McLoughlin Heights, Vancouver, WA
(New Heights Baptist Church)

    McLoughlin Heights of Vancouver, Washington, has historic names.  Hudson's Bay Factor, John McLoughlin-Explorer, George Vancouver --President, George Washington gave their names to: the Heights, City, and State.
    Vancouver and Portland, both on Highway 99, or now Interstate 5 and 205, are separated by the Columbia River.  On the north side, in the McLoughlin Heights area, the Jack Eccles and Gurley Coles families began visiting and holding meetings in 1952.  They were soon joined by the Elmer Overgaards, Frances Johnston, Lela McLachlen, and Mary Smith.
    Robert F Pollock, the churches first pastor, tells of an early meeting in the housing project gym; a space so vast that the congregation felt dwarfed.  It was Easter Sunday.  Christ had conquered death and defeated the grave.  When He left to go to his Father He promised to be with his disciples.  What did it matter if they were only a few so long as He whose presence fills the heavens and the earth was with them!
    In 1954, after organizing with 29 charter members, the church affiliated with the Columbia Conference.  Loans extended to the young church by the Conference, and a share in the Opportunity Band Gift made it possible to buy a site, and to place upon it a small building moved from another location.  The Pastor, Credo Erickson, came to the church in 1959.  (Credo was pastor for 8 years.)  Soon there after a building was started.  A committee consisting of several men from Temple and the local church guided the construction.  Aware of the need of the young neighboring church, Temple decided to help her.  The grant amounted to several thousand dollars and one of the Temple's builders took charge of construction.  A first unit building had been dedicated on Mothers' Day of 1961, and the congregation was leaning  toward an addition to relieve the overcrowded Sunday School.  On Mothers' Day of 1965, they broke ground for the addition.  The building was dedicated on January 23, 1966.  In October 1967, Pastor Erickson moved to Bethel Baptist Church in Everett, Washington.
    John and Pat Anderson and daughter Janet came to Mcloughlin Heights Church on March 10, 1968.  Pastor Anderson has served as pastor for more than 20 years (as of the writing of this account in 1989), and has seen the church grow to more than 500 members and the church was in need of expansion.  The church looked at several options like enlarging existing facilities or moving to a ten-acre site nearby.  One of the complications was a very successful bus ministry that completely swamped the East Mill Plain Blvd facility.  After celebrating its 25th anniversary on April 22, 1979, the church began to seriously consider expansion to the future.  On July 15 ground was broken on the new 7 acre site at 78th Street four miles north of Mcloughlin Heights and the name was changed to New Heights Baptist Church.  In 1985, New Heights was host to the Columbia Baptist Conference annual meeting using Portland's Airport Holiday Inn for several of the functions. 

The above account was taken from Gordon Carlson's Book "Seventy Five Years History" and John Bergeson's book "Fourth Quarter."              
   

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