The Tour

Well my friends, if you read my last blog post you would have learned that I have moved to SE Portland to be part of Portland Fellowship's internship called the Upper Room Program.  Some of you have even asked where exactly I live in SE Portland.  So for this blog post I would like to take you on a tour of the Portland Fellowship House and see where I will be living for the coming year.  Enjoy the tour!

Welcome to the Portland Fellowship House

1831 SE Madison St, Portland, OR 97214

Front of House & Main Entrance -- Widows on 3rd floor is my room!

Side of House & Side Entrance

This very nice house was built in 1906 with about 5,728 square feet and is used for many purposes throughout the week for Portland Fellowship and a few other ministries that use the space as well.  There are three floors plus a basement.  So, lets move on in the tour and start with the first floor of the house, which houses the main meeting area and the kitchen.

Front Foyer & Stairs leading to the Portland Fellowship offices on the 2nd Floor

This open room is where people mingle & have snacks before Taking Back Ground

Main Meeting Area for Taking Back Ground -- Doors to the left & right of fireplace lead to the kitchen

One Angle of Kitchen -- Nook in the back of this picture

Second Angle of Kitchen from the Nook

The main meeting area gets used a lot during year by Portland Fellowship and other ministries that use the space.  For the Taking Back Ground program through Portland Fellowship, the main area is used for group worship and then for the teaching time for the Year 1 Participants.

Between the meeting area and kitchen is the side entrance of the house.  As you enter the side entrance, you see following...

Standing in the Side Entrance, looking up the side stairs.

...and if you follow the hallway and through a door under the stairs, you will head down to the basement of the house.

The Basement

The basement is currently set up for the Summer Series that Portland Fellowship is offering.  During the year, this area is pretty open and is use during Taking Back Ground for the teaching time for the Year 2 Participants.

Now, if you went up either stair case (at the main entrance or side entrance), it would take you up to the second floor...

2nd Floor Offices for Drew (1st left door), Jason (2nd left door), Reception (center door), and Cynthia (right door)

...for the offices of Portland Fellowship.  Drew is the Program Manager and leads the Upper Room Program, Jason is the Executive Director, and Cynthia is the Ministry Assistant.  Now if you turn to your left from the above picture, you would see...

2nd Floor Hallway & Stairs to the Upper Room

...the hallway that leads to the stairs for the 3rd floor, which is called The Upper Room.  The two doors on the left side of the hallway (one is just to the left of the window at the end of the hallway) are used as rooms for the interns that are doing the Upper Room Program.  And now, I give you...

Doorway into the common room of the Upper Room -- My room is straight ahead

One view of the common area of the Upper Room -- Again the above door goes to my room

Other view of the common room of the Upper Room -- Open door in the center leads to the stairs, the open door to the left is the full bathroom, and there are 3 other bedrooms (besides mine--for a total of 4 rooms) off of the common room

The common room has a living room feel with couches, community desk area with internet access, microwave and sink area next to the bathroom, and a storage closet where some board games are kept.  Another plus of the Upper Room area is that it is the only place in the house that has AC.


Now that I have shown you the whole house, there is still one more place to see....my room!  After two weeks of moving furniture around, hanging pictures, unpacking, and a trip to IKEA; I am now ready to show off the work I put into making this room my own personal space to live for the next year.

Doorway from the common room to my room

Standing in the doorway looking to the left side of my room

The right side of my room

Standing by my bed looking toward the room door on the left and closet to the right

The center area of my room

Sitting at my desk and the view looking out my windows to the southwest

So there you have it...the Portland Fellowship House.  The place I will be spending the next year going through the Upper Room Program.  Along with doing the program, I plan to continue to do my training with my trainer at Excell Fitness, helping at Dundee Covenant Church, working, participating in my Wednesday night small group, and finding time to do things with friends.  My life is going to get really busy here in just a few short weeks.

In about one more week, the rest of the interns start to arrive here at the house.  I am looking forward to getting to know the 4 other guys who will be doing this program with me.  I am also excited for what God has planned for me in the coming year.  Please be praying for me and the other interns in the coming months as we go through the Upper Room Program.  Thank you and God bless.

~Brandon / Watchful