Bethany Lutheran Church in Northeast Portland has all the familiar trappings of a Protestant church: wooden pews, stained glass, and a large piano. But its walls are imbued with a long history, dating back to its construction in the 1950s and to centuries before, when there was no building there at all.

The church, which closed in 2024, will soon be transferred to the Native American Youth and Family Center, or NAYA. But it isn’t just a simple land deal. In fact, church and NAYA officials are careful to call it “a return.”

The board of the Oregon Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America voted to return the land to Indigenous communities as part of the Land Back movement. It’s an Indigenous-led effort to reclaim land that once belonged to tribal communities.

“It felt like returning something stolen was the best thing we could possibly do,” said Bishop Laurie Larson Caesar of the Oregon Synod.

Founded by Danish immigrants, the congregation had existed for decades before the Bethany Lutheran building was built in the 1950s. Much of that history is evident throughout the building.

Each of the beautiful stained glass windows is dedicated to a member who died decades ago. There are many classrooms lining its hallways — at its peak, the church had more than 400 children attending Sunday School each week, Caesar said.

But its congregation had been dwindling for years, with fewer than 20 members attending before the church closed for good. It’s a phenomenon affecting religious communities across the country, with thousands of churches facing potential closure, according to Axios. Mainline Protestant denominations, like Lutherans, have been some of the hardest hit.

Typically, denominations will either sell the land or use it for some charitable purpose. But Paul Stromberg, vice president of the Synod Council, said they had spent months learning about Indigenous history and how often tribes were driven off their land in the name of religion.

“What happened to our Indigenous siblings was horrible,” Stromberg said. “This is a baby step, we get that, but anything towards that process [of healing] is a healthy thing for everybody.”

That decision brought them into contact with NAYA. The organization’s myriad services include affordable housing, arts and culture, and foster care, among others.

Executive Director Oscar Arana said he had talked with religious organizations about similar projects for months, but that Bethany Lutheran was the first to come to fruition.

“The return of the property is really not the end of these relationships, but it’s really the beginning into another journey that we’re going to take together,” Arana said.

While this is the first time the Oregon Synod has returned land to Indigenous owners, it’s actually part of a growing trend. In recent years, church organizations from California to Wisconsin have returned land in the name of reparations.

For Arana, part of the project’s success came from the Synod’s decision to transfer the land with no strings attached. There was no sale and no requirement for how NAYA should use the land.

“What it comes down to is about the power of relationships, the power of connections and building the trust to actually transfer something like this,” Arana said.

NAYA has plans to build elder housing on the site, fulfilling a highly requested service from the local Indigenous community.

Arana said it has been a learning process for him, as well. That’s made him reflect on his own experience with religion and how NAYA can work with other churches in the future.

“Growing up as an Indigenous two-spirit person, there was a point in my experience where I didn’t feel like that was something that was for me,” he said. “Through this process, there’s been opportunity to really reconsider how we may be able to support each other or repair harm from the past.”

As other churches face potential closure, Caesar said their board will continue to have an emphasis on land back, and that Bethany Lutheran will not be an anomaly.

“It’s just been a really important and profound and difficult 18 months for our board, and I couldn’t be happier,” Caesar said. “This decision lifts my heart more than I can say.”

News Source : https://www.opb.org/article/2026/06/23/oregon-lutherans-church-land-return/