Portland's Church of Scientology Moves to Temporary Quarters

2008-11-07 06:50:41 - Renovations for Stevens Building Still in Planning Stages

The Church of Scientology of Portland has moved to temporary office space at 1208 SW 13th Ave. The Church leased a total of 16,000 square feet in the Century Building and Century Tower while waiting for renovations to begin on the Stevens Building.

Since 1974, the Church of Scientology has occupied the Western Building located at 709 SW Salmon, which also

houses the well known John Helmer men's clothing store at the corner of SW Broadway and Salmon Street.

'We had to find an interim space from which we could serve our congregation while we continued to plan out the restorations for the Stevens Building, 'stated Gwen Barnard, spokesperson for the church. 'We knew about six months ago that we needed to move so we started looking to find something suitable and still be in the downtown area.'

The Western Building was put up for sale after the Church purchased the Stevens building in January of this year. The new owner, Doug Goodman, is now doing extensive renovations to the entire building.

'This temporary space is in a wonderful part of downtown,' said Executive Director, Rev. Steven Crandell. 'There are many great restaurants close by like West Café and the Brazil Grill as well as other churches. Plus there is more parking available for our staff and parishioners.'

The growth of the Scientology religion has been accelerating in recent years. There are now more than 7,810 churches, missions and groups across 163 nations with 1,500 opening in the last year alone. The church has expanded more in the last five years than in the previous five decades combined. As an indication of the tremendous world-wide interest in the Scientology religion, Beliefnet, the premier organization monitoring religions on the Internet, established that Scientology was the number one searched-for religion on the Internet in 2006.

'We are here to serve our parishioners and our community at large. We look forward to continuing to work side by side with like-minded individuals and organizations to improve life in a troubled world,' said Rev. Crandell.

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