Previous pastors and friends, including pastors Wilton Breese, John Andrews, Eric Kreye, Monte Church, Bob Uhrig and Kevin Rogers, gathered on Sept. 18 to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the Estacada Church.
Even before the church officially organized, God was working in the community. In 1920, a little girl named Elaine Batton walked over to her neighbor's house to give her a paper called Our Little Friend. She was surprised when she found out that her little neighbor, Viola Henrickson, had it in her home also. They discovered that there were other Adventists in the area that met in different homes every week.
In 1921 Ina Henrickson decided that their community should have a church. She contacted the conference and John Peterson, an Oregon pastor, was sent to organize the church.
Officially organizing in 1932, the members decided to buy the Tracy School House for $100. Soon, the Tracy School House became too small, so in 1937 the members bought two lots in Estacada for $200. They began digging the basement about three years later.
On April 14, 1974, one of the neighbors saw that the church was on fire and called the fire department. The neighborhood children had been playing “church” in the building and lit candles, catching the drapes on fire.
About a year later, the members started to rebuild on the original foundation. The second phase of the building program added the sanctuary, pastor's study and three classrooms.
The church was dedicated Nov. 14, 1981.
