accepting the rectorship at All Saints’, Father Tiernan was associate rector of St. John's Area Parish, Olympia, Washington, in 1976 - 1977, and vicar of St. Hilda and St. Patrick, Edmonds, Washington, from 1977 to 1981. At All Saints’ he inherited a parish greatly reduced in membership; the number of communicants had fallen by more than two-thirds, to just 200 in 1981. The smaller number of communicants meant more limited resources, but Fr. Tiernan was a dynamic preacher and scholar who brought sensitivity and intuitive pastoral counseling to All Saints’.

In the 1980s a Hot Meals program was established, able to feed up to 80 people each Saturday. The Over the Hill Gang, consisting of gentleman parishioners of mature years, was organized. It met on Friday mornings for breakfast, and contributed to the maintenance needs of the parish's physical plant. During this time also the parish kitchen was remodeled and a gas range installed. Services to the community were enhanced with a contractual arrangement with the Morrison Center, which served handicapped pre-schoolers during the week in Keiter Hall. It was during Fr. Tiernan's time that a heightened emphasis on ministry by the laity was initiated, which has continued strongly ever since. Also, during his tenure a new organ was acquired.

The "nevi' organ was actually built in 1890 for the First Methodist Church in Tivoli, New York, in the Hudson Valley about ninety miles north of New York City. The purchase was coordinated by Kathy Dolp (now Kathy Martin) and Rosie Hostetter of the parish's sanctuary committee. Priscilla Williams, a former organist at All Saints’, located the organ through the Organ Clearing House in Harrisville, New Hampshire. After the purchase, the clearing house dismantled and packed the instrument, and some members from All Saints’ flew to New York, rented a truck and hauled the disassembled organ back to Portland where it was reassembled and restored. People knowledgeable about such things insist that organs of that vintage were much more musical than later instruments, with much greater clarity of tone. The Oregonian, 10 August 1985, ran a lengthy article describing the instrument's history. Formal dedication of the organ at All Saints’ took place on 3 November 1985, the Sunday closest to the parish's patronal festival.

Father Tiernan resigned in December 1988 to accept the leadership of a parish on Bainbridge Island, near Seattle in the Diocese of Olympia. The Rev. Robert Haggard became the next interim rector and during his service, in March 1989, Lucy Latham Houser, an All Saints’ communicant of many years, was ordained to the diaconate after seven years of preparation through study and training. In 1979, she had been the first woman at All Saints’ to be named senior warden. In February 1990, the Rev. Churchill Gambill Pinder became the parish’s fifth rector.

Father Pinder received a B. A. degree in 1976 from the University of Virginia, and graduated in May 1983 with a Master of Divinity degree from Virginia Theological Seminary. He was ordained to the diaconate in August 1983 and to the priesthood in February 1984. His first parish assignment was as rector of St. Stephen's in Baker City in the Diocese of Eastern Oregon, where he served until September 1986. From then until he was called to All Saints’ he was canon of St. Stephen's Cathedral in Harrisburg, in the Diocese of Central Pennsylvania, where his principal responsibilities were program development and pastoral care. In the archive here at All Saints’ is a letter from Fr. Pinder's Bishop, the Rt. Rev. Charlie F. McNutt Jr., who gave "one of my finest priests" a glowing recommendation, adding, "...he will make a splendid rector for the next church to which he is called."

Under Father Pinder's leadership a Lay Eucharistic Ministry was established to bring communion to the homebound each Sunday. The adult education program was expanded with the advent of the Disciples of Christ in Community (D. O. C. C.) program, which met weekly during the school year. Many parishioners became active participants in the Cursillo (which means “brief course” in Christianity) community, the purpose of which is to focus on the practical application of the Gospel to everyday life, and to encourage spiritual growth. The youth and music programs also saw continued development. Lenten classes and suppers were reinstituted, including a Seder dinner. The parish participated in retreats to Triangle Lake.

In 1991, Melinda Perkins LeRoy was ordained as a vocational deacon, and she remained at All Saints’ until 2001. In June 1995 Fr. Pinder departed, to become rector of a parish at Cold Springs Harbo, on Long Island in New York. Deacon Lucy Houser was reassigned to Grace Memorial Church. The Rev. Margo Maris was interim rector from August 1995 until Easter, 28 April 1996. Her previous ministry had been at the National Church level, where she was co-chair of the Sexual Exploitation Committee. She was also involved with parish work in Wyoming and Minnesota. She was followed by the Rev. Casey Longwood, who served as interim rector from 1 May until 25 August 1996.

The Rev. Stephen D. Whitney-Wise celebrated his first service as the sixth rector of All Saints’ on 1 September 1996. Like Joe Tiernan, Fr. Stephen came from a background in the Roman Catholic Church. He received a B. A. in philosophy and music from St. Joseph College, Remselear Indiana, and a Master of Divinity equivalent from Sacred Heart School of Theology, Hales Corners, Wisconsin. He was ordained to the priesthood 27 May 1976, was received into the Episcopal Church in 1982, and was ordained to the Episcopal priesthood in 1988.

Following ordination to the Roman Catholic priesthood he was associate pastor at St. Francis of Assisi, Newman Center Parish, Muncie, Indiana, and from 1979 until 1982 was assistant director of San Damiano Retreat Center, Danville, California. After being received into the Episcopal Church he was Program director of St. Anthony Foundation, San Francisco, California, which was active in addressing the needs of homeless people. He assisted the then Mayor of San Francisco, Diane Feinstein, in developing the Mayor's Homeless Task Force. From 1984 until 1990 he was program director of the Housing and Re-development Agency, Sacramento, California, where he worked with agencies for development of emergency shelters and transitional housing programs. He served as president of the Sacramento Habitat for Humanity in 1988 and 1989.

From January 1990 until coming to All Saints’, Father Stephen was rector of Trinity Episcopal Church, Folsom, California, a parish which had many problems similar to those here (e. g., budget shortfalls, declining membership). His work there greatly helped to turn a troubled parish into a thriving congregation, with numerous outreach programs to the community.

Under Father Stephen's guidance here, the program of lay ministries was greatly expanded, to the point that by All Saints’ centennial year there were no fewer than thirty-five active lay ministries, its largest number ever. This included such highly visible programs as the adult choir, under the direction of Ron Hylton, Director of Music Ministries, who returned to All Saints’ in November 1997 after an absence of several years. Other highly visible ministries include the lay readers and lectors, under the leadership of Darek Jenkins, and acolytes, led by David Champion.

Not all parish ministries are quite as conspicuous as the above, but are nevertheless fully as important, even as they operate behind the scenes. They include landscaping, building maintenance and work parties that assemble twice each year for building and grounds upkeep projects under the direction of the junior warden. Beautification of the Sanctuary is greatly enhanced by the work of the Banner Group, which has created the hangings there that vary with the liturgical year. And the Altar Guild, one of the very earliest lay ministries, sees to it that the altar is always ready for services.

As Father Stephen explains in the ministries catalogue, copies of which may be found in the pew racks,

"Remember when the word 'minister meant that one or two men ... attempted to serve the needs of the entire congregation? ... Ministry is a result of the Holy Spirit working through our Baptismal Covenant .... We are moving beyond the concept of the 'program church' to being a full-ministry congregation."

One need only consult the service bulletin on any Sunday to appreciate the high level of involvement in the work of the parish.

Fully as important are the outreach and service ministries. The Hot Meals program continues to prepare lunches every Saturday. The Mustard Seed, now under the leadership of Dorothy Pierce, continues its operation every Friday and Saturday. All Saints’ continues its association with Northwest Medical Teams, which brings its mobile dental clinic to the church bimonthly to provide free services to low income individuals. And St. Elizabeth's Guild has long been involved in the making of layettes.

The history of All Saints’ Episcopal Church is a collaborative effort by Herman Grafe, Chuck Kraft, and David Champion.

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