The Morning Star Baptist Church in Northeast Portland burned to the ground early yesterday morning. There are a lot of unsubstantiated rumors circulating around this part of town, but the general consensus of the immediate neighbors is arson.

http://www.kgw.com/neighborhood/east-northeast/stories/kgw_020507_news_church_fi re.57f8e753.html

Without further speculation, here is the latest news about the most popular civic group of the late 19th century.

http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/02/06/klan.report.ap/index.html?eref=yahoo

This story was one of the radio headlines yesterday.

No church should ever burn. That's gonna impact a community in a serious way. Hope they can find a gym, or some other building for a while.

I happened to take some pictures of this church in November while shooting some neighborhood pics:

http://www.portlandbridges.com/00,5D0IMG12619,232,1,0,0-portland-oregon.html

Damned shame.

Andrew

Andrew, thanks. Fantastic pictures. In fact, fantastic website!

As everyone knows, several witnesses claim someone threw something through a window. If it was a neighborhood kid, we will know within a week, perhaps a month. If it was a wingnut, it might take years. If it was a developer, we may never know.

I feel for the congregation. I hope it is rebuilt even better than before. Hey, PDC, how about bending the rules for a noble reason once in a while? It might balance things out a little, not much, but a little. I am sure they would be glad to keep serving the community for years to come. Whaddya say?