OUR HISTORY
In 1870, a few families gathered in the Gresham and Damascus areas to formed Gresham Free Methodist Church, the first Free Methodist fellowship in the state. The Oregon Conference of the Free Methodist Church was organized in Gresham in 1896. Fellowships met regularly in Gresham, Pleasant Valley, Sunnyside, Rock Creek, Central Church, and Estacada until 1915 when the ministry focused on Gresham.
In 1905, the first church was erected at the corner of 4th and Roberts in downtown Gresham. The church grew steadily over the next 70 years and broke ground May 9, 1976 on its second building located on 4.5 acres off Palmblad Road. The original church building was sold to the Salvation Army in 1975 and until recently ran a successful outreach ministry before outgrowing the facility and moving to a new facility in North Gresham.
While the Palmblad campus was being completed the church met in the Seventh-Day Adventist church and through a series of unforeseen events, the leadership sold the Palmblad campus to its current occupant, Mt. Hood Christian Center. The church then purchased 7.5 acres of land on Orient Drive, just south of Welch Road, where its current 15,000 square foot facility was completed and dedicated on June 3, 1990. Today, Sanctuary Church is a thriving community of Jesus followers committed to reaching people in the Greater Gresham area and beyond.
