It's interesting that the trigger for my interest digging into this particular area of Portland, Oregon was the All Saints Church. Portland is known for being plenty weird, but the history of the Laurelhurst Neighborhood where the Church is located seems to be particularly odd.
The 462-acres of land that the Laurelhurst neighborhood resides on was originally purchased from the Ladd Estate Company in 1909 by the Laurelhurst Company for $2 million. The name referenced a residential development in Seattle that the Laurelhurst Company recently completed. "Laurelhurst" references laurel shrubbery found in Seattle and "hurst", old English denoting a wooded hill. The homes are huge, gorgeous, and historic.
Laurelhurst's neighborhood was designed with a residential development of 144 acres. The City of Portland then purchased 31 acres for $92,000 to construct Laurelhurst Park. We'll get back to the park later. Additionally, Laurelhurst featured prominently in Portland's racist history. Yeah, I said it. Liberal Mecca Portland was racist as hell - still is, depending on who you ask.
Here's some of the rules that Laurelhurst implemented:
- No sales of alcohol
- No hotels, motels, flats, apartments, stables, or commercial buildings
- No homes to be sold to Chinese, Japanese, or African Americans.
The Offices of the Laurelhurst Company is where the first service of the All Saints Church was held in 1917. The exact location of this first ritual is precisely where the Joan of Arc Statue is in Coe Circle. The statue has not been moved since its installation in 1925. The Men's Club from the Church actually helped establish Traffic Control on 39th and Glisan. The streetcar used to pass right next to where the statue is currently before Coe Circle was installed.
The first Pastor whom founded the church was Rev. William B. Cronin. The first church (a small Tudor gothic Chapel) was dedicated on January 20, 1918. In 1924 an addition was built, doubling its capacity. In 1928 second pastor Mon. Arthur Lane, the first native Oregonian to be ordained Catholic, fought all the way to the Oregon Supreme Court to establish a school on site.
The City Council ordinance limited buildings in the area (see above rules) and stated only educational buildings that were "not detrimental or injurous to the character of the district or the public, health, peace or safety thereof." After the court ruled in the Church's favor in 1932, the school was built in 1936.
Mon. Lane was succeeded by third Pastor Rev. Thomas J. Tobin. The church's history with Rev. Tobin is where the church really starts to get interesting. Fr. Tobin created a Parish Bulletin, with an anonymous editor (often thought to be the Pastor himself) whom took the time to comment on Soviet Space Technology in a 1957 Essay:
"Note on Sputnik: The new Russian wonder is the talk of the nations. And the talk ranges from sheer panic to foolish optimism. Somewhere in between lies the Christian response: Man-made satellites, though altogether frightful are not final. There is a plan in the heavens far more vast than any data-gathering the moon can pick up."
Pretty interesting for a Church that picks up mysterious signals from SOMETHING a decade or so in the future.
Additionally, Rev. Tobin also began the use of "dipytchs," written instructions brought to the altar during the mass. This was a lost tradition of the early church where worshippers would inscribe a tablet with names of those for whom prayers were requested. Interesting ritual.
Here's a photo of Tobin I found online with another brief biography: (https://catholicsentinel.org/MobileContent/News/Local/Article/Labor-Day/2/35/26345)
The most "striking and radical for the times" work that Tobin did according to the History of the church was how Fr. Tobin actually conducted mass itself, anticipating Vatican reforms two decades away - he faced the congregation in something known as The Old Benedictine Arrangement. He also encouraged vocal involvement of parishoners during mass, very liberal for the times where everything was still conducted in Latin and highly secretive to outsiders.
This was so radical they actually took photos of the arrangement during National Liturgical Week, that was held in... yep, Portland Oregon. The use of six candlesticks and cross upon an otherwise "Versus Populum" altar was thought to be a way that the Priest could connect with parishoners better, with the altar still raised to be dominant.
Old Benedictine Arrangement - Portland, Oregon August 18-21 1947, National Liturgical Week
But... 1947 was a very famous year for UFO activity.
July 24, 1947 - Kenneth Arnold UFO sighting, Mount Rainier, WA
July 4, 1947 - Massive UFO sighting, including ... PORTLAND (three miles away from the Church - stay tuned for that info)
May 1950 - McMinnville, OR UFO sighting
The current church (built in 1966) itself still houses relics from the first buildings, including the present altar that houses the "Greek Crossword Puzzle" showing the words "light" and "Life", the walnut and oak altar table, and the old baldachino hanging over it. The aisle walls of the church are adorned with the shrines from the old Church - Our Lady of Perpetual Help on the left and the Holy Family on the right. The current church is 14,300 square feet and can seat 955 people.
The church on the outside looks plain and box-like, with its beauty a "secret and a surprise" within. The church has 21 stained glass windows that they consider their "greatest treasure," six inch thick pieces of glass set in concrete instead of lead. ("A Community of Saints" - found here: https://allsaintsportland.org/100th-anniversary)
When the new church was built, the old altar rail was taken down, sawed into sections, and sold - where did wood this end up? Is there any activity related to the wood? (Reminded of Tenney's Realm of the Weird - http://realmoftheweird.com/what-life-would-be-season-3-episode-2/)
The new PA system that received the mysterious messages was installed in the new church. Keel's book came out in 1971, so these transmissions started between 1966 and 1971.
Fr. Tobin continued to push liberal reforms in his church, but one thing he didn't adapt after the Vatican reforms was a reconciliation room for face-to-face confession. Something interesting mentioned was that he created an altar bread program in the 1960s (innovative at the time) and they reported that "many a fuse was blown and the bakers realized that there was a surge in electricity use in the late morning, when the sisters did their laundry and began cooking their noon meal."
So, were there always "technical problems" for lack of a better term on this land? EMF issues?
Other details too numerous for me to summarize, so I'll just post my research copies of two important pages from "A Community of Saints" (lol at my notes, whatever)
Riddles.
Tricks.
Heavenly Hosts.
And like they'd install a window that had a typo like that!!! Telling visitors they AREN'T welcome? What is going on in this church??
Fr. Tobin's successor was Father Willis Whalen, who served from 1970-1972. Then the progressive, beloved congregation took a dark turn, as many Catholic parishes unfortunately have. Fr. Thomas Laughlin helmed the church and was removed in 1983 after revelations of years of sexual abuse of parishoners. He escaped criminal charges. Dirtbag.
Here's info on the pedophile:
https://www.oregonlive.com/portland/2013/03/defrocked_pedophile_priest_tho.html
Unfortunately Father Tobin passed away in 1978 at the Maryville Nursing Home. Father Whalen was assisted by Fr. Gregory Gage, Fr. Anthony Juliano, Fr. William Karath, and Fr. Hodge Sinnot. Are any of these men still alive, and did they ever hear the strange signals from the PA?
*EDITED to add Research
TOBIN Death 11/10/78
WHALEN Death 6/17/92
Whalen assistants:
JULIANO Death 4/22/88
KARATH - another Pedophile! http://www.bishop-accountability.org/news2011/05_06/2011_05_26_Moss_ChurchSettles.htm
SINNOT - Death 11/5/15
GAGE - Death 11/2/07 - He TRIED to warn everyone about dirtbag Laughlin, who is also dead (and defrocked in 1988) http://www.snapnetwork.org/news/otherstates/or_priests_confession.htm
So much for that route.
One last thought about the church, taken again from "A Community of Saints":
"In the middle of our parking lot, to the surprise of some, we have a 2,000-foot-deep well. It was dug in 1884 in an unsuccessful search for an artesian well. The core from that digging is composed of layers of gravel, fossils, and rock, and it provides the curious observer with an excellent picture of the geological history of the Portland Basin."
Wait - they dug a well and LEFT IT since 1884? And built around it?? What the hell is going on there? Can I drop a coin in this well?
What I really have a suspicion about, and a curiosity about... what's the deal with the statue? What's in or under it? It hasn't been moved since 1925 when it was installed.
So other than the church... What else is in the neighborhood that we are going to check out? Why I'm so glad you asked. Laurelhurst Park.(Stay tuned)
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