11/05/2021
THE SALE OF THE CENTRAL BIBLE CHURCH PROPERTY IS COMPLETED (posted originally July 8, 2021 on CBC website)
After over a year of working with potential buyers we are pleased to announce that the Central Bible Church property at 8815 NE Glisan Street has been purchased by the Oregon Chapter of Volunteers of America. Volunteers of America is a Christian ministry celebrating 125 years of service. Known as “the church without walls,” VOA seeks to reflect Jesus’ love for all people, especially the most vulnerable and marginalized. VOA of Oregon runs programs throughout the State that focus on serving the aging population, youth, those being released from incarceration, those with disabilities, and people struggling with addictions.
According to a spokesperson from VOA, they are still in the early stages of planning but they hope to use the former Central Bible Church building and campus to co-locate a number of the existing programs that they are running in the city of Portland. Some of these may include:
A family relief nursery drop-in
Treatment and recovery services
Out-patient services
Counseling services
According to their spokesperson, VOA will seek to use the existing CBC building rather than replacing it with a new facility.
THE AFFAIRS OF CENTRAL BIBLE CHURCH ARE BEING WRAPPED UP
Finalizing the affairs of an 89-year-old organization is no small task. Before the sale of the building closed, church volunteers went through the entire building to find all documents that were of a sensitive nature or of historical significance. All outdated employment or tax documents have been destroyed by a professional shredding service. All recent documents are being retained in secure storage as required by law. Historically significant documents and pictures have been gifted to the Multnomah University library for their archive.
In order to pursue financial transparency, the Central Bible Church leadership team paid to have a full compilation of the church financial books performed by a registered CPA firm (Finch Accounting). The CPA firm concluded that all expenditures were in line with other church closures that they have reviewed. Additionally, this full compilation has been reviewed by the 10 independent members of the Brilliance Labs Board of Directors.
FORMER CENTRAL BIBLE CHURCH MEMBERS AND LEADERS ARE LAUNCHING A NEW CHURCH IN NE PORTLAND CALLED STONE TABLE CHURCH
Stone Table Church has been slowly growing and prayerfully developing their vision for ministry. The Lord has blessed them by opening a door to a meeting space and in the Fall they will be moving to Woodland Park Chapel in NE Portland for their Sunday worship time. Stone Table Church is still in a pre-launch phase, focusing on prayer, deepening relationships, and meeting around a meal to seek God together and study his Word. If you are interested in more information please reach out to Russell at [email protected]
BRILLIANCE LABS HAS BEEN ESTABLISHED TO CARRY ON THE CENTRAL BIBLE CHURCH LEGACY OF GLOBAL MISSIONS AND LOCAL NEIGHBORHOOD IMPACT
The desire of both the leaders and members of Central Bible Church was for the funds from the sale of the Central Bible Church property to be invested back into the body of Christ in Portland. We believe that the best way to do this is to establish a funding platform that can provide ongoing grants for new churches and mission efforts for many years to come. By bringing together respected and diverse Christian entrepreneurs with experience in church planting, missions, and business, Brilliance Labs will seek to wisely invest the CBC funds with the goal of funding dozens of new churches and kingdom-oriented social enterprises in the city of Portland. Brilliance Labs will especially focus on funding diverse teams of leaders who are launching new works among under-resourced and multi-ethnic communities. If you are interested in more information please reach out to [email protected]
Brilliance Labs Board Members
Vergil Brown, Former founding pastor of Gresham Bible Church, founding pastor of Redemption Church in NE Portland.
Khupsamlian “Sam” Khaute, Founder of Jubilee Hall and Diaspora Coffee
Dr. Sean Benesh, author, adjunct faculty at Multnomah Biblical Seminary professor, and founder of Intrepid Missions.
Dr. Karen Fancher, professor of Global Studies/Global Development and Justice Studies and Academic Dean at Multnomah Biblical Seminary.
Ahshuwah Hawthorne, church planter, Diaspora Missions Strategist for Frontier Ventures
Dr. Avery Stafford, lead pastor of Common Ground Church in Beaverton, adjunct faculty at Multnomah Biblical Seminary
CJ Coffee, teaching pastor, The Well Community Church
Jelani Memory, entrepreneur, founder of Circle Media Labs and A Kids Book About
Dan Anderson, realtor
Joy Roberts, entrepreneur, founder of Joy of It and Friendzy
Gabe Winslow, entrepreneur, founder of Square1 and Theorem
