08/04/2020
August 1, 2020
Hi Doug:
I’m so glad I came across your N.E. Assembly page. I am probably one of few people left who were there at the very beginnings of Northeast Assembly Of God .
For me, it all started on or under the front bench of the old Central Assembly Of God located on N.W. Couch Street in downtown Portland. Pastor William F. Hageman was our pastor and at approximately eight years old, I regularly fell asleep during the long services. My mom, my two sisters, Dolores and Diana and I, often took the bus from our home in southeast Portland to attend church, usually for morning and evening services. As I grew to pre-teen, I began singing in choir, and have been singing ever since. When I reached my teens, a decision was made to sell the very old building which was in much need of repair and look for a new location to build a new building. I can recall a couple of the original members of the Central Assembly Church, which were there when we made the transition. The Marcus Ruth family and the George Pew family, and Bill and Anna Post were among those who were faithful members for many years during the transition. There were many more faithful individuals, but my memory fails me after over sixty years.
Just as we were making the transition, our pastor, Bill Hageman was called to a pastorate in Coquille, Oregon and an Evangelist, Ted Silva, who’s very musically talented family, had ministered at our church several times, was asked to take the pastorate. He accepted, and began the search for a building location. In the meantime we met at an I.O.O.F. lodge in northeast Portland. Be patient, I’m getting there!!!
Then our pastor Silva felt the need to move on and a church in the Kenton District of north Portland, where Roy Blakeley and his brother, Jim, were pastors of Kenton Assembly Of God. The church was a small building, so was packed all the time. We had located a building site on Sumner Street and the building was started fairly soon after that. I was 14 or 15 at that time and spent many hours helping in the various projects where I was able to contribute. I remember sealing the huge laminated beams that supported the roof, and buffing the colored stain on the basement floors. It was all great fun for a teenager. My Dad worked on the railroad, and was able to secure an old locomotive engine bell for the church. In my remaining years at the church I don’t think the bell was ever put in service.
Well, we were finally Portland’s Northeast Assembly Of God Church. Whew!!!! But that’s not all!!!
When I was 15, Roy Blakeley was called to pastor in Modesto, California. We were now without a pastor and some of our members were friends with members of Bethel Temple Assembly and they had just installed Vernon Clemens and his wife Anita as pastors when their pastors, the Ahalts took the pastorate in Gold Beach, Oregon. The suggestion was made to combine Bethel Temple with Northeast Assembly, since we had a nice new, large building. The decision between the two church boards was overwhelming in support. Thus, the Clemens became our new pastors. Then came another call!!!
After a couple of years, Anita Clemens was asked to serve as the Assembly Of God Women’s Missionary Administrator, so again we were without a Pastor.
That’s when Pastor L.A. Steller was making a transition from Pocatello, Idaho, and was asked to serve as our pastor. Pastor Steller was my pastor through my High School years and into our marriage, as he performed our wedding. We left Portland in 1962 and attended Bethany Bible College for a year. When we returned, I was part of the church choir and we were very active in the young married Sunday school class. Many happy memories were made in that group, with Carl and Doris Allison as our leaders.
We moved from Portland to Springfield Oregon in 1970, and through the years have kept in touch with several of our old friends from Northeast Assembly. We recently had a nice visit with Larry and Dee Steller in Wilsonville, where they are living.
I will always remember, with fond memories, my life under the ministry of Pastor Steller as I navigated the teenage years without the guidance of my own father, who was absentee most of my growing up years, and died when I was19.
So that’s my story of Portland’s Northeast Assembly. But there’s more to my personal story that is more than coincidence. With all of the twists and turns of the formation of Northeast Assembly, what are the chances that I would meet the Love of my Life, Marilyn Joanne Rodli, in the midst of one of those twists and turns. We will soon celebrate 58 years of marriage.
God Bless you Doug and all of you who have shared your memories.
Love, Ollie Dare
A little correction for the above.
Clemens followed Blakely at NE and dad of course followed Ahalt at Bethel. So Ollie’s memories that Clemens pastored Bethel, that the churches were combined under Clemen’s ministry, and that dad was called to NE instead of Bethel are not quite correct. We came to Portland in 1960, in Feb. as I remember, and of course were there for only a couple of months before the merger. I remember that the congregation met one last Sunday morning at Bethel for brief prayers, locked the doors then made a procession over to NE for the Easter Sunday morning service.
