"Entrepreneurial" Church Runs A Portland Hotel

Carolyn Provenzola/Teresa Neumann Reporting : Jul 29, 2005
Christian News Northwest

Three years ago, Pastor Eric Bahme and his wife left New Life Church in Seattle, Washington, where he was a pastor for 14 years, and settled in the Portland, Oregon area with a vision for church planting. By January 2003, they had established a congregation of 60 people that met in a rented space on Glisan Street in Portland.

Then in June 2004, according to a Christian News Northwest report, the Portland Eastside Foursquare Church congregation -- with great faith in their hearts and no money in the bank -- purchased an old 167-room motor inn and adjoining facilities at 9727 N.E. Sandy Blvd, an area known for drug dealing and "spiritual darkness."

Today, it is the Mission Hotel, part of the Rodeway Inn chain. Staffed primarily by church members, this Rodeway Inn is reportedly "a place of peace, rest and total commitment to customer service that will exceed what is commonly found in the world today." Not only that, but the congregation members who clean the rooms pray over the rooms and the guests. It is estimated that 80 to 100 new people come through the hotel every day.

Bahme views the church's self-funding ministry as "mission-based entrepreneurialism." "The Church today needs to be in marketplace transformation," he said, adding that the effects of the new ministry have already had a huge impact on the surrounding neighborhood.

For example, says reporter Carolyn Provenzola, rather than using the hotel revenue as an income for the church, the congregation is able to support social programs such as City Help in Portland, which feeds more than 200 families weekly, and My Father's House in Gresham, which provides housing for low-income families and individuals.

One of the effects of this new ministry that has already had a huge impact on the surrounding neighborhood, Bahme noted, is that since the church moved into the neighborhood, Portland police have noted a dramatic drop in the rate of violent crimes and prostitution in the area.

He said the church is not simply composed of Sunday worship services, but is a community that operates all hours of the day and all days of the year. For this congregation, their Rodeway Inn represents their commitment to fulfilling the mission of the church in an area of Portland with great need.