A HISTORY OF ST. JOHN`S PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH 1883-1983

A HISTORY OF ST. JOHN'S
PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
1883-1983
JUNE 1983
PRICE FIVE DOLLARS
St. John's Presbyterian Church, 1206 Northeast Birch St., Camas, Washington 98607
PREFACE AND ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The first draft of this history was written from official records, but this produced only a skeleton. It
took the experiences and memories of many people who were there to put life into the story.
I am therefore grateful for the memories of Edith Hall, Marge Blake, Hazel Olds, Irene Roffler, Anna
Mettler, Hugh Gittings, George Stoller, Maysie Duffin, Helen and Gerald Craig, May Ulowetz, Grace
Stewart, Ethel Paul, Christine Kropp, Harriet Clark, John Phipps, Roberta Price, Odmund and
Dorothy Egaas, and Cliff Duncan, most of whom have been associated with St. John's for over half a
century. I am also indebted to Mrs. Bessie Tidland, historian of the Camas Baptist Church, who is the
earliest student of the Presbyterian Church school still living in Camas.
To John Reynolds, Christine Kropp and Pat Biskeborn, my thanks for editing, typing and technical
suggestions, and to Winnie Shinn for proofreading and laying out the pages.
The heroes of this tale are two nineteenth century Scottish Presbyterians, Aeneas and Elizabeth
McMaster, who set the tone and course of the congregation at the beginning. Aeneas, the founding
elder, seldom let his mind stray from doing what he believed to be God's will. His wife set an
example of Christian stewardship unexcelled in a hundred years. Together they practiced a
practical Christianity and showed a tolerance of other faiths that made St. John's the mother church
of local Protestants and a good neighbor of fellow Christians in the Catholic Church.
The old-timers whose photographs have been used are representative of the many parishioners
who followed the McMaster witness of putting Christ and His church foremost in their lives.
This is far from being a complete history because of the imperative of keeping it within an
economical printing format. I have tried to cover the highlights; in so doing I have undoubtedly
made many errors of omission and interpretation.
Finally, this has been written from a point of view: that a congregation's faithfulness to Christ's
commandments is measured by its collective stewardship commitment. This is what motivated me
to prepare this chronicle and this is why you will find frequent references to personal commitment
of time and talents, and references to budgets, ministers' salaries, mission giving, hard times and
the shrinking value of the currency. Forgive me if I seem to have overdone it… Milt Bona.
Cover photo by Dave Goheen.
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ST. JOHN'S PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH AS IT LOOKED IN 1920.
DEDICATED IN 1886, THE ORIGINAL BUILDING HAD NO STEEPLE, BELL
TOWER OR BASEMENT AND WAS LITERALLY A “CHURCH IN THE
WILDWOOD."
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COVENANT
A N D C O N S T I TU T I O N O F T HE P R E S B Y T E R I A N C O N G R E G A T I O N A T L A C A M A S , C L A R K E C O U N TY ,
W A S H I N G TO N T E R R I TO R Y , O R G A N I Z E D D E C E M B E R 9 , 1 8 8 3 :
The undersigned residents of LaCamas Colony and vicinity do hereby request the Presbytery of Puget
Sound to organize us into a church to be under the care of said Presbytery and in so requesting we
profess our belief in the following statement of our faith and our agreement with the following
covenant, to-wit:
I.
We believe in one Supreme and eternal Jehovah manifest to mankind as Father, Son and Holy
Spirit.
II. We believe the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments to be the Revelation of God to Man
and the Supreme rule of Christian Faith and practice.
III. We believe in the Lord Jesus as our Personal Savior, who by his life and death has redeemed us
from the power of sin.
IV. We believe that except a man be born of the Holy Spirit he cannot belong to the Kingdom of
God and that this spiritual birth manifests itself in a desire to live a righteous and Godly life.
V. We covenant with each other to use the proper means of grace, study of God's Truth and
prayer, both private and public (where the latter is reasonably convenient), to cultivate the
Spirit of Christian Charity toward each other and all mankind, to live in Christian fellowship
one with the other and so far as possible to develop by Divine help the Christ life within us.
(Signed) Aeneas McMaster, elder
Elizabeth McMaster
Elizabeth McMaster (daughter) Martha Conkling
O.T. McCord
J. Knutson
(From A. McMaster's history in the front of the congregation's first book of Session minutes.)
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1. A CONGREGATION IS BORN
"WHERE TWO OR THREE COME TOGETHER IN MY NAME, I AM THERE
WITH THEM." MATTHEW 18:20
In the summer of 1883, a Presbyterian elder from Glasgow, Scotland, came to the newly-platted
town of LaCamas, Washington Territory, and bought a piece of land from the LaCamas Colony
Company, a real estate venture of a group of Portland, Oregon capitalists who were planning to
build a paper mill nearby.
On this land the Scot, who was a carpenter by trade, broke the first ground in the new town and
built a tiny general store, approximately 14 x 20 feet, with living quarters overhead. This was one
block west of what is now Northeast Third Avenue and Adams Street, within the present paper mill.
The carpenter's name was Aeneas McMaster; he was the first merchant in town.
It wasn't long before Mr. McMaster discovered three other Presbyterians in the village and saw the
opportunity to organize a congregation. He later wrote that "a number of Presbyterians who felt the
want of the means of grace" petitioned the Presbytery of Puget Sound to establish a congregation.
Actually, there were six, three of them in Mr. McMaster's own family.
As a result of the application, the Rev. John R. Thompson of Olympia visited the community and on
December 9, 1883, preached in a warehouse and organized a church and "Sabbath School." In a
brief history of the event Mr. McMaster later wrote in the minute book of the Session (the
congregation's governing body) that this was the first religious meeting in LaCamas. (He did not
know that a group of Methodists had met two months earlier in a private home across the street
from the present city hall and held a service led by a circuit riding minister. A Methodist
congregation was organized the following year.)
The new congregation was
called the Presbyterian
Church
of
LaCamas,
Washington Territory. The
six were received into
membership after signing
a covenant in which they
professed
their
faith,
promised to cultivate the
spirit of Christian charity,
to live in Christian
fellowship
with
one
another and to develop the
Christ
life
within
themselves. (The covenant
is printed in full on the
preceding page.)
THE FIRST STORE IN LACAMAS WAS OPENED IN SEPTEMBER OF 1883.
THREE MONTHS LATER THE PRESBYTERIANS HELD THEIR FIRST
WORSHIP SERVICE IN A STOREROOM IN THE BACK OF THIS STORE. THE
DRAWING IS BASED ON AN OLD PHOTOGRAPH.
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Mr. McMaster was elected as the Session, which is made up of ordained elders, he being the only
elder among the six. He was also elected superintendent of the Sabbath School.
For the next ten months the little congregation held services without a minister, prayers were
offered, scriptures were read and hymns were sung. In the afternoon everyone in town was invited
to attend Sabbath School in a boarding house on the site of the soon-to-be built Columbia River
Paper Co. mill, a predecessor of today's Crown Zellerbach Corporation. Here a sermon was read,
probably by Mr. McMaster. The Sabbath School quickly became ecumenical (interdenominational)
generations before anybody in LaCamas knew what the word meant. Soon others began attending
the Presbyterian services. In the spring of 1884 Mr. Thompson returned for a visit and preached to
a full house.
Since there was no minister to preside as moderator over the one-man Session, that body did not
meet for a full year. In October a minister was assigned by the Board of Home Missions to serve the
LaCamas congregation and another new church at Fourth Plain, now known as Orchards some 12
miles to the northwest.
The first pastor was the Rev. Joseph A. Hanna, an old hand at working with new churches. Thirty
years before, after graduating from a seminary in the east, Mr. Hanna and his bride took off for the
Presbytery of Oregon in a covered wagon pulled by a team of oxen. Several years later the Synod of
the Columbia was formed, embracing Oregon State and Washington Territory.
In Oregon Mr. Hanna built and nurtured many congregations. In his latest assignment in
Washington Territory he was to receive $1,000 a year, of which the Board of Home Missions was to
contribute $600 and the two Clark County churches $200 each.
Salaries in the $1,000 range were to be standard for the next 40 years. This was about what a
schoolmaster received and what a struggling physician could expect to earn, and would be
comparable to $11,000 in 1983 dollars, but applied to a simpler 1884 standard of living. (This is
based on the fact that the 1884 U.S. dollar purchased eleven times more goods and services than the
dollar does today.)
At the first Session meeting, on December 5, 1884, in the McMaster home, Elder McMaster
nominated himself as clerk, essentially a recording and corresponding secretary. The next order of
business was the application of a young immigrant from Belfast, Ireland, named Allan Duffin for
membership in the church. Mr. Duffin answered the required questions to Mr. McMaster's
satisfaction and was accepted.
The next day, Mr. Duffin became the seventh member of the congregation. Mr. McMaster wrote in
the next minutes of Session that the Lord's Supper was administered at the service, which "was a
very solemn and interesting occasion. Twenty-five persons communed."
It turned out that Mr. Duffin was courting Elizabeth McMaster. Two years and four months later the
minute book shows that their first child, Mary Elizabeth (Leila), was baptized on April 5, 1886, at
the Presbyterians' first baptismal service. Mr. Duffin was employed in the McMaster store at the
time and eventually became a partner.
The Session minutes show that a report was made by the clerk to presbytery on April 4 concerning
the progress of the congregation. "The Sabbath School is in prosperous condition," he wrote. "The
cause of temperance is quickened and hopeful, The Sabbath is not as well observed as we would
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wish, but it is in advance of most towns. Attendance in public worship and Thursday evening prayer
meetings is good, and the deportment and attention very commendable."
It should be noted that LaCamas was a beehive of activity. Work was nearing completion on the
new paper mill, which was built largely of lumber cut from logs felled to clear the town site and mill
site. Like all construction towns then, as now, drinking and boisterous conduct were offensive to
law-abiding citizens.
At the Session meeting
where the above report was
presented, six persons were
approved for membership.
They were Mrs. Mary Jane
Robinson, Mrs. Mary Morton
and four more McMaster
children: Hugh, Donald,
Agnes and Violet. (There
were nine McMaster children
altogether.) The membership
now stood at 13, seven of
them McMasters.
As the new mill approached
its start-up later in April of
FULL-BEARDED AENEAS MCMASTER AND HIS TINY WIFE, ELIZABETH
1885, the population of the
ARE SHOWN HERE IN PORTRAITS MADE IN MONTREAL BEFORE THEY
little town exploded. The
MOVED TO LACAMAS TO OPEN A GENERAL STORE. FIVE GENERATIONS
OF MCMASTERS HAVE BEEN MEMBERS OF THE CONGREGATION.
Baptists and Evangelicals
sent
missionaries
to
establish congregations. Services were held either in homes, warehouses or in the Odd Fellows Hall
above the second and larger McMaster store that was built that year. Mr. Hanna was limited to
conducting one service a month in LaCamas, so apparently union services were held with visiting
ministers of the other denominations, including the Methodists, taking their turns in the pulpit.
Ecumenism was farthest from the thoughts of the four congregations. Each planned to have its own
building and its own pastor some day, but the realities of the situation dictated a united Protestant
approach to the needs of the community. The Catholics had been worshipping in their own building
near LaCamas Lake for four years, and the Congregationalists in Washougal moved into their own
building in 1882. (The first church building in the eastern part of the county was erected in 1873 in
Fern Prairie by the Methodists. Because of poor roads that community was almost completely
isolated from LaCamas until about the turn of the century.)
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2. THE FIRST HOUSE OF GOD
Sometime in 1885 a decision was reached by the Presbyterian congregation to erect a church
building. There is no record to indicate why the Methodists didn't take the lead, or the Baptists or
Evangelicals. Probably the Presbyterian Board of Home Missions came forth first with an offer of
funds, as it was very active at the time in the Pacific Northwest. The Presbyterian grant of $600
represented nearly half the cost of the project, so a building site was purchased on Jefferson Street
hill just south of the paper mill ditch. (A PUD substation now occupies the site and the street name
has been changed to Division.)
Apparently the three other denominations were in accord with the idea and some understanding
was reached about sharing the building. When a building committee was appointed, three of the six
members were of other persuasions: Louis E. Tidland was a Baptist; Richard T. Cowan was a
Cumberland Presbyterian and the second local merchant; and Aaron F. Mills was of unknown
affiliation. Mr. Mills, a master builder, was also postmaster of LaCamas and probably an employee of
the McMaster store, where the post office was located. St. John's was represented by Mr. McMaster,
Allan Duffin and John Glen. Mr. Cowan served as chairman and Mr. Duffin as secretary.
(Incidentally, Mr. Cowan had only recently platted Cowan Addition, the first addition to LaCamas,
where the present church building stands. In 1888 Mr. Cowan was appointed postmaster and later
was elected a representative to the state legislature. An elder in the Cumberland faith, he eventually
transferred by letter to the LaCamas congregation. Mrs. Ruth Freeman is a direct descendant of this
pioneer merchant and politician.)
At a meeting of the committee, of which minutes have been preserved, the Rev. Mr. Thompson of
Olympia showed some stock plans for the new building. The group voted to adopt Plan Number 1,
but added 10 feet to the height of the bell tower. However, the tower was to be postponed if enough
funds could not be raised. (It was omitted and added later.)
The minutes noted that the building, of frame construction, was to rest on brick piers spaced six
feet apart in three rows. Those who wished to contribute labor to the project would be credited
with a donation of $2.50 per day for carpenters and $1.50 per day for unskilled laborers. A "day" at
that time was about 11 or 12 hours. A subcommittee was appointed to supervise construction, and
the minutes for the July 28 meeting of this group made three decisions:
1. An offer of ten cents a square yard for plastering was accepted, with the subcommittee to
provide the lath and lathing labor.
2. A second coat of white paint should be applied to the exterior, with the trim to be white
paint mixed with "a little umber," a brown pigment.
3. The pulpit was to be built locally from a design in a church furniture catalog and was to be
two steps (14 inches) above the main floor of the sanctuary. The choir platform was to be 7
inches above the main floor.
Among old church records is a sheet of heavy ledger paper with the names of individuals who
pledged labor and/or materials and the amount of such pledges. The largest, for $500, was credited
to William McFall, identified only as "trustee," probably for the Home Mission Board. Next is a gift of
$100 from W.S. Ladd, a Portland banker and developer and one of the men financially involved in
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the LaCamas Colony Co. and the paper mill. Elder McMaster pledged $50. His wife and sons, Donald
and Hugh, pledged $25 each, as did son-in-law Allan Duffin, and R.T. Cowan. The owners of a river
steamer donated the hauling of building materials which was valued at $37.50. Mr. Tidland and C.H.
Hodges, another Baptist, gave $10 and $25, respectively. Postmaster Mills gave $20. A Mr. Wade
agreed to build the chimney, W.F. Mills to give the sand and W.S. Irvine $60 worth of time.
There are 70 names of non-Presbyterians on the list who gave from $1 to $10 in cash or labor. The
grand total came to $1,252.50 from 86 donors. (In 1983 dollars, the church building would have
cost at least $35,000, allowing for modern building code requirements, plumbing and wiring, none
of which were needed then.)
Several years later a shed was built east of the church where horses and buggies were tied up. This
was for members who lived in the country. People in town usually walked to church.
The Session was doubled in size to two members when one James Anderson was elected to serve
with Mr. McMaster. Mr. Anderson had been ordained previously in the Cumberland sect, location
not disclosed.
In its third annual report to presbytery, the Session in April of
1886 deplored the poor attendance at Sunday services,
explaining that "this is accounted for in part on account of night
work in the paper mill and sawmill." It should be noted that the
church fiscal year in those days ended on March 31, and would
remain so for half a century.
About this time Mr. Hanna resigned as minister. He was
succeeded by Mr. Thompson, lately of Olympia, who also had
become the second minister of First Church in Vancouver,
which he had organized a year and a half before LaCamas. Mr.
Thompson agreed to serve as "stated supply" and to conduct
one service a month. He was a colorful personality and was one
of the leading clergymen in Washington Territory.
Born in England of Scottish parents, he migrated to a pastorate
in Halifax, Nova Scotia. In 1870 he was called to the First
JOSEPH A. HANNA, LACAMAS'
Presbyterian Church in Olympia, where he was soon appointed
FIRST MINISTER, AS HE LOOKED
20 YEARS EARLIER AS A
chaplain of the territorial council (senate) and was elected
BUILDER OF PRESBYTERIAN
superintendent of schools of Thurston County. In 1884 he was
CONGREGATIONS IN OREGON.
named general missionary of the Presbytery of Puget Sound
(western Washington) and in 1885 moderator of the Synod of the Columbia, which included
Washington Territory and Oregon State. He organized more than 20 congregations and was
involved in ten building programs. These included churches in Ridgefield, Fourth Plain, Ellsworth,
Fisher's Landing, Vancouver and LaCamas. (The first four have long since been dissolved.)
The Rev. Mr. Thompson was a man of strong will and definite opinions, which were reinforced by
his booming voice. He wore a clerical collar which set him apart from many Protestant clergymen of
the time. He supported such controversial causes as women's suffrage and local option (local
prohibition), both of which became law 25 years later. He was a bachelor.
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When he came to Clark County Mr. Thompson continued his interest in public affairs and
represented the county in the state legislature. He was known far and wide as the "Political Parson."
In 1898 he was commissioned chaplain of the Washington Volunteers in the Spanish-American War
and was killed in action in Manila, but not before earning another title: the "Fighting Parson."
On the day the new building was to be dedicated, the first Sunday in October, 1886, Mr. McMaster
drew up a memorandum of agreement (he called it a compact) under which the four denominations
would share the new building. The original copy is still in church files. Parties to the agreement
were the Methodists, Baptists, Evangelicals and Presbyterians. Each group was to have use of the
building for one week a month, beginning on Sunday morning and ending on Saturday night. Each
would be responsible for stove wood, janitor work, kerosene for the lamps and breakage during its
week. Services were to be provided twice each Sunday and each congregation was to agree not to
hold public services of worship anywhere else in the community.
"This co-partnership to continue for one year and be renewed at the termination thereof if
agreeable to all concerned," the document read. Among his many talents Mr. McMaster could write
a document that sounded very legal and in a fine Spencerian handwriting that was perfectly legible.
The Presbyterians agreed in the compact not to charge rent for their building "as long as may be
mutually agreeable and may seem to be for the glory of God." Elder McMaster always had an eye
steadfastly on the ultimate objective of the Christian life.
In this compact the Presbyterian Church was listed as "St. John's." Sometime before the dedication
the congregation decided this would be a good way to honor their popular new minister who was
also named for St. John. The compact was approved by the "trustees" of the Presbyterian group, and
this is the first mention of trustees in any church record still on hand.
The Presbyterian congregation grew rapidly. By annual report time in 1887 the membership had
reached 50 and total receipts were $1,005, including $855 of pledges to the building fund, $226 for
operating expenses, $7 for home missions and $2 for foreign.
About this time the Session recommended to presbytery that a person identified only as "Bro.
Fruiht" be approved as a missionary to the German speaking families in the vicinity. His wife
transferred to LaCamas by letter. The good brother did not, thus it can be assumed he became a
member of presbytery, as are all Presbyterian ministers. There is little evidence that Mr. Fruiht's
efforts bore fruit, except for one entry in the minutes of Session referring to two members
transferring by letters from a Lutheran church. The letters were written in German. It was to be ten
years before a Lutheran congregation would be organized here. The final word in church records of
the Fruihts was a notation after they left LaCamas that Mrs. Fruiht had written for a letter of
transfer to another church. The letter was denied because she had not paid her presbytery per
capita tax before leaving. (Per capita taxes are now included in the church budget.)
In May of 1887 the congregation elected three more elders for a total of five. These were William J.
Gilbert, Frank Walton and Allan Duffin, and were the first elders ordained locally.
In June Mr. McMaster pleaded failing health and resigned as clerk of the Session. Son-in-law Allan
Duffin was elected clerk in his place and held this office continuously until his death 27 years later.
At this meeting, the Session set up the first "parish plan," dividing the town into four "districts,"
each headed by an elder who was assisted by a "lieutenant" chosen from the congregation. There
was to be no Board of Deacons for more than 60 years.
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At this same meeting, a proposal was made that a young people's "home and foreign missionary
society" be organized. Nothing came of the idea for several years until a Young People's Society of
Christian Endeavor was started. This was a new ecumenical movement that was national in scope
and included those of upper grammar school and high school ages among Presbyterian,
Congregational, Disciples of Christ and some other Protestant denominations.
Presbyterians in this early congregation tended to be quick to condemn wrong-doing among fellow
members. Once the Session expelled four male members for public misconduct. This was done
publicly at a Sunday morning worship service after due notice to the miscreants. Descendants of
one of these men became respected members of the community. Members were also dropped from
time to time for non-attendance at worship, usually after one year's absence. An elder would
usually be sent in advance to admonish the delinquent member before action was taken. In one
stubborn case the pastor was asked to write a letter to the man in question "in hope of saving our
brother."
Presbyterians were expected to attend two services every
Sunday and mid-week prayer meeting regardless of which
denomination was in charge. If you missed an evening service,
people would talk. If you missed both Sunday services, the
looks you received on the street the next week were
devastating.
Drunkenness seems to have been one of the common vices that
brought forth the wrath of Presbyterians against fellow
members. Not so much drunkenness per se, but being seen in
public in an inebriated state, which reflected on the more
temperate (and discreet) members. Alcoholism had not yet
been recognized as a disease.
SCOTTISH-BORN
JOHN
R.
THOMPSON
CHARTERED
ST.
JOHN'S AND WAS ITS SECOND
PASTOR. IN LATER YEARS HE
SERVED
IN
THE
STATE
LEGISLATURE AND DIED IN THE
SPANISH-AMERICAN WAR.
The Rev. Mr. Thompson advised the session in May of 1888
that he had been elected a commissioner to the 100th General
Assembly in Philadelphia, a long way from LaCamas in those
days. Statistics for the fiscal year ending that March showed 54
communicant members and contributions to church support of
$345 (worth over $4,000 in 1983 dollars). Home missions still
paid most of the minister's salary.
About this time membership of the Session was increased to
six with the addition of Murdoch Robertson and Lemuel
Alberts. Mr. Robertson, a young bachelor, came by letter from
another church, possibly in the East, and within months was elected to Session and ordained a
ruling elder. This was done with uncharacteristic speed, indicating that there must have been
something special about this individual. Ordinarily one had to prove his stature as a Christian over
many years before being entrusted with the spiritual welfare of the congregation.
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As we read on in Session minutes we find the reason. Mr.
Robertson had been to theological seminary and apparently
came to town to work until he received a call from a
congregation. He served on the Session for nearly four years.
In December of 1892 Session minutes reveal that he had been
ordained a minister and resigned as a ruling elder and
member of St. John's.
In October of 1888, the senior ruling elder, Mr. McMaster, died
and the Session adopted a long and flowery resolution
commending him to his Heavenly Father. It apparently was
written by the Rev. Mr. Thompson and was so beautifully done
that the presbytery used it for its own resolution.
It should be noted that while Mr. McMaster spelled his last
name with a "Mc," his wife Elizabeth used the long form of
"Mac," both being Gaelic for "son of." Their son Hugh used the
long form of his mother, but son Donald, who became a lawyer
and county judge, stuck with his father's frugal abbreviation.
ALLAN DUFFIN, FRESH FROM
NORTHERN IRELAND, JOINED THE
CHURCH IN 1884 AND WAS CLERK
OF SESSION FOR 27 YEARS, 1888
TO 1915.
About this time the Evangelical group, filled with zeal for
greater things, obtained a loan and built another little frame
church two blocks up the hill from the Presbyterians on the
northeast corner of what is now Twelfth Avenue and Division.
This left one week vacant in the use of the Presbyterian building. Mr. Thompson said he could not
give the time for two Sundays a month, so reluctantly submitted his resignation. This led to the
hiring of our third minister, A.G. Boyd.
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3. THE WOMEN GET INVOLVED
It was not until 1888, five years after the Presbyterians formed a congregation, that the women
became directly involved in the work of the church. The inspiration came from the Rev. Mr. Boyd
who invited the women to stay after an evening service in November for a short discussion. Mr.
Boyd told of the work of the Women's Mission Board and challenged the eight or nine women
present to consider affiliating with the board as a local auxiliary. The women agreed to meet soon
thereafter at a home of a member.
Seven ladies gathered for the meeting and the minister's wife followed up her husband's earlier
remarks with a talk on the work for women in the church. The ladies proceeded to adopt a set of
bylaws affiliating themselves with the regional North Pacific Board of Missions and elected officers,
including Mrs. Boyd as president; Mrs. Elizabeth Duffin as recording secretary; and Mrs. Eliza
Whitenack as treasurer. (At a subsequent meeting Mrs. Duffin's mother, Mrs. Elizabeth MacMaster,
was elected vice president.)
The women called their organization the Women's
Missionary Society of the Presbyterian Church of
LaCamas. They decided to meet twice a month in the
afternoon and assess each member monthly dues of five
cents. The stated purpose of the meetings was for "the
mutual benefit and for the encouragement of missionary
efforts in our congregation," according to the first minute
book, still in church files.
After a few meetings of the new society, a general format
emerged that was followed for generations. The meetings
were always opened with prayer and sometimes a hymn
or two when "women with good voices" were in
attendance. The roll call was usually answered with a
verse of scripture; a little business followed, and then the
program. Sometimes one of the members gave a talk or
several ladies read news items of missionary activities
from church publications. At one meeting the president
talked on the importance of influencing young men to
prepare for the ministry. On that occasion prayers were
said placing this problem "before the Throne of Grace."
Meetings were always closed with prayer.
Typically, the early meetings held around Christmas did
not reflect the season. No carols were sung nor Christmas
topics discussed. Christmas had not yet become a holiday
of all-consuming interest. At one of these meetings a
committee was appointed to call on "strangers"
(newcomers) and invite them to Sunday worship.
NEWLYWEDS
HUGH
AND
ELLA
MACMASTER IN 1891. HE WAS A
MERCHANT, CIVIC LEADER AND LONGTIME RULING ELDER. THIS CHILDLESS
COUPLE OPENED THEIR HOME TO
YOUNG PEOPLE AND "AUNTIE MAC" IS
REMEMBERED WITH AFFECTION FOR
HER INFLUENCE ON MANY YOUNG
WOMEN.
At the conclusion of each set of minutes the secretary recorded the amount of dues received and
almost invariably the amount was larger than the mandatory five cents a month. These gifts were
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often made with some sacrifice as they were usually eked out of slender household allowances that
the men doled out to their spouses.
Before long the Missionary Society began seeking outsiders to make talks on mission subjects,
usually visiting ministers and missionaries home on furlough. The first male speaker was a Portland
minister who gave what was described as a "stirring lecture." He urged each one to be faithful in
performing the little tasks and earnest in doing missionary work that lay nearest their hands. Today
his remarks would sound a little patronizing.
In April of 1889 the society voted to send Mrs. MacMaster to the annual meeting of the Women's
North Pacific Mission Board. This was the first time the congregation had been represented by a
woman at any denominational meeting; only men were elected elders and only men attended
presbytery, synod and General Assembly.
As a result of the eagerly-awaited report Mrs. MacMaster brought from the annual meeting, the
society voted to use its fund to promote the work of Presbyterians in Alaska. Alaska was about as
remote and unknown as any place on earth. This early concern for Alaska has continued to this day
and later generations welcomed Alaska into our synod.
No sooner had the society embarked upon its study of Alaska than an appeal came from the
Women's Mission Board for money to wipe out a deficit at the end of the fiscal year. The ladies
responded by emptying their treasury of $5.35 and adding $6.65 of personal contributions in order
to round out their gift of $12 (In 1983 currency, this would have been the same as twelve women
giving $135.)
One day a missionary attended the meeting of the society and told of her work among the Alaska
Indians and Eskimos. She illustrated her comments with photographs of the territory and its
people. Soon after, the women instructed the secretary to start a correspondence with other Alaska
missionaries, a project that provided discussion material for many meetings.
But discussions were not confined to Alaska. The local women began studying about work with
American Indians in the continental United States, work among the Mormons, the beginning of
mission work in Japan, China and Africa and in the Cumberland Mountains in the eastern United
States. Thus, the LaCamas women were no longer isolated from the outside world. While they could
not travel to these faraway places, they could experience vicariously the joys and challenges of
mission and of the emerging church in many lands.
It wasn't long before another appeal for funds was received, this time to start a Christian school on
the Umatilla Indian reservation in Oregon. The women responded with a $5 gift from their treasury.
Yet, like the miracle of the loaves and fishes, they still had $17 on hand at the end of the church
year!
A new source of funds was tapped with the introduction of "mite boxes" obtained from the national
board. These boxes, made of cardboard, were distributed to members of the congregation and
church school for saving small coins. The name came from the Biblical story of the widow's mite.
Similar boxes are still in use by church schools.
- 13 -
In 1891 the women switched their primary concern from
Alaska to the Deep South where Christians were
attempting to bring education and the fruits of the
American way of life to the freed slaves. This was called
the Freedmen's movement and was supported by the
society and the congregation for many years.
When a women's presbyterial was formed in the
Presbytery of Olympia, it was the Missionary Society that
sent delegates and financial support. Mrs. Nellie Clark of
St. John's was elected treasurer of this presbyterial,
probably the first local woman on the long list who would
serve as presbyterial officers during the next 90 years.
The local society showed concern for the persecution of
Jews in Czarist Russia and expressed opposition to the
Mormons winning statehood for Utah unless they
changed their ways (which the Mormons did by
withdrawing approval of polygamy).
LEILA DUFFIN (CHAPPELL) AT AGE 22
IN 1908, WAS BIG SISTER TO CHARLIE,
MARGE AND MAYSIE AND THE FIRST
INFANT BAPTIZED IN THE CHURCH.
SHE TAUGHT SCHOOL IN ELLSWORTH
AND IS REMEMBERED FOR CHURCH
SCHOOL CANTATAS SHE DIRECTED IN
THE EARLY DAYS.
Today, as St. John's celebrates its Centennial year, the
women continue to carry much of the burden of the
congregation's mission to the community and to the
world. The original Missionary Society spawned other
women's organizations that became major fund raisers
and, as we shall see, repeatedly rescued the church from
financial ruin. It was the women's organizations that
spurred our congregation to increase its giving to mission
causes and thus respond to Christ's command to "go
throughout the whole world and preach the gospel."
St. John's was one of the first congregations in the country to elect women as elders, and women are
now in positions of leadership that until 40 years ago were almost completely held by men.
⋆ ⋆ ⋆
Now back to our story of early church life in LaCamas.
The enthusiasm of the Evangelicals in building their own church in 1888 was soon replaced by grim
reality. Within two years the congregation was forced to surrender the structure to the mortgage
holders.
The Baptists then took over the building and began holding services. The following year — 1891 —
the Methodists completed their first church building on Northeast Fourth Avenue and Everett
Street (site of the present city hall) and the Presbyterians were left on their own for the first time,
with two services every Sunday of the month in their church on Division Street.
The Baptists also failed to meet the financial commitment and gave up the former Evangelical
building, holding services instead in various places, including a flour mill and the lodge rooms
- 14 -
upstairs in the second McMaster store. For awhile, they again provided services one Sunday a
month in the Presbyterian Church.
In about 1890 the Presbyterians decided to purchase a bell and build the postponed steeple and
bell tower. Among the church's records is a list of donors to the project, who gave a total of $164.
On the list were paper mill officials and other local people outside the Presbyterian congregation.
The old bell is still in use in the present church, one of the few of its vintage in the area.
In 1897, the German speaking families in the area formed a Lutheran congregation, using the
Presbyterian sanctuary for their organization meetings. Thus, Zion Lutheran Church was born, and
took over the vacant Evangelical building. For many years services were conducted in German.
Eventually the Lutherans grew into one of the two largest Protestant churches in the area.
While the Evangelical building was changing hands, the three congregations that held services there
continued to send their children to the Presbyterian Church school. Baptist children attended St.
John's until their first church building was erected on the corner of Northeast Sixth Avenue and
Birch Street in about 1910. The momentum established at the beginning continued to make St.
John's the dominant church school in town for 50 years.
Ill health forced the resignation of Mr. Boyd as the minister in 1890 and the Rev. S.S. Meyer was
hired, also as "stated supply." The Board of Home Missions continued to provide nearly half of his
salary. St. John's contributed $300 toward the $900 annual stipend and the Presbyterians at Fourth
Plain gave $ 100.
The Rev. A.M. McKenzie became the minister in 1893 and served for seven years. The following
year postal authorities changed the name of the post office to Camas because of confusion with La
Center and some other seven and eight letter names that were often illegibly written. The change
merely created confusion of another kind with Camas Valley, Camas Prairie, Sumas, and other five
letter names. Most local people were unhappy about the change and continued to use LaCamas for
another 18 years. Presbyterians likewise stuck to the original name in their record keeping as long
as they could.
In 1897 the Session recommended that the Board of Trustees be reorganized or a new board
elected. Apparently, the board had failed to function. Among church records is an original copy of
the bylaws that were adopted. These provided that the board was to be made up of seven persons,
five of whom were to be communicant members of the congregation. The treasurer of the board
was to be the treasurer of the church as well. Duties of the board were spelled out rather succinctly:
"The Board of Trustees shall have general charge of all temporal and financial business of the
Church and may elect committees to supervise any particular branch of its work."
The bylaws were handwritten on the business stationery of one E.C. Yoemans, a notary public, and
were signed by Mr. Yoemans as secretary. Other board members were Frank S. Walton, George Self,
Donald and Hugh MacMaster, John W. Mitchell and Courtney Poage.
About the time the trustees were reorganized, Donald McMaster completed the long and tedious
task of teaching himself to be a lawyer. He worked in his father's store during the day and "hit the
books" at night at the kitchen table. Sometime after being admitted to practice, he and his family
moved to Vancouver. There he was elected successively as justice of the peace, prosecuting
- 15 -
attorney and judge of the superior court. He also served on the school board and was a member of
the board of trustees of the public library.
As the nineteenth century came to a close, a report to Session in December of 1899 showed that the
congregation had raised $460 for church support and had given $40 to home missions and $39 to
foreign. The mission giving was achieved only after several announcements and a number of special
offerings had been taken. The membership of the congregation was now only 36.
- 16 -
4. ENTERING THE 20 T H CENTURY
As St. John's entered a new century under the leadership of a new minister, the "stated supply
syndrome" of the previous century was upset and a "love affair" was begun with local Methodists
that was to last until this very day.
Hiring a minister as "stated supply" rather than as a full-fledged pastor became a habit in the early
days when ministers were shared with other Presbyterian congregations. Hiring a man as stated
supply was easy to do and at the end of twelve months the contract ended automatically unless the
presbytery (in consultation with the Session) voted to renew it. With a "called" minister it was more
complicated. The congregation called him by the vote of the membership. The matter then was
referred to presbytery, which had the power to ratify or deny the call. If ratified, the minister was
then called by the presbytery and became a member of that body after first being released by his
previous presbytery. "Uncalling" a pastor was and is equally complicated.
When the Rev. George H. Roach was selected as stated supply in 1900 either he or someone in
presbytery raised the question of his being officially called. The minutes of Session reported that a
representative of presbytery showed up at a Session meeting and asked about it. The Session
agreed to present the matter to the congregation, and the congregation issued the call. Probably
only a handful of members knew beforehand the difference between a called minister and one
designated as "stated supply."
It was in November 1900 that the Session issued the first invitation on record to the Methodists to
worship jointly with the Presbyterians on Thanksgiving Day. Thus began a series of joint services
and activities of various kinds that still continue.
In 1901 the Session was called upon to make a momentous decision — whether to hold Sunday
services on "paper mill time," this being the "standard time" of the community. There was no
explanation why mill time differed from official time, but even today the mill whistle varies a few
seconds from naval observatory time. It was probably easier for the mill to follow its own clocks
than to correct them periodically with the telegraph office. Time was only relative anyway, as there
was still no railroad through town, no buses, no radio or television and the river boats did not
adhere precisely to their time tables.
Although it had been organized fourteen years earlier, Session minutes did not mention the
Women's Missionary Society until the annual report for fiscal year ending March 31, 1902. The
Young People's Society of Christian Endeavor was also mentioned for the first time. The annual
report showed that the congregation and the two societies had given $742 for church support,
including over $200 for mission causes, the Church Erection Board and the Freedmen.
St. Thomas Aquinas Roman Catholic Church decided about the turn of the century to abandon its
original building at LaCamas Lake (original spelling) and put up a frame building in Camas on the
corner of what is now Northeast Thirteenth Avenue and Birch Street, directly across from the
present St. John's parking lot. The new building was dedicated in 1901 and now three churches
were located "on the hill." About this time Catholics also built St. Anthony's Church in Washougal,
which was served by the same priest.
- 17 -
Hugh MacMaster, son of the founding elder, was elected to the Session in 1904 and served
continuously for 38 years. This was the longest tenure of any elder in the congregation's history
and may have set some kind of record in presbytery as well.
The first every-member canvass for church support was held that year. The membership was 38, a
slight improvement after a fifteen year slump. The canvass resulted in pledges of $767, of which
$290 was ear-marked for mission causes, the highest figure achieved to this point. The U.S. dollar
was still worth its face value in gold and there had been no perceptible inflation since the church
was started 21 years before. Things were looking up for the little Presbyterian group, still aided by
Home Mission Board funds.
Right after Christmas the Session and minister were faced by a perplexing problem — whether to
accept Catholic baptism as valid in the case of a convert to Presbyterianism. After much soul
searching the baptism was honored.
Mr. Roach resigned as minister in 1905 and was succeeded a year later by D. McEwan, who was
followed by Andrew Carrick, hired as stated supply until 1909.
In 1906 the congregation acquired a two story house and two lots from Donald McMaster, now
living in Vancouver, on the corner where the present church building stands. This was for a manse
(parsonage). Records are missing on this transaction except for the deed. Apparently, a loan was
obtained from the Board of Home Missions to finance the purchase. The house served as a manse
for 36 years and was eventually converted into a Christian education center.
THIS HOUSE WAS PURCHASED BY THE CONGREGATION FOR A MANSE
(PARSONAGE) IN 1906. IT WAS LOCATED ON THE SITE OF THE
PRESENT CHURCH. (PHOTO WAS TAKEN IN 1957.)
In 1907 the congregation voted to elect elders to staggered terms so that two of the six positions
would be filled each year. However, no limit was placed on the number of consecutive terms an
elder could serve. The practice was to re-elect and re-elect until an elder died, moved away or "fell
from grace" (at least one is known to have "fallen"). The result was that for the next 30 years the
governing body was made up of only a few people, a self-perpetuating hierarchy that ruled with a
firm hand and gave many ministers a bad time. The number of elders on the Session kept changing
- 18 -
between four and six, and for meeting after meeting a quorum of the same two or three would
transact the congregation's "spiritual" business. The other elders stayed away for months at a time.
The congregation grew slowly, reaching 65 in 1907 when the annual budget passed the $1,000
mark for the first time. By 1909 the last annual grant had been received from the Board of Home
Missions toward the minister's salary.
These were times of considerable political ferment in Washington State. Women's suffrage and
local option were hot issues, as were betting at horse races. Suffrage and prohibition had been
issues since before statehood, which had been voted in 1889, and many supporters of the two
reforms were the same people. These issues came to a head in 1909 in the state legislature. In a
rare action the Session instructed the clerk to send letters to legislators in Olympia opposing
betting at horse racing, and favoring local option, which would permit cities to ban the sale of
alcoholic beverages within their boundaries. But the Session did not see fit to take a stand on
women's suffrage since it probably was not considered a "moral" issue.
Betting was defeated, local option was approved, and a constitutional amendment was submitted to
the people on giving the vote to women. This passed at the following general election.
In 1909 a loan was obtained from Home Missions to build a full basement under the little frame
church on Division Street. For two months church services were suspended and the congregation
was urged to worship with the Methodists "downtown." The Session in its thriftiness deducted $40
from the minister's salary of $900 a year for not having to preach during the construction period.
The next minister after Mr. Carrick was the Rev. G.H. Mitchell who served a year, followed by the
Rev. E.R.D. Hollenstad, who served three years. Old-timers remember him as a short, slender Dane,
who was a fiery preacher and somewhat more strict than the norm during the second decade of the
twentieth century.
This was the time Mrs. Ella MacMaster started the first Camp Fire Girls group in Camas and Kent
Chappell the first Boy Scout troop. Some years later H.B. McAfee, another Presbyterian, became a
scoutmaster, either of Chappell's or another new troop.
As previously noted, the Christmas season was slow to emerge as a major event in the lives of the
people. Christmas, like Easter, was a religious holiday, but the practice of widespread merriment
and lavish gift-giving was yet to come. The myth of Santa Claus and his reindeer was just beginning
to capture the imaginations of small children. The late Mrs. Edith Hall, who came to Camas in 1912,
recalled that the Christmas observance was structured around the church school and became an
event for the whole Presbyterian family. For most people the annual program in the church
basement was all there was to Christmas.
Mrs. Hall recalled that the young people worked for weeks on recitations, cantatas, pageants and
tableaux, bringing to life the mystery of the birth of the Christ child. Angels visited the shepherds;
wise men followed a bright tinsel star that hung on a curtain in the east; animals in the stable
looked on with dumb detachment as the Great Event was re-enacted each Christmas Eve.
After the program and not few cases of stage fright, eyes turned to the big fir tree. It flickered with
lighted candles attached by metal clips to the tree limbs and was gay with strings of popcorn,
cranberries and multicolored paper chains. Under the tree parents had deposited packages for their
children. Someone, probably the minister, was chosen to distribute the gifts as anticipation
- 19 -
mounted and tension grew. Gifts were usually simple things, homemade or purchased in local
stores. There were dolls, jackknives, baseballs and long-awaited oranges, apples and gingerbread
cookies shaped like good little girls and boys.
THE REV. AND MRS. E. R. D HOLLENSTAD. HE WAS PASTOR FROM
1911 TO 1914. KIM PEERY, MARILYN RASMUSSEN, CHRISTINE DODD,
AND THEIR CHILDREN ARE DIRECT DESCENDANTS THROUGH THE
HOLLENSTADS' DAUGHTER, HELEN (PEERY).
Eventually a Santa Claus replaced the minister and candy was provided for all. Family gift-giving
was transferred from the church school program to a second and more lavish Christmas at home.
Mr. Hollenstad resigned in 1914 and the Rev. L.B. Quick was called. That was the year the
congregation contributed $1,700 to local and general mission causes, including $131 for the church
basement fund and $158 for repairs to the manse. There were now 35 women in the Missionary
Society, seventeen in senior Christian Endeavor and 50 in the junior group. Average church school
attendance was 94 and church membership 95.
Tragedy befell the congregation in the summer of 1915 when Allan Duffin was drowned while
shepherding a barge load of church schoolchildren and teachers to a picnic on Lady's Island. A river
boat bore down on the barge and would have rammed it had not Mr. Duffin intervened. In the
struggle to push it away, he fell into the river and gave his life for those on board, including
members of his own family.
Alfred C. Allen was elected an elder to fill the vacancy on the Session, and was immediately elected
clerk, serving in that position for nine years. Mr. Allen was an employee of the MacMaster store, and
the then-sensitive office of clerk continued its close ties with the merchant family, which had
started in 1883 and continued until 1921, a period of 38 years.
- 20 -
Mr. and Mrs. Quick were popular with the congregation. They had served as missionaries to China
and were full of interesting stories about that mysterious country. The Quicks were gentle and kind,
and within a year the membership shot up to 108, church school attendance to 130 and 38
members of the church school also became members of the church. Mr. Quick may have worked too
hard because in December of 1916 he was forced by ill health to resign.
The following year the congregation called the Rev. Monroe G. Everett at a salary of $1,000 a year.
The value of the dollar was now beginning to erode, due to the war in Europe. Then America joined
the war. When Mr. Everett resigned in 1919 his $1,000 salary bought only $500 worth of food and
clothing. He went to what is now Oregon State University to set up a Presbyterian campus ministry.
His success as a student pastor eventually led to his appointment to the faculty of Trinity University
in Texas.
Mr. Everett was big in stature, and he and his wife were popular with the young people. His work
here and with one young lady from Camas at OSU, resulted in her giving her life to full-time
Christian service, as we shall see later.
During World War I church activities seemed to go on as usual, if Session minutes are any criterion.
Local Protestant churches were having a hard time getting people out to Sunday evening services
and decided that the Sunday night movies in the old Opera House were the culprit. This frame
structure was at the northwest corner of what is now Northeast Third Avenue and Adams Street.
Churchmen attended council meetings and met with the theater owner and worked out an
arrangement whereby the churches would replace the movies with union evening services in the
theater, paying rent from the collection. While this service was going on, the Christian Endeavor
societies held joint meetings at one of the churches. This arrangement failed to be self-supporting
and those "sinful" movies returned.
About this time the young people of the Christian Endeavor took over a Sunday evening service.
Apparently something transpired that offended some adults. The minutes of the next Session
meeting noted that no group henceforth should be permitted to take over a service without the
express and explicit approval of Session. Mr. Everett took this slapping-down without comment, at
least on the record.
- 21 -
THEY RAN TO SAVE THEIR SOULS!
Revival services were common throughout the country during the first two decades of the twentieth
century, often sponsored by groups of local Protestant churches. They featured itinerant preachers
who conducted a series of evening services in a church, hired hall or, sometimes in summer, in a
tent. The purpose was to win converts and to restore salvation to those who had strayed from the
fold.
The evangelists usually took the proceeds of the nightly collections for their efforts. Some
evangelistic teams became big business.
Many non-churchgoers attended these meetings simply to be entertained, as the preachers were
usually witty and often engaged in outrageous platform antics to make their points. Local
Presbyterians were cool to this kind of evangelism, even though the most famous preacher of that
era was a Presbyterian named Billy Sunday.
But one revival series was held in the Presbyterian church in about 1914 that Mrs. Hazel Olds
remembers well. The speaker was eloquent and emotional and preached "hell-fire and brimstone"
as the inevitable reward awaiting unrepentant sinners. Hazel and some other teenagers were so
frightened they quickly responded to the invitation to come forward at the end of the service.
"We literally ran up the aisle to save our souls," Hazel recalls.
- 22 -
5. THE PROHIBITION YEARS
The decade of the 20's was ushered in throughout the country by the celebration of a great
Protestant "victory," the enactment of the Eighteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution —
national prohibition. Camas churches held a union service on January 11, 1920, five days before
alcoholic beverages became illegal, to herald this victory over the forces of the Devil, who was
epitomized by the contemporary cartoon character, "John Barleycorn."
St. John's had long supported prohibition with contributions to "temperance education," a
euphemism for a national campaign to impose abstinence. Speakers from the Anti-Saloon League
and similar groups were invited to worship services. Many Presbyterian women were active in the
local chapter of the Women's Christian Temperance Union that engaged in "temperance" education
and lobbying. Some Presbyterians voted for the candidates for President put up by a national
Prohibition Party.
Congress passed the prohibition amendment in 1917 and submitted it to the states, which ratified it
in one year and one week. Over 80 percent of the combined membership of the ratifying
legislatures voted for the amendment.
The amendment was repealed fourteen years later in 1933. Even Mormon-dominated Utah voted to
repeal.
In the early 1920's the Session grappled with the problem of poor attendance at midweek prayer
meetings, which, like attendance at Sunday evening services, was continuing to erode. Somebody
came up with the idea of asking members to pledge to attend at least one prayer meeting a month.
This was approved and pledge cards were circulated, but nothing permanent came of it. Members
were also asked to devote at least 30 minutes a week to some church activity in addition to
attending church school and worship services.
Another growing problem was the poor response to special offerings for the various mission
causes. This was before these activities were included in the annual budget. When a certain Sunday
was designed for a foreign mission offering, the attendance was so poor that elders were
embarrassed to remit the small sum that was given. So a special effort was made to contact those
who were not in church on Foreign Mission Sunday. A total of $128 was finally raised.
After Mr. Everett resigned, guest ministers filled the pulpit for fourteen months. Eventually the
congregation called the Rev. James R. Edgar in 1920. He served for about a year and a half. The
Edgars were from New England. He is remembered as tall and distinguished looking, a man of some
style and flair — and both Mr. and Mrs. Edgar had the inevitable New England accent.
Mrs. Edgar was a brilliant, inspirational and charming woman, who spent many hours with high
school girls. In fact, she was interested in all high school activities and particularly what the
students were learning. At one time, she gave a talk to the PTA disclosing what she had learned
from students — some good things and some not so good — and pointing out specifically what she
considered flaws in the educational process. It created quite a stir.
Mr. Edgar was succeeded in 1922 by the Rev. W.O. Benthin, whose salary of $1,800 a year was the
highest offered to date. The increase from the usual $1,000 annual salary was a response to
inflation that occurred during and after World War I. Actually, the $1,800 salary was worth less at
- 23 -
the time than the $1,000 paid before the war. However, a recession came along and deflated prices
to the point the new salary scale was considered “adequate.”
Mr. and Mrs. Benthin were proper and reserved people. She was a very good woman and very quiet,
and always referred to her husband as "Mr. Benthin."
Money was now easier to come by and in 1922 the congregation had its first $4,000 budget,
bolstered to some extent by including the benevolence giving of the Missionary Society and the two
young people's organizations. That year the congregation budgeted $3,000 for local mission and
$1,000 for mission outside of Camas, a new record.
In July of that year one of the last of the famed Chautauqua lecture series came to Camas and the
Session gave over the Sunday evening service to the kickoff meeting. (The rest of the meetings were
usually held in a big tent.) The minister was also given permission to invite the women of the
church to take charge of the service, the first time on record that women were invited into the
"sacred" area of the chancel.
Local people showed a lot of concern after the first World War for the suffering in the Near East.
Old-timers remember the plight of the Armenians. As children they were admonished to "clean up
your plate — remember the starving Armenians." The Methodists and Presbyterians held at least
one joint service to hear a speaker on the subject, and the Session sent letters to the President and
members of Congress urging that they use their "good offices" to protest innocent sufferers.
The Benthins stayed for three years. In January of 1925 the Camas congregation extended a call to
the Rev. Herrick Lane for $1,800 a year, but with the addition for the first time of a moving
allowance of $150. A few members still remember Mr. Lane for his beautiful singing voice.
Out of Christian charity, the Session at one meeting voted to send $100 to the minister of the
struggling Ilwaco church, who was being paid less than the going rate for his services.
From earliest times, church school was for Christians of all ages and men's and women's classes
were well attended. In the 1920's a junior church was added for the older children and those of
high school age. This followed church school and was held at the same time as the adult worship,
after which it was patterned.
About this time St. John's started an outreach to Oak Park, then an unincorporated area outside of
Camas. An adult, usually Hugh MacMaster, picked up children in the area and drove them to the
Presbyterian Church school. Mac's big sedan could hold upwards of a dozen giggling bodies. Later a
midweek service was held in Oak Park for the children after school and was sometimes called
junior church in Session minutes.
The Rev. Mr. Lane kept postponing his installation as pastor. Finally, a year after he was called, he
offered his resignation, commenting that he and the Session had too many differences of opinion.
Session members assured him that they did not want him to leave, and the installation was held.
The minister apparently was not used to the strong opinions of a few Session members, who had
been giving ministers a bad time for twenty years.
- 24 -
Mr. Lane resigned a year later
and the congregation called
for the first and only time a
non-Presbyterian,
the
minister
of
Bethel
Congregational Church in
Washougal, the Rev. William
B. Mahon. He was a portly
man, who wore a clerical
collar in the pulpit. Many
young people considered him
a little "stuffy." His wife was a
lady of good taste, especially
in clothes, and her finery was
the envy of many.
Presbyterians, in common
with most other Protestant
families, were still straitJOHN AND ALICE CURRIE AT A CEREMONY CONFERRING A CAMAS
laced about what was
FIRST CITIZEN AWARD ON JOHN. HE WAS A FOUNDER OF CLARKE
considered
proper
MASONIC LODGE, TREASURER OF THE CHURCH AND A LONG-TIME
entertainment.
Sunday
ELDER AND CITY ATTORNEY. ALICE WAS A DEVOTED CHURCH
movies were frowned upon
WORKER.
because it was the Lord's
Day. Weekday movies were shunned unless the films had been approved by the pastor or some
responsible group. Playing pool was considered improper for Christians, not for the game itself but
for the environment in which it was usually played, namely, the pool hall. This was considered a
haven for loafers and was often operated in conjunction with a "blind pig" —that is, a source of
illegal booze during Prohibition. Many Christian families did not permit card playing because of the
association with gambling.
Sometime in the early or mid 1920's a "junior building" was erected east of the church where the
horse shed used to be. It was for fourth, fifth and sixth grade church school classes. The best guess
of those who remember it is that the building was about 20 x 24 feet, a single room that was
partitioned with curtains strung on wires. In the '30's it caused nothing but trouble for the
maintenance committee of the trustees. It definitely hastened the time when the congregation
realized that the days of the little church on the hillside were numbered.
Tragedy hit the congregation — and the community — in 1925 when three boys, two of them
Presbyterians, died of meningitis. Billy Currie, 11, was the son of John D. and Alice Currie, and
Bobby Gittings, 7, was the son of John and Rena Gittings. Billy had belonged to a neighborhood gang
who were preparing themselves to become Boy Scouts when they reached the age of 12. This was
before Cub Scouting had been instituted. Billy's father, in his grief, continued to work with the other
boys and a year later obtained a charter to organize a lodge of the Boy Rangers of America.
The Ranger program was designed for boys 8 to 12 and the rituals and activities were based on
American Indian lore. Each lodge was organized into tribes bearing the names of authentic Indian
nations, and each young brave was given a name taken from tribal records. Each started as a
- 25 -
papoose and could earn five advanced degrees of prowess. Eagle feathers were awarded for
achievements, like merit badges in Scouting, and officers had Indian titles.
Scores of boys from Presbyterian families were members through the quarter century that "J.D."
sponsored the lodge, and many Presbyterian fathers assisted at the weekly meetings and summer
camps. At its peak the lodge had a membership of over 60 "wild Indians." Many middle-aged local
men still have fond memories of their experiences as Rangers and remember with love and respect
their adult leader whom they called "Tecumseh," after the famous Shawnee chief.
The present J.D. Currie Youth Camp on LaCamas Lake was named in honor of this St. John's elder
who, denied by fate from seeing his own son grow into manhood, was a second father to hundreds
of other men's sons, until his own death.
In the 1920's the wheezy old foot-powered church organ was replaced with a piano and moved to
the junior building for the church school. Some believe the organ dated back to 1886.
Times were good in the late 1920's and Mr. Mahon's salary was raised to $2,000 a year. In the 192728 fiscal year, giving rose to over $5,000, membership to 143 and enrollment in the church school
to 219.
One evening in 1928, the Session heard a complaint that unauthorized worshippers were partaking
of communion. The elders decided to use communion tokens to be issued to communicants in good
standing as they were checked off the membership roll. This failed to solve the problem as 15
persons somehow managed to receive the elements without their "tickets." The clerk was then
ordered to keep individual attendance records in order to stamp out the "desecration."
(Presbyterians long since have observed "open" communion available to all believers whether
church members or not.)
For the 1929 Lenten season the Session approved the holding of "cottage" prayer meetings in
various homes and a two-week series of revival meetings in the sanctuary.
An important influence in the life of the church was the organizing of an activist group of women
calling themselves the Fortnightly Club. They met for devotions and were among the best fund
raisers in town. They held bazaars and food sales and served dinners once a month to the Kiwanis
Club, which met then in the various churches. They built up a bank account that at one time, during
the Great Depression, was larger than the annual congregation budget. They were careful how they
spent their money and bailed out the church in many an emergency, as we shall see. (Once they
loaned funds to the church on a note and charged interest at six percent!)
At a Session meeting in 1929 the clock was ordered removed from the sanctuary. No explanation
was given. Did it cause a distraction as restless worshippers turned to look at it during an especially
long sermon? Or did it cramp Mr. Mahon's preaching style? Sermons were longer in those days and
worshippers at the 11 o'clock service seldom could plan on getting out before 12:30. (This is
believed to be the reason why 2 p.m. became almost universally the hour Protestants sat down to
Sunday dinner.)
- 26 -
AMY FALER WAS ST. JOHN'S OWN 'SISTER KENNY'
A quiet influence in the life of the congregation for over 60 years was a sweet, gentle and dedicated
spinster named Amy Faler. She came to Camas in 1910 from the Midwest where she had trained to
be a nurse. She quickly earned a reputation with local doctors, most of whose patients were
treated in their homes instead of hospitals.
When 17-year-old Helen Duncan (Craig) was stricken by polio in 1925 and was completely
paralyzed, three Portland specialists gave practically no hope for her recovery. But Camas' Dr. Don
C. Urie, an innovator, would not give up. He decided to try a treatment involving massage and heat
applications, a departure from the orthodox treatment of the time, and assigned Amy to the case.
For three months Amy was at Helen's bedside, day and night, massaging, applying heated pads,
massaging again, almost endlessly. Between treatments she knelt beside the bed and nurse and
patient prayed together. Miraculously, Helen completely recovered, in time to graduate with her
high school class.
Fifteen years later an Australian nurse, Sister Elizabeth Kenny, introduced her polio treatment in
the U.S. and revolutionized medical practice.
Amy could not afford to continue her nursing education and eventually had to do housework and
odd jobs to support her in the dilapidated family home she shared with a sister. For ten years she
was custodian of the church. Loving children, she taught church school and operated the nursery
during worship services. When a younger sister died, leaving a small son, Jamie, Amy helped make
a home for him. Old-timers remember this precocious child as one who could quote scripture like a
theologian. It is said he became a physicist.
In her self-effacing way Amy served her Lord in Camas for 62 years, leaving this life in June of 1972
at the age of 87.
- 27 -
6. DEPRESSION BATTERS THE CHURCH
The stock market crash in the fall of 1929 presaged trouble ahead for the churches. Despite
promises from the White House that recovery was "just around the corner," the business and
industrial world was in deep gloom.
Mr. Mahon resigned in April of the following year and it looked as though it would take many
months to find an acceptable minister, so the Session offered the manse for rent for $30 a month.
Meanwhile, church giving plummeted, symptomatic of the business slowdown then gripping the
country. Finally, in November, the congregation hired a new minister as stated supply. He was the
Rev. Carroll Howard Pederson, his contract to be for one year at a salary of $1,800 (hopefully).
The depression deepened further the following year. The minister's contract was renewed with his
salary cut to $1,350. By 1932 the annual budget was down to $2,050 and mission giving was pegged
at $79. Membership dropped to 115 and the church school enrollment to 140.
The minister reported to Session that Sunday evening services were a lost cause and that he could
better devote his efforts to the young people's societies instead.
Both Mr. and Mrs. Pederson had excellent singing voices. She sang many solos and he assumed for a
year the duty of choir director. As a result, the choir began to grow in stature while other activities
fell, like the economy, into depression.
As the depression worsened the congregation started having monthly potluck suppers. This was a
way to develop a closer fellowship at a time when cuts in salaries and wages made dining out and
other forms of entertainment too expensive. These suppers have continued on more or less a
regular basis ever since.
The General Assembly lifted the ban on women elders in 1929 and in 1932 the first women were
elected to the St. John's Session: Mrs. Elizabeth Duffin and Mrs. Rose Scott. They were among the
first women elders in the entire United States and probably the very first in the presbytery. Mrs.
Scott served until 1941, Mrs. Duffin until her death in 1945. Both were replaced by men, but in
1947 two more women were ordained: Mrs. Edith Hall and Mrs. May Ulowetz. No woman made it to
the Board of Trustees until 1955 when Mrs. Roberta Price was elected. Sometime later church
bylaws were amended to require the election of women elders.
For generations the congregation had seemed to feel that women's work was not in the government
of the church. Some defended the status quo by reasoning that the only way to keep men interested
in the church was to elect them to positions of authority. Women did not need this kind of
motivation.
Mr. Pederson was the first minister to provide elders with training in their duties and
responsibilities. At nearly every Session meeting he devoted a few minutes to explaining the
constitution and practices that were peculiar to the Presbyterian form of government. He probably
stepped on some toes in the process; some local practices were not fully in accord with "the book."
By 1933 church finances were at an irreducible minimum, the minister agreed to a salary of $1,040
a year, plus an additional $72 for doing the janitor work. This didn't work out very well as the
janitor work had a low priority in the minister's week, and later one of the trustees offered to be
- 28 -
janitor for $60 a year. The entire budget for the 1933 fiscal year was pared to $1,625, lowest since
before World War I.
The depression had lowered most prices to their 1883 levels, but the general standard of living had
been raised to the point where a salary of $1,040 a year was not adequate. The 1883 minister rode
a borrowed horse or had free transportation on a river boat. The 1933 minister had to provide his
own car and gasoline, his own utilities, a better standard of dress for himself and his family and
many other amenities unknown in frontier days.
It was in 1932 that Elizabeth Currie, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. John Currie, was commissioned as the
first member of St. John's to elect full time Christian service as a career.
Elizabeth was a student at Oregon Agricultural College (now Oregon State University) at Corvallis
when she decided to become a missionary. Her decision was influenced by several factors, not the
least being the strong missionary society at St. John's and the numerous missionaries home on
furlough whom she had met as a girl. In college her inspiration was the Rev. Monroe J. Everett, the
former Camas pastor, who was in charge of the Westminster Fellowship on campus.
One of the regulations of the Board of Missions was that recruits must be at least 22 years of age.
Elizabeth was only 21 when she was graduated from college, so she returned to Camas and worked
as a reporter on the Camas Post and as the East County correspondent for the Vancouver
Columbian.
She reapplied to the Mission Board a year later and was
accepted and appointed to teach at Forsythe Memorial School
in Los Angeles, a Presbyterian school for Mexican girls. In 1931
the Presbytery of Los Angeles sent her to the San Francisco
Theological Seminary in San Anselmo for additional study.
Following indoctrination in the New York City headquarters of
the Mission Board, she was sent to India, sailing from San
Francisco on September 12, 1932. In Calcutta she was told to
go to Punjab for language studies, which took over a year. Her
first assignment was that of itinerant rural evangelist. Her next
assignments were in Christian school administration, including
principal of a girls' high school. Her final assignment was that
of librarian in the boys' high school of the United Christian
schools. Her duties included (1) development of the school
library; (2)director of audio-visual services; (3) distribution of
Christian literature; (4) custodian of adult literary materials
and (5) substitute for the principal while he was on deputation
in the United States; plus anything else that needed a spare
hand.
ELIZABETH
CURRIE
IN
A
PORTRAIT MADE AFTER SHE
RETURNED TO CAMAS FROM A
QUARTER OF A CENTURY OF
SERVICE AS A MISSIONARY.
Elizabeth kept in close touch with the women of her home church. A missionary guild was named
for her and many fundraising ventures were undertaken to help her in her work. Returning on her
three furloughs, she was in great demand as a speaker for various church and secular organizations.
She was the living symbol of the longtime commitment of St. John's congregation to the support of
mission causes.
- 29 -
⋆ ⋆ ⋆
The financial situation became even more desperate as the depression wore on. The treasurer got
behind in the minister's salary and in payments to the pension fund. A lot owned by the church on
Adams Street was sold for $500. Through an arrangement with the Board of National Missions, part
of the money that had been paid on a loan was transferred to the pension fund. And the Fortnightly
Club came through with cash, labor and materials to repaint the church and fix the roof. Two
trustees prepaid their annual pledges in advance so that the church could continue paying its more
pressing bills.
St. John's big church school sometimes had more cash on hand than the church treasurer and
repeated efforts were made to "milk" the school for congregational support. Some old-timers
remember that harsh words were exchanged between trustees and church school officers. But the
officers stood their ground, usually with success.
MRS. ELIZABETH DUFFIN (LEFT) AND MRS. ROSE SCOTT WERE THE
FIRST WOMEN ELECTED BY THE CONGREGATION AS RULING ELDERS.
MRS. DUFFIN WAS CAMAS' FIRST SCHOOLTEACHER. BOTH WOMEN
WERE DEDICATED MEMBERS OF THE MISSIONARY SOCIETY AND
WOMEN'S CHRISTIAN TEMPERANCE UNION.
After the 1932 presidential
election, the economic
picture began to improve.
Locally the paper mill,
which had spread the work
by using a shorter work
week, started up one or two
idle
paper
machines.
Congressional approval of
the National Recovery Act,
the reopening of solvent
banks after a bank holiday
and the increases in wages
and prices mandated by the
NRA restored a measure of
confidence. As business
picked up on the West
Coast, demand for paper
followed.
The bankruptcy of the
MacMaster store occurred
at this time, affecting many
Presbyterians. The store had grown into a two-story brick building on Northeast Adams Street
between Third and Fourth Avenues, now used for paper mill offices. Ironically, the store might have
weathered the depression had its owners not sustained a severe loss from the "skimming" activities
of a trusted employee just before the depression started. He, too, was a Presbyterian.
The congregation observed its 50th anniversary in December of 1933. Three events were held: a
morning service for 100 worshippers, an evening service for 150, including visitors from other
churches, and a church supper the following Thursday night. For the Sunday morning service a
former minister, E.R.D. Hollenstad, was the preacher. The celebration seemed to lift the spirits of
the struggling congregation.
- 30 -
Early in 1934 Mr. Pederson reported to Session that he had conducted a religious service for one of
the camps of the Civilian Conservation Corps in the Columbia National Forest (now the Gifford
Pinchot National Forest) east of Camas. Camas and Washougal were often visited by these young
men to spend their meager pocket money and to be entertained by churches, lodges and service
clubs.
Church finances began to improve, thanks in part to a $700 gift from the ladies of the Fortnightly
Club. The minister's salary was raised to $1,140 and the janitor to $90 a year. By 1935 the minister
was paid $1,200 a year and the membership of the church bounced back to 130. (The deflated U.S.
dollar was now back to its 1915 purchasing power.)
A big item about this time was the need for a garage for Mr. Pederson's car. Guess who put up the
$225 for materials and labor? The Fortnightly Club!
Meanwhile, the little church building on the hill, now almost 50 years old, was constantly in need of
repairs. Once again the ladies of the Fortnightly Club came to the rescue with cash from their
seemingly bottomless treasury. Presbyterians now began to talk about a new building.
In 1935 the presbytery elected Mr. Pederson a delegate to General Assembly in Cincinnati, and the
Session generously provided him with a salary advance so that he could buy his train ticket and pay
his hotel bill.
Then, in August, the minister announced that he had been called to a church in California and would
be leaving on September 15. His leaving symbolized the end of the Great Depression. He had served
only as a stated supply. He had struggled to exist on a miserable salary. At times there had not been
enough money to pay him and he had to stretch his credit in order to put food on the table. Luckily,
food stores gave credit then and at least two of them were run by Presbyterians.
The search for a new pastor led to the selection of the Rev. John F. Phipps of Idaho. When the
congregation met to vote on him, someone moved that he be hired only as a stated supply. This was
voted down and Mr. Phipps was given a full-fledged call. His salary was to be $1,200 a year, with
four weeks of vacation. The Session voted to send him a $100 salary advance in lieu of moving
expenses.
The new minister, who stayed for over 22 years, introduced many new ideas and provided a type of
leadership that was sorely needed, including the ability to stand up to certain elders without
precipitating a crisis. A church council was set up to coordinate the work of various church organizations and the concept of an annual planning meeting was introduced to set long and short term
goals. The 37-year-old "love affair" with the Methodists was expanded to sharing each other's
worship services during ministers' vacations.
The new minister's wife, Lola, had a beautiful singing voice and was a welcome addition to the
choir. During World War II and until retirement she was a teacher in Washougal High School and is
still remembered by former students for her teaching skills.
Six months after his arrival, Mr. Phipps was elected moderator of the Columbia River Presbytery.
As the community emerged from the depression there was a renewed interest in scouting for both
boys and girls. In 1932 Milton Franklin started Boy Scout Troop 312, and by 1934 it was under the
wings of the Presbyterians. Mr. Phipps, who had been a scout leader in his former parish, gave his
- 31 -
full support to the program. Milt served as scoutmaster for 25 years during which time the troop
became the outstanding one in the area. Through the scouting program, scores of young men have
been motivated to render meaningful service to their community and churches. This has been an
ecumenical troop with boys of many faiths and is now over 50 years old and still serving.
One of the most faithful members of the congregation to work with the boys was Lloyd Hutchison
who served as chairman of the troop committee for many years.
The troop spun off an Explorer post in 1946 with Fred Good as the first adviser. The Cub Scout
program was initiated in 1948 with Lee Maybach as cub master.
Meanwhile, Mrs. Bettie Franklin started the first Mariner's group in 1936, which was led by Mrs.
Lyall Burnett and Mrs. Edra Junge and in 1938 the first Girl Scout troop. This grew so fast it was
split into two groups, Bettie heading one, Mrs. Pansy Hutchison the other. Two Brownie troops
were started also, led by Mrs. Clover Redenbaugh and Mrs. Grace Stewart.
From the pioneering work of these Presbyterian women the Girl Scout program in Camas and
Washougal has grown and thrived for 47 years.
In 1936 a group of husbands and wives organized a Schooner Club, a social service organization for
young couples that served the church in many different ways for three decades. One of its early
projects was the building program in the early 1940's, as we shall see.
It was in 1937 that permission was granted by the Session for the choir to wear robes, a practice
that some had frowned upon in the past as being too “high church."
The junior and senior Christian Endeavor societies were revived and the minister struggled with
the waning interest in evening services. It was on-again — off-again for many years, but the coming
of television in the early 1950's ended the struggle for good.
As the local economy emerged from the depression, the church budget continued to reflect better
times. The minister's salary was raised modestly. Mrs. Harriet Clark started a junior choir and new
hymnals were purchased. The Adelphi Club, successor to the Fortnightly Club, contributed $128 to
the annual budget and in 1938 the congregation gave $152 to national missions.
The question whether ministers should be covered under the new social security system became a
burning national issue. The Session authorized a letter to the congressional delegation opposing the
plan on the issue of separation of church and state, and the "illegal" taxation of religious
organizations. The matter was resolved in Congress by permitting ministers to elect to be covered
on the same basis as self-employed persons, paying their own social security taxes.
In 1938 the Columbia River Presbyterial bestowed a national award on Elizabeth Currie, the
congregation's missionary to India, for outstanding commitment to her Christian faith. This was in
the form of honorary membership on the Board of Foreign Missions, and was accompanied by a
cash gift to the board in her name. Ten years later this same award was to be made to Mrs. May
Ulowetz, a ruling elder, and in subsequent years many other local women were honored, as we shall
see.
- 32 -
7. SEAMS THAT FINALLY BURST
With membership at the 150 level and church school attendance averaging 90 to 100, the situation
in the little frame church and its drafty and leaky junior building became intolerable. At the 1938
planning conference the idea of a new building was officially introduced. At a special congregation
meeting in 1940 a building committee was appointed. The basic plan was to sell the property where
the church stood, move the manse back from Birch Street and build the new edifice on the vacated
property. Some members thought the new building should be downtown where they perceived the
action was. The Lutherans had already made the move three years before and the Catholics were
talking of doing the same. In the end, economics settled the matter. The manse site was already
owned and paid for.
After considerable dickering the building committee obtained an offer from the paper company of
$1,000 for the existing church site. The congregation quickly approved.
Meanwhile, the late Glen Smith, a paper company draftsman, agreed to design a structure and came
up with a brick faced building of Gothic flavor with real buttresses (exposed concrete pillars) to
support the roof trusses, similar to cathedral churches in Europe. The sanctuary would hold 175
persons, plus 15 in the balcony, and the basement would include a fellowship hall, kitchen and
church school cubicles. Mr. Smith estimated the cost of about $15,000 with most of the labor
donated ($75,000 in 1983 dollars).
The next problem was financing. It was decided to raise $5,000 from members and borrow the rest
from the Board of National Missions that had already financed the last three building programs for
the congregation. Some said $5,000 was "impossible," that the times were not right for such a
program.
There was reason for pessimism. After the sharp rise in the economy following the depression, a
recession (newly coined word) occurred in 1937 and in the following three years it was touch-andgo again with church finances. In 1940 the minister's salary had been increased to $1,800 a year,
but the realities of the times dictated a revision downward to $1,564.30, which took all that was left
in the bank when his last check of the church year was written. In the fiscal year ending March 31,
1941, the expenses of the church amounted to $2,092.40 and the receipts were $2,092.54, a
difference of 14 cents! During this thin income period the Adelphi Club and the other church groups
were asked to contribute to the operating budget and at the end of the fiscal year a loan of $150 was
obtained from the bank.
The congregation was canvassed for the building fund and wonder of wonders — almost $5,000
was pledged. When work was started on the new building, the second World War was raging in
Europe. France had been overrun and Britain was under siege. Teams of members and friends of St.
John's labored beside paid masons and plumbers, all under the direction of a local contractor who
had been hired as construction foreman. Members of the new Schooner Club were among the most
faithful volunteer workers.
Some members had misgivings about the cross proposed for the top of the copper steeple. They
thought it would confuse the church with the 40-year-old Catholic Church across the street; a few
felt that it was just too "Catholic." But the Session decided that sentiment against the cross was not
all that strong, and the tendency in new Protestant churches was to display the cross as
prominently as did the Catholics. (The new church did create some confusion. Catholics who were
- 33 -
new in town couldn't believe this imposing new edifice was
Presbyterian, while the little frame St. Thomas across the street
was their church!)
When the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor in December of 1941,
everything came to a halt as the stunned congregation sorted
out its options. The members finally decided to go ahead with
the building. The only thing that had to be sacrificed was the
copper steeple. Copper was one of the most critical of the
strategic metals in the war economy. Instead, Mr. Smith
designed a modest "bonnet" to support the cross and nobody
but the designer himself really missed the steeple that never
was.
Meanwhile, the bell had been moved from the old church to the
new belfry and beginning on January 4, 1942, rang out at 6 p.m.
daily during a national week of prayer proclaimed by President
Franklin D. Roosevelt. Hearing a church bell, everyone was
asked to stop and pray for the protection of the nation, still
almost defenseless from enemy attack. Thousands prayed here
and all over the country who had not bowed their heads since
they had last recited "Now I lay me down to sleep…"
DWIGHT STEBBINS WAS CLERK
OF SESSION FOR 20 YEARS AND
THE PASTOR'S GOOD RIGHT
ARM. A BACHELOR, DWIGHT
WAS
INVOLVED
IN
MANY
ACTIVITIES, INCLUDING MEN'S
COUNCIL AND THE CHURCH
SCHOOL.
(Two friends of the congregation, J. Harvey Clark and his fatherin-law Frank Burwell, had volunteered to move and install the
bell, which they accomplished with block and tackle and a truck. Later Mr. Clark fashioned a star of
electric lights which he erected every Christmas season over the cross. This inspired many
telephone calls and letters of appreciation from residents on the Oregon side of the Columbia to
whom the star seemed suspended over the horizon.)
As the building neared completion early in 1942, Mr. Phipps announced that he had volunteered to
be a navy chaplain, but would like to see the new building finished before he left. By mid-April the
work was substantially complete except for new pews and other finishing touches in the sanctuary.
At the annual meeting there was a brief service of dedication, and on Sunday, April 26, the first
worship service was held in the basement Fellowship Hall.
Meanwhile, Mr. Phipps received word that all positions in the chaplain service had been filled. Still
wanting to serve in some wartime capacity, he accepted employment with the Housing Authority in
Vancouver. He was to be a tenant relations officer to work with the occupants of shipyard worker
housing then under construction. The congregation voted him a leave of absence in October. In
January it accepted his offer to serve as stated supply for a stipend of $75 a month. Later the
arrangement was expanded so he could be available Saturdays, Sundays and Wednesday evenings
for pastoral duties.
The first worship service in the new sanctuary was held on February 7, 1943, and the building was
rededicated the following September 28 at an evening service. Dr. Paul Wright, popular minister of
First Church in Portland, preached. The regular meeting of presbytery was held in the new building
the same weekend and some visiting commissioners stayed over for the ceremony.
- 34 -
THE CHANCEL OF THE NEW CHURCH AS IT LOOKED IN 1943.
When Mr. Phipps received his leave of absence he and his wife Lola gave up the manse, which was
then rented. The Phipps’s later purchased a home two blocks away.
There was a surge of patriotism and of war-related activity among most organizations in the
community, and the churches were no exception. A special committee was set up in St. John's to
keep in touch with about 60 men and women in the armed forces, sending those church bulletins,
religious materials and other mailings. Funds were contributed to a denomination-wide wartime
service commission and members of the Women's Bible Class did sewing for Barnes Army Hospital
in Vancouver and for war refugees in many parts of the world.
By 1945 almost everybody had a good job, salaries had increased in line with inflation and many
drew large amounts of overtime pay. The time was ripe to reduce the debt on the new building; a
quickie fund drive raised $5,000 with little difficulty. One of the larger gifts was made by the
Adelphi Club. In August the war ended, following the destruction of two Japanese cities by atomic
bombs. By the end of the year things were returning to normal. Church membership reached a new
high of 232 and there were 212 enrolled in the church school.
Peace brought an explosion of peacetime activities in the congregation and a short-lived attempt
was made to revive Sunday evening services. The young people's organizations were renamed
Westminster Fellowship which was the name adopted by Presbyterians nationwide. A Mariners
Club was started for couples too old for the Schooner Club. Mr. Phipps returned to a full-time
schedule at a salary of $3,000 a year, highest in the congregation's history, reflecting the impact of
post-war inflation and the growing membership.
This was when the Women's Association was organized and absorbed the membership of the
Missionary Society, the Adelphi Club and the Women's Bible Class, which continued as guilds. A
- 35 -
church library was started and a church newsletter was launched. A Youth Budget System was
inaugurated in which members of the two fellowships and the church school made annual pledges
to a budget, as their parents did to the church. The Session voted to accept a quota of $2,875 for the
denomination's Restoration Fund to be used for rebuilding churches, schools and mission facilities
in war-ravaged areas of the world.
In the years following the war, Presbyterians lost a church neighbor and gained another. The
Catholic congregation across the street moved to a beautiful new facility at the east end of
Northeast Fourth Avenue and the Methodists built a fine new church on 14th Avenue and Franklin
Street.
By 1947 the Youth Budget had increased giving by more than 100 percent. In that year the
Women's Association adopted a French war orphan in absentia, and the young people, for the first
time in many years were invited to take charge of a Sunday worship service. (This time there were
no repercussions!) A fund was started for a pipe organ and a baby grand piano was purchased for
the sanctuary. Elizabeth Currie returned to Camas from her mission post in India for a furlough.
Plans were firmed up to build a basement under the old manse, now used for church school classes
and christened Westminster House.
As already noted, presbyterial conferred honorary membership
on the Board of Foreign Missions on Elizabeth Currie in 1938
and May Ulowetz in 1948. The newly-organized Women's
Association adopted the idea as a local project and in 1948
selected Mrs. Elizabeth Duncan for membership on the national
board and Mrs. Alice Currie, Elizabeth's mother, on the foreign
missions board. Since then seventeen other women have been
so honored. Their names are listed in the appendix.
MRS. ELIZABETH DUNCAN WAS
ONE OF THE FIRST TWO
WOMEN HONORED BY THE
WOMEN'S ASSOCIATION WITH
MEMBERSHIP
IN
PRESBYTERIAN
MISSION
BOARDS, BOTH IN 1948. THE
OTHER, MRS. ALICE CURRIE, IS
PICTURED ELSEWHERE.
Until 1948 the ministers did their own typing, drafted their
wives to help, or handled their correspondence in longhand.
Volunteers were often called upon to cut stencils, run the
duplicating machine and address and stuff envelopes. In the
1948 budget there appeared for the first time an item for a parttime church secretary to be paid 50 cents an hour, not to exceed
600 hours a year. During the next 35 years the wage and hours
were increased until it became a halftime position. For many
years the church treasurer also served as secretary. (See
appendix for names.)
The provision for a secretary was timely, as about this time Mr.
Phipps was elected stated clerk of the presbytery, a position
that required a great deal of correspondence.
Activities, outreach and church membership continued to grow.
Packages of clothing and money were sent to people in countries still trying to recover from the
great war. Giving to mission increased. The Presbyterian fiscal year was changed from April 1March 31 to the calendar year. A sophisticated new graded curriculum, "Christian Faith and Life,"
was adopted for the church school. Prepared under the direction of General Assembly, it was so
good that some other denominations patterned their curricula after it.
- 36 -
Membership in the church reached 339 at the end of 1950. The trustees purchased a Balcolm &
Vaughn memorial organ of 387 pipes, which was dedicated with a concert featuring a well-known
Portland organist. Almost at once interest focused on purchasing chimes to be operated from the
organ console. A memorial fund was set up and in less than two years the chimes were installed and
dedicated.
Bylaws were changed in 1951 to provide for rotating elders off the Session, and a Board of Deacons
was established with six members. Elders were restricted to two consecutive terms and were
barred from re-election to the Session for 12 months. The same applied to the deacons. These
bylaws also required that at least two women should serve on the Session at all times. The rotation
of elders quickly brought new faces to the Session; in the next 20 years more persons were
ordained than in the previous 68-year history of the church. (See appendix.)
The deacons, all women for the first eleven years, were originally called deaconesses, but in 1961
the designation of deacon was applied when men were first elected to that body. Duties of the
deacons are to minister to those in need, to the sick, the friendless and to any in distress. Over the
years, St. John's deacons developed a pattern of duties that included such specific activities as
delivering lilies and poinsettias to shut-ins following the Easter and Christmas worship services;
preparing the elements for communion; supervising the nursery, recruiting ushers and greeters;
obtaining flowers for the chancel; making church-owned hospital equipment available to the ill and
convalescing; and making friendship calls on members of the congregation, who were divided into
twelve "parish groups."
Two Sunday morning services were tried for a time to take care of the growing membership, but
were not too well received, as they seemed to divide the congregation and thus curtailed fellowship.
The Sunday church school continued to grow also, reaching an average attendance in 1951 of
almost 200. Thus, ten years after the new building had been completed, there was talk of further
expansion.
A lot on the corner of Thirteenth and Birch, our present parking lot, was offered to the church, and
the Wheelers, who lived in a bungalow next to the church, indicated they might sell. The vacant lot
was purchased in 1953 on a contract that was paid off in less than two years, mostly from special
gifts. The Session set up a building fund and invited gifts and memorials toward a new structure for
our ministry to youth.
In 1952 the Session voted to try a new special world relief offering at Easter called the "One Great
Hour of Sharing." It has been collected ever since. In 1953 Mr. Phipps advised the Session that he
had turned down an offer to become an associate pastor of First Presbyterian Church in Vancouver
that was also facing a major building program. By now the trustees were usually meeting jointly
with the Session in order to improve communications between the two bodies and expedite
decision-making, especially concerning the building program.
The congregation was incorporated under the laws of the state as a non-profit organization. The
principal advantage seen at the time was the protection it provided to individual members from a
possible liability judgment that exceeded the liquid assets of the church. Eventually the Session was
to obtain liability insurance for added protection.
After many false starts, a men's organization was put together and called the Pastor's Fellowship,
which became affiliated with the National Council of Presbyterian Men. It started as a monthly
- 37 -
meeting in the evening, but switched to Saturday breakfast prepared by two ladies of the Women's
Association. Later on the men cooked for themselves. The group attended many meetings with
other men in presbytery, weekend retreats, etc., and eventually changed its name to the Men's
Council. Every winter several men drove to Sacramento for the western regional conference of the
National Council, which helped deepen their faith and commitment. The sheer size of these all-male
gatherings staggered the imagination, attracting as many as 1,500 at many sessions.
The men's group continued to function until 1968. One of its more visible activities was the annual
Laymen's Sunday worship service, the first one on October 18, 1953. These services offered an
opportunity to emphasize the doctrine of the priesthood of all believers.
It was in 1955 that Peggy Jean Kestie (Stephens), a sophomore at Lewis and Clark College, was
thrilled to be selected as one of 36 carefully screened American Presbyterian college students to
spend a year in a new program called "Junior Year Abroad." Her assignment: to represent her Lord,
her church and her country at Isabella Thoburn College in Lucknow, India. She was one of six
assigned to that country.
During the school year she attended a Christian work camp at the ashram of E. Stanley Jones in the
Himalayas and a church camp in the Philippines. She visited mission schools and hospitals,
travelled widely and saw the government of India in action.
A highlight was a conference of foreign students with Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru and his
daughter Indira who was destined to become prime minister herself.
Peggy Jean financed her own trip with help from the Women's Association, members of the
congregation, the presbytery and a fund-raising progressive dinner given by the young people of
several Camas churches.
- 38 -
- 39 -
8. ANOTHER BUILDING PROGRAM
By 1955 church membership had risen to 424 and the church school to 292. In January the Session
and trustees, meeting jointly, set a goal for completion of a youth building by October of 1958. To
many it seemed like a pipe dream. Others thought it might materialize by 1960 or 1961. Few
expected it to happen right on schedule. But it did.
There were a few far-sighted members who thought it would be better to spin off another
Presbyterian congregation than to enlarge the existing building. Such a congregation could be
located in a developing suburb, whereas the present church was located in a maturing
neighborhood. The idea was too "far out" to catch on, and most members opted for expanding the
existing plant. Twenty years later the thought of a second congregation started to make sense —
too late.
In mid-year the Wheeler House was purchased for $5,000 and converted into church school
classrooms. Half the cost came from a building fund that had been accumulating, the other half was
financed with a bank loan. At a special congregation meeting in September of the following year, the
building committee was authorized to begin plans for the new building and a firm of architects was
commissioned.
Once they had surveyed the needs of the church and the amount of land available, the architects ran
into a problem. A city ordinance required a certain amount of off-street parking, which ruled out a
separate youth building. So the plans were changed to build onto the east wall of the present
building with two floors for classrooms, an office, library, nursery, fireside room, fellowship hall
and kitchen. This would require covering the Stoller stained glass window, which would have to be
artificially lighted.
Then, out of the blue, someone suggested the sanctuary be enlarged at the same time. The idea'
caught on and won a surprisingly quick approval. In March of 1957 preliminary plans were
submitted to the congregation that provided an addition in the shape of an upside down "L" that
wrapped around the existing building on the east and the extended sanctuary on the north. The
enlarged structure would contain 14,900 square feet of space, compared with the 7,000 feet in the
present church, Westminster House and Wheeler House. Seating capacity in the sanctuary would be
270. To make room for the new construction, the two old houses would be demolished.
The architects estimated the addition would cost around $110,000. The building committee
recommended that $72,000 be raised by a special fund drive and that the remainder be handled
with a mortgage.
With congregational approval, a fund drive was held in May. A total of 175 pledges were received
initially for $68,000. Further gifts eventually raised the amount to $71,000. The drive was a success.
(However, attrition reduced the amount actually paid in to $61,000.)
The next task was to find a lender to provide the mortgage funds. This was a time of "tight money"
and it looked for awhile that the church might have to postpone its building. Then, almost by
accident, a member of the committee approached the manager of a savings and loan association in
Vancouver, who was a devout Christian. He asked to see the congregation's current budget and
operating statement. When he discovered that we were giving nearly $5,000 to the world mission
- 40 -
of our denomination he said he would recommend the loan to his directors. A congregation with
that kind of commitment to mission, he said, was a good risk.
At a special congregation meeting in
November of 1957, a $50,000 first
mortgage was approved plus a $10,000
second mortgage from the Board of
National Missions, its fifth in the 74-year
history of St. John's. Within days bids were
invited and a favorable offer was received
amounting to just under $110,000, slightly
below the architects' estimates. Timing was
a factor. Builders needed the work. (At
1983 costs the bid would have been at least
$350,000!)
While the building program was taking
shape the congregation was busy with
other projects. The General Assembly
challenged congregations all over the land
to take seriously the Presbyterian world
mission by responding generously to new
stewardship goals. The first goal was to
increase each congregation's outreach
JOHN AND LOLA PHIPPS, PHOTOGRAPHED IN 1956 ON THE
TWENTIETH ANNIVERSARY OF HIS PASTORATE. JOHN IS
NOW PASTOR EMERITUS.
- 41 -
beyond the local community to the point where one-third of its total giving would go to General
Assembly and synod causes. In other words, for every $2 budgeted for the local program of the
church $1 would go to world mission.
The goal was well promoted and was embraced by many congregations. Some churches that had
already achieved the $1 for $2 level of giving accepted a $1 for $1 goal, or as much for world
mission as for local. The session of St. John's set 1962 as the target date for achieving the $1 for $2
goal.
In the summer of 1957 Mr. Phipps exchanged pulpits with the pastor of St. Margaret's Church in
Glasgow, Scotland. He purchased a new pulpit robe and a clerical collar to take with him, and the
latter created something of a sensation when he wore it one Sunday before leaving. Not since Mr.
Mahon 25 years earlier had worshippers seen such a collar in the pulpit and many men in the
congregation proceeded to give Mr. Phipps a bad time by calling him "Father." Always a good sport,
Mr. Phipps enjoyed the kidding, but kept on wearing the collar after he returned to Camas.
When the Rev. Murray McGregor arrived from Scotland in June and conducted his first service, the
congregation was delighted to find that he was a young bachelor with a warm personality and an
accent that was no barrier to communication. He found the American liturgy and order of worship
strangely different from the Church of Scotland, but he adapted to it quickly and introduced some
orders of worship from his own tradition. (Mr. Phipps, meanwhile, was coping with unfamiliar ways
at St. Margaret's, and brought back stories of the surprises and awkward moments he experienced.)
Mr. McGregor was greatly interested in the building program at St. John's and in the congregation's
involvement in decisions concerning it. His own church was centuries old, having been built by
Roman Catholics and expropriated by the Presbyterians when the Church of Scotland became the
established church.
In the spring of 1958 the architects ran into a snag. Because of the city's requirement for off-street
parking the chancel could not be designed to provide seating for the choir without some sacrifice of
seating capacity in the sanctuary. Two alternatives were available: split the choir, that is, have the
singers face each other as is done in some old world churches, or put them in the balcony in back of
the sanctuary. The choir director ruled out the split choir. To settle the matter a music professor
from Lewis & Clark College in Portland met with the congregation to help solve what appeared to
be the makings of a crisis. He advised the balcony choir, giving many precedents for it, and the congregation reluctantly went along. This meant moving the organ console to the choir loft also. (It
took a month for most worshippers to get used to the arrangement.)
In addition to the building, the architects also designed the chancel furnishings and fixtures, using a
catalog of church furnishings as a guide, just as the first building committee had done in 1886. A
Vancouver firm specializing in Catholic furnishings built the seven pieces. Individuals and families
subscribed to these as memorials to loved ones. The chancel cross was built by four men of the
congregation. (See appendix.)
As construction progressed, it became necessary to hold church school classes in neighboring
homes. Methodists invited the Presbyterians to worship with them while the sanctuary was being
enlarged, and the church school, probably for the first time in its 75-year history, had a summer
vacation.
- 42 -
The first worship service in the nearly-completed building was held in September of 1958 after the
congregation had learned with shock that Mr. Phipps had accepted a call as assistant pastor of a
church in Burlingame, California. He had only recently been elected moderator of the Synod of
Washington-Alaska after having served a number of years as stated clerk.
The Session set November 9, 1958 as the date of the dedication, just one month short of the 75th
anniversary of the congregation, and a special program was printed for the occasion. The sanctuary
was rededicated at the 11 a.m. service with the general presbyter (executive) of the synod
preaching the sermon. Mr. Phipps flew in from California to lead the litany of dedication and to
preach at the dedication of the Christian Education section in the afternoon. In the evening, the
choir provided a concert entitled, "Church Music Through the Ages."
- 43 -
9. SEVENTY FIVE YEARS YOUNG
The rededication of St. John's enlarged church plant rendered another full-fledged birthday
celebration anti-climactic. Nonetheless, the milestone was observed at the appropriate time in
December, while the congregation and church school were enjoying the abundance of space now
available for the on-going program. Meanwhile, the pastor-seeking committee was working through
a stack of applications of ministers from many parts of the country.
Another highlight of 1958 was the return to Camas of Elizabeth Currie from India, after a quarter
century of service in the mission field. She entered enthusiastically into the life of the congregation
she had left as a young woman. She served in many capacities including that of ruling elder, and
cared for her aging mother until her death. Elizabeth now resides at Westminster Gardens in
Duarte, California, a retirement community for former missionaries of the United Presbyterian
Church. There she lives in fellowship with men and women with whom she had labored for so many
years in the name of the Lord.
In mid-December the pastor-seeking committee introduced the congregation to the Rev. Francis M.
Kirk of Boise, Idaho, as their candidate for minister. Mr. Kirk, a graduate of Stanford University and
Princeton seminary, preached at a Sunday service, and at the special meeting of the congregation
after worship, he was called by unanimous vote.
The year 1958 came to a close with 440 church members and an average church school attendance
of 267.
At the annual meeting two weeks later the congregation learned that the total cost of the building
addition, including furnishings and fixtures, was approximately $120,000, and that about $3,000 in
volunteer labor had been contributed by individuals. Something new was now added to the church
budget: an item for monthly payments on the $60,000 mortgage. But the congregation took this in
stride and also increased its giving both to local and general mission.
During the fall of 1959 the bachelor minister announced his engagement to a pretty registered
nurse from Idaho named Nancy Smith. The marriage took place after Christmas and the
congregation had the pleasant experience of helping the newlyweds meld into the life of the church.
Three children were born to the couple during Mr. Kirk's pastorate.
That Christmas a new offering set up by General Assembly and called "A White Gift at Christmas"
was approved by the Session and has been repeated every Christmas season since.
Meanwhile the Youth Budget that was started 13 years before reached an all-time record giving of
$2,000 in 1959 ($6,000 in current dollars). In those 13 years the youth program and church school
not only were self-supporting but made substantial gifts to the building fund and to general
mission. However, the plan lost its steam in the 1960's and faded away.
Membership reached 491 as 1960 drew to a close and giving to general mission grew to nearly
$8,000. The $1 for $2 was clearly in sight. But the membership total was inflated by the names of
members who had moved away. During 1961 many of these were dropped from the roll and the
year closed with 446 communicants. Our general mission giving rose to nearly $10,000, attaining
the $1 for $2 goal a year ahead of time.
- 44 -
Also, in 1961 a total of 110 pipes were added to the organ. This was also the year a young couples
club was formed.
This was the year the congregation sponsored the resettlement of the Adolph Olschewsky family,
members of the Reformed Church of the Netherlands. They had been forced out of Java in Dutch
Indonesia in a political upheaval led by Communist terrorists. The congregation provided the family
with housing and funds to get established and found the father a job. Before long these new
Americans had learned the language and had become self-supporting.
After exhaustive study of the pros and cons, the congregation voted in 1962 to adopt the
"unicameral" (one house) system of local church government. This action abolished the Board of
Trustees as a separate body and transferred their function to the Session, now enlarged to 15
members. The Session was now the sole governing body of the congregation. However, to satisfy
state laws on corporations, every member of Session also served as a trustee. In amending the
bylaws to bring about this change, the congregation also restricted members of Session to one
three-year term at a time with a 12-month gap before being elected again. The same rule was made
to apply to deacons also.
In 1964 a member of the Board of Deacons, Robert Tacheron, died shortly after establishing a
scholarship fund to help deserving Presbyterian young people obtain college educations. Through
repayments, additional gifts and bank interest, the fund has continued to be available. This was the
first bequest of its kind in the congregation's history.
- 45 -
During the next several years membership continued to a high level, reaching 495 in 1966, largest
ever. General mission giving reached $13,354 the following year, also an all-time record (in
constant 1966 dollars) in the 100-year history of St. John's. From that point, membership began to
drop as did church school attendance, not to recover substantially by the Centennial year. Many
factors were blamed, including a lower birth rate, an older average age of members, and what was
generally referred to as "the times."
During the Viet Nam War the deacons kept in touch with 23 young men and women of the
congregation who served in the armed forces and in the Peace Corps, many of them in Viet Nam,
others elsewhere in the world. Each received a subscription to the Post-Record and appropriate
gifts from time to time.
The congregation was introduced to the International Christian Youth Exchange in 1966 when the
first of three high school students from abroad was hosted by the Wilbur Shillings. She was Mariko
Tanaka from Tokyo. The following year Peter Handel of Weilheim, Germany, was a member of the
Waldon Dailey family, and in 1968 Marjo Marttunen of Helsinki, Finland, lived with the Elbert
Lewis’s. The project was a rich experience for everyone who came in contact with these bright and
charming young people.
Other activities in the decade of the 60's included the "adoption" of fraternal workers in Colombia,
Lewis and Trudy Baker, and of Sue Althouse, a worker among the Christians of Japan. These were
called mission interpretation relationships and involved the exchange of information, the sending
of personal gifts, and visits with the workers when they were home on furlough, but not direct
financial support.
During this period Mr. Kirk served a year as moderator of the Columbia River Presbytery and was
also a commissioner to the General Assembly.
The Schooner Club adopted an orphaned boy in South Africa in absentia, a Girl Scout troop was
sponsored and a special offering was taken for Alaskan earthquake relief. Responding to another
disaster, 200 pounds of bedding and clothing were sent to earthquake victims in Chile.
For the first time in local history, Catholics and Protestants in Camas and Washougal engaged in a
series of interfaith open houses sponsored by the local ministerial association of which the Catholic
priest had become a member. For our part, the Presbyterians hosted the members of St. Thomas
Aquinas on a Sunday afternoon in April of 1967, showing them our sanctuary, explaining the
symbols of our faith and our type of communion service. The Catholics reciprocated with a warm
welcome to their church and an explanation of the mass and their other customs, symbols and
beliefs.
Another appeal for funds for capital projects came from General Assembly in 1968 called the "Fifty
Million (Dollar) Fund" and the Session responded by pledging $20,000 over a three-year period.
The membership was contacted and the pledge was covered. One third of the fund — about $6,700
— was to be retained locally and the Session opted to use it for debt retirement.
In the same year, the Max Brower residence just east of the church came on the market and was
offered to the church for a manse. A price of $20,500 was agreed upon and a loan was obtained
from a local bank for the down payment. A 25-year mortgage was negotiated with the same savings
- 46 -
and loan that had financed the building program eight years before. The Kirks moved into the house
in June.
In addition to contributions for the Fifty Million Fund the congregation was cited for being Number
One in the United States in mission giving for its membership size. The amount was $13,182. Based
on our current membership, this would be equivalent to $22,000 in 1983 dollars.
It was in the late 1960's that regularly scheduled Sunday morning coffee hours were started. Some
were held before the 11 a.m. service of worship, others afterward. On occasions when two services
were held, the coffees were held between the two. Responsibility for these gatherings has rested
with the elders and deacons of the various parishes, the women's organizations and the social clubs.
- 47 -
10. ANNEXING TO OREGON
In the early days the river boat made Portland the economic and social center of the lower
Columbia region, including Clark, Skamania and Klickitat counties. Even after Washington Territory
was spun off from Oregon, these Washington counties continued their primary ties to Portland, and
do so to this day.
Except for a few hundred Seattle newspapers that circulated here until the mid-1930, there existed
a virtual news blackout between the two areas. Radio, and later TV, signals from Seattle could not
reach this far south, so the media carried little news about our river counties. To most northern
Washingtonians, Southwest Washington stopped at Longview-Kelso. We were "out of sight, out of
mind."
This affected the churches as
well. After statehood the
Synod of Washington was
created with headquarters in
Seattle, an all-day journey
when the railroad came and
ten hours by automobile. For
years virtually our only
contact with the synod was
the annual meeting. Our
Columbia River Presbytery
covered churches as far
north as Centralia, and to
many local Presbyterians the
rest of the state was a vast
unknown.
THE REV. FRANCIS M. KIRK AND WIFE, NANCY WITH THEIR THREE
CHILDREN WHO WERE BORN DURING HIS PASTORATE IN CAMAS
(1959-1971). STANDING: ANDREW, A HIGH SCHOOL SENIOR; AND
KATHERINE, A STUDENT AT WILLAMETTE UNIVERSITY. DAVID
(SEATED) WAS 10 WHEN THE PICTURE WAS TAKEN TWO YEARS
AGO. FRAN IS A CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGIST IN BOISE, IDAHO.
Synod staff was busy enough
with
bourgeoning
Presbyterianism in the Puget
Sound area. Local churches
found it easier, quicker and
cheaper to get educational
materials, resource people
and supply ministers from
the Synod of Oregon office in
Portland whose small staff let
us impose on them.
Finally, St. John's and four other churches in the three river counties in Washington petitioned to
switch to the Synod of Oregon and the Presbytery of Portland. The two synods and presbyteries
approved as did General Assembly, and the switch was made in 1968. The transition was so smooth
one hardly noticed the difference. Our greatest loss was in the severing of relationships with
Christians in our former presbytery. With this went our involvement, with Cardai Hill, the
presbytery retreat center near Woodland. Many members of St. John's had taken part in work
- 48 -
parties there during the previous decade and in the financial struggle that plagued the early years
of the development.
It wasn't long before our new presbytery looked to our church for its moderator. Mr. Kirk was
installed in that office in 1970.
Three years after we became "Oregon Presbyterians" other changes took place. After long
consideration General Assembly decided to reorganize synods into regional areas rather than along
state lines. The Synod of the Pacific was constituted to include Southern Idaho, all of Oregon and
Nevada and two-thirds of California.
After much debate the three presbyteries in western Oregon voted in 1974 to merge into one called
the Presbytery of the Cascades. Thus in six years St. John's had changed from being the third largest
congregation in its presbytery to an average-sized church among 120 churches in southwest
Washington, western Oregon and Tule Lake, California.
Luckily for the Washington churches, the presbytery and synod mission office stayed in Portland.
⋆ ⋆ ⋆
The attention of St. John's congregation was focused on the
problem of minorities when the Schooner Club undertook to
find housing for several black families in what had been an allwhite town for 85 years. Previously, black workers in the
paper mill had lived in the Vancouver area. There was some
success, but it became apparent that blacks did not feel
comfortable in Camas. St. John's meanwhile has remained allwhite; only rarely have blacks worshipped with us.
MRS. ETHEL ROFFLER WAS A
CHURCH SCHOOLTEACHER AND
OFFICER FOR OVER 40 YEARS, 28
OF THEM AS HEAD OF THE
JUNIOR DEPARTMENT. SHE WAS A
DEACON, A LONG-TIME MEMBER
OF THE BOARD OF CHURCH
WOMEN UNITED, CAMAS' FIRST
KINDERGARTEN TEACHER AND
FIRST CITY LIBRARIAN.
In 1969 the local Catholic priest invited his fellow clergymen
to consider supporting an ecumenical store where used
clothing and household items could be purchased by people in
financial straits and where cash assistance would be made
available for those in desperate circumstances. Catholic
women had already started such a store which they called
Treasure House. However, they felt the project needed wider
sponsorship to meet community needs.
The Session of St. John's agreed, as did the governing bodies of
many other churches in Camas and Washougal. The sponsors
of Treasure House have since leaned heavily upon
Presbyterian women for leadership and support, and the store
now has an annual income in five figures. The ladies of
Interfaith Treasure House have made grants to the local
Christmas basket projects, FISH, the Salvation Army, East
County Services and Search and Rescue, in addition to the
original purpose of making emergency grants to individuals.
About this time, Presbyterians started a series of weekend family camps, usually at a summer or
winter resort, which appealed to the younger families. The minister and his family were confirmed
- 49 -
outdoor people and devoted much time to this program, which has continued spasmodically since
then.
During the decade of the 60's, then about to end, the Women's Association and its guilds continued
to support the mission of the church. To raise money the women held rummage sales, catered
wedding receptions and wedding anniversaries and collected their traditional offerings among
their own members for mission causes. They engaged in sewing projects for mission schools and
hospitals and sent gifts to the Bakers in Colombia and Sue Althouse in Japan. Clothing was collected
for victims of natural disasters and for the other needs of the ecumenical Church World Service.
The women also contributed generously to the congregation's general mission budget and
continued to supervise and upgrade the church kitchen and the Fireside Room. They provided
leadership in the affairs of presbyterial and through it were affiliated with the church wide United
Presbyterian Women, whose conferences, conventions and workshops many attended.
St. John's entered the 1970's unaware of new and perplexing problems and challenges that lay
ahead. There was the decline in membership and in the number of youth in the church school and
the two fellowships. The latter was a result of a congregation that was getting older. There was also
the frustrating phenomenon of double-digit inflation later in the decade, the worst in the 90-year
history of the church.
Planning conferences, started in the 1930's, were still a part of the congregation's approach to short
and long range goals. The Session authorized some conferences at retreats out of town. One of
considerable impact was at the Wind River Camp, a Girl Scout facility in Skamania County. There a
roaring fire, hearty food and rustic surroundings encouraged close fellowship and a relaxed
atmosphere.
In the summer of 1970, four young ladies of the high school
class and their adult leaders "adopted" a small Methodist
church for a week in tiny Meadows, Idaho. They taught classes,
provided the worship service and gave Methodists a taste of
youthful Presbyterians.
On January 1, 1971, the membership of St. John's was 441; the
average attendance at Church School was 90. A milestone was
reached in the spring when the congregation made the final
payment on the first mortgage against the church building. The
event was celebrated with a mortgage burning at a
congregational dinner. There still remained only a small second
mortgage held by the Board of National Missions.
That summer the Session introduced a new program to the
congregation, the hiring of seminary students from San
Francisco Theological Seminary. These were to be short-term
internships, usually in the summer, in which the students were
to gain practical experience working with youth, meeting with
Session and the Board of Deacons, understudying the minister,
conducting services of worship and preaching.
- 50 -
MRS. EFFIE BARTON EVERETT, A
SCHOOLTEACHER,
TAUGHT
CHURCH SCHOOL FOR 60 YEARS,
25 OF THEM AT ST. JOHN'S.
FIRST GRADERS WERE HER
FAVORITES.
The start of the program coincided with the resignation of Fran Kirk as our pastor, effective
September 12, 1971, to seek a doctorate in psychology. During his ministry in Camas he had used
his educational leave to obtain a master's degree in the same field. The first intern, Robert Perdue,
came in August and was with the congregation for a year. During the next seven months an interim
minister was employed on a part-time basis while a pastor-seeking committee waded through a
mountain of applications.
The interim face in the pulpit was that of a young "street minister" from Portland, the Rev. James
Gardner. Predictably, he had a full beard, which was something of a shock for many members, but
he related well with persons of all ages and his 20-minute sermons were usually modern parables
from real life. This combination soon overcame any lingering prejudices about facial adornment.
Between him and the intern, and with a lot of help from members, the ongoing program of the
congregation hardly missed a beat.
The plan of having additional student interns was deferred until 1976 and since then has become
almost an annual practice. (See appendix.)
A CUSTOM IS SHATTERED
Although they were properly elected and ordained, our women elders did not serve communion for
over 30 years. Starting with the first women elders in 1932 their function was to uncover the
elements at the beginning of communion and to replace the napkins over the unused elements
afterward, a proper "housewifely" task. The Rev. John Phipps recalls that it was the women
themselves who were reluctant to break with tradition.
One Sunday in the early 1960's only three male elders showed up in the Fireside Room where
elders gathered with the minister before the service. It took four to serve. At three minutes before
worship Mr. Kirk asked Miss Ethel Paul if she would be willing to serve. She would.
When Ethel joined the three men at the communion table there was a slight stir as worshippers
looked at each other in surprise. But most of the congregation seemed to accept the "innovation."
After 80 years women had finally reached full equality with men in the worship as well as in the
government of the congregation.
At the annual meeting in January of 1972, the congregation elected the first youth elder and deacon.
For the first time young people had official representation on the governing board and could bring
their points of view to bear on decision-making. The deacons' board provided experience in serving
the needs of individual members and friends. (See appendix for lists of elders and deacons.)
Meanwhile, the Session took a step that permitted the baptized children of members to take
communion with the approval of their parents, reflecting a recent action of the General Assembly.
Thus ended the age-old custom of denying the elements to unconfirmed young people. The local
church had come full circle, from using a check-off system in the 1920's to inviting to the Lord's
Table all believers, regardless of church affiliation, and even to children whose parents felt they
were mature enough to understand the sacrament.
- 51 -
The pastor-seeking committee finally zeroed in on a minister named John O. Reynolds, who was
presented to the congregation on Sunday morning, April 16. After hearing him preach, the
congregation held a special meeting and issued him a unanimous call.
Mr. Reynolds, a husband and
father of three, had been
educated at the University of
California at Berkeley and
Princeton
Theological
Seminary, interrupted by a
two-year
missionary
appointment to the American
University in Beirut, Lebanon.
His first two pastorates were
in Medford, Oregon, after
which he did graduate work
at Cambridge University in
England.
One of the innovations
inspired by the new pastor
was a continuing series of
JOHN AND DENISE REYNOLDS AND THEIR HANDSOME FAMILY. THE
adult
discussion
groups
PICTURE WAS TAKEN IN APRIL OF 1983 ON THE CAMPUS OF LEWIS &
CLARK COLLEGE WHERE SARAH AND KIRK (LEFT) ARE STUDENTS.
following
the
morning
NATHANIEL (RIGHT) IS A SOPHOMORE AT C.H.S. THE REV. MR.
worship services. These
REYNOLDS HAS BEEN PASTOR OF ST. JOHN'S SINCE 1972.
covered a catholicity of
concerns, from Bible studies to seminars and talks on local social problems. A typical short course
ran for six weeks, and two were usually offered concurrently, one by a layman, visiting minister or
Christian worker, the other by Mr. Reynolds on Biblical subjects. Although structured differently,
these classes continue to fill the gap in Christian education provided by adult church school classes
of earlier generations.
To accommodate these classes the hour of worship was advanced from the traditional 11 a.m. to 10.
Church school young people were invited to the early part of the worship, retiring to their classes at
10:20. Church school continued until the adult discussion groups adjourned.
St. John's approached its 90th birthday in 1973 with a final payment on the Board of National
Missions loan, the fifth to be paid off in the church's history. An anniversary dinner was held on
Sunday, December 9, the actual day and date of the official chartering of Camas' first church in
1883. Longtime members were honored, messages were received from former ministers, and the
sons of two, one of whom said that as a small boy he fell into the mill ditch and was rescued by a
Presbyterian!
The following year a couple's club was started for fellowship and service. After experimenting with
names, the group settled on "Saints and Sinners," which they contended accurately characterized
their members.
This was also the year that the Women's Association collected and shipped 26 boxes of books to
Don and Joan (Lackey) Lotze in Nigeria, where they were teaching English in a Methodist mission.
- 52 -
Reversing the usual mission project, a Japanese student came to Camas from the United Church of
Christ in Japan for two weeks. His purpose was to observe our congregation in action and to share
with us activities and concerns of Japanese Christians.
Trying something new, the congregation enjoyed a joint picnic with a Portland Presbyterian
Church. We followed it a year later with a picnic with the members of Zion Lutheran Church. The
Lutherans were the fifth Protestant group to organize in Camas more than 75 years earlier.
In mid-decade the congregation was busy with many programs. Some 70 people took part in a
series of six neighborhood fellowships during Lent. This was a modern version of the "cottage"
prayer meetings of the 1930's. The main difference was that beautiful modern homes had replaced
the cottages of the earlier era. This was the year the congregation bestowed "emeritus" status upon
a former pastor, and assisted a community effort to sponsor refugees from South Viet Nam.
The former pastor was the Rev. John F. Phipps, who had served our church for 22 of his 46 years in
the ministry. At a special meeting the congregation designated him "Pastor Emeritus." A resolution
noted that "he is still regarded with love, affection and great respect by those of our congregation
and community who have known him." The title is bestowed, said the resolution, "with all the love,
honor and respect adherent in the designation, and in grateful recognition for his service to the
Lord and to our congregation."
When North Viet Nam invaded and assimilated South Viet Nam in violation of its agreement with
the United States, hundreds of thousands of people fled their homeland. They left in open boats to
whatever countries on the South China Sea would have them. Thousands drowned or died of
exposure and starvation. Those who survived were herded into refugee camps where countless
others perished.
Americans opened up their homes and communities to thousands of these homeless people. Camas
and Washougal groups quickly accepted 33 men, women and children. After the fact, St. John's
congregation voted to become one of the sponsors. Separate funds were raised among the
membership, and individuals helped the newcomers by teaching them our language and customs,
how to drive a car and how to apply for a job. Furniture, rent, clothing and other necessities were
provided by individuals and from donated funds.
Presbyterians invited the refugees to a special service and Thanksgiving Day dinner in the
Fellowship Hall of the church. At Christmas, Presbyterian and Methodist young people brought
decorated trees and small gifts to the Vietnamese families and sang Christmas carols to express
their love and concern. The following summer a picnic was held for the Vietnamese at a
Presbyterian home.
- 53 -
About this time St. John's joined churches throughout the
county in giving assistance to a hunger program called FISH
(for "Friends in Service to Humanity") that had set up food
banks for families in desperate circumstances. Our Session
asked members and friends to bring canned and packaged
foods to worship services. On a number of occasions,
members also have made generous cash gifts to augment the
program. Thus, churches in the area began picking up a
responsibility to feed the hungry that had originated with the
Christian Church in ancient times, but had been largely
preempted by public and private welfare agencies.
By now monetary inflation was creating problems with
Presbyterians in their desire to meet their commitments not
only at home but to the church at work around the world.
Inflation meant higher costs of everything — salaries, utilities,
maintenance and the costs of our work in mission fields. Not
DOROTHY FRANKLIN IS THE
only in Camas, but throughout the denomination — and in
FIRST PERSON BROUGHT UP IN
other denominations — mission giving suffered and programs
THE CONGREGATION TO BECOME
A MINISTER OF THE GOSPEL.
had to be curtailed. Per capita giving to the St. John's budget
continued to lag behind the denomination. After reaching a
third of total expenditures in the 1960's, our mission giving dropped to less than 15 percent for
three years running. But disturbed church leaders were able to reverse the trend and mission
giving was on the increase once again.
One of the problems of church budgeting has been that people get used to fixed amounts of giving in
stable times. Many do not realize that these figures represent a continually declining proportion of
their own incomes during inflation. A visitor who put a dollar bill in the collection plate in 1960
may still deposit a dollar bill, which today buys only 34 cents worth of salaries, supplies and utilities
in 1960 dollars.
When our nation celebrated its Bicentennial on July 4, 1976, local churches held a union service in
the Garfield Auditorium. Our pastor was chairman of the arrangements and presided at the service.
The following year Mr. Reynolds served on a committee to advise the city council on the question of
permitting gambling in Camas, under the terms of a recently passed state option law. The
committee's report gave the council enough ammunition to repulse attempts to legalize gambling.
In 1977 Dorothy Franklin, daughter of Milton and Bettie Franklin completed her seminary training
in Washington, D.C. and was ordained a Presbyterian minister in Silver Spring, Maryland. Her call
was to be co-chaplain of the United Church Ministry on the University of Maryland campus. She
serves with another minister in serving students of five denominations. She is also a parish
associate with the Wyattsville Presbyterian Church nearby. Dorothy was born in Camas and
confirmed in 1947. She was the second person from St. John's to commit her life to full time
Christian service and the first to become a minister.
Good News Bibles were purchased about this time for the pews and have been used for responsive
and unison reading as well as for following the weekly scripture lessons. The Bibles added to the
- 54 -
modern understanding of Holy Writ, having been translated from original sources into everyday
English.
In 1978 a classroom two doors from the church office was transformed into a lovely, carpeted and
comfortably furnished committee room and study. Gifts in honor of Lois Buchholz, Tom and Melba
Goodwin, Glen Smith and Joe Ulowetz were used for funding and the room was appropriately
christened the Memorial Room.
This was the year the congregation subscribed to its first $50,000 annual budget and embarked
upon a three-year program called RISK evangelism. This was proposed by the General Assembly to
focus attention on internal needs and community outreach.
In the first year the RISK committee devoted its efforts toward building within the congregation a
community of love, forgiveness and sharing. One of the foremost problems attacked was the
apparent generation gap between younger and older members and between adults and youth. A
series of "events" was held to involve all ages, including a Halloween party and a Christmas party.
Another approach was the holding of "happenings" in parishes to bring people closer together. An
evening Bible study group was formed that met for 13 weeks. A practice was started of directing
attention to individual members in alphabetical order in the Sunday morning pastoral prayer. A
group of members called on individuals not always able to attend worship to keep them in touch.
"Mornings for Mom" was a program to provide young mothers with some free time while their
young ones were being cared for in a nursery. T.R.I.P. was a transportation hotline for senior
citizens needing a ride to the doctor, drugstore or supermarket. St. John's members served as
volunteer drivers and the Community Education Office offered to take calls and do the dispatching.
During the three-year period of self-examination that RISK afforded the members, a consensus was
reached that there was need for a part-time director of Christian education. This was accomplished
by the hiring of Mrs. Karen Norris in 1980. She greatly increased the quality of our work with youth
during the next two years.
An unmet need that baffled the RISK committee, and indeed, the community at large, was the lack of
suitable retirement housing for older people and special housing for the disabled. Every effort to
build such housing in the Camas-Washougal area has been thwarted by finances, government red
tape and the insensitivity of some local public officials. This has resulted in many local people
(including members of St. John's) moving to other communities when they felt the time had come to
change their lifestyles.
As the decade of the 70's neared its end, the congregation honored Maysie Duffin, who asked to
retire after serving 42 years as church pianist and organist. Maysie, a granddaughter of St. John's
founding elder, had played for at least 5,000 worship services, weddings, funerals, anniversary
celebrations and choir practices. She first played on an old upright piano (still in use downstairs),
then graduated to the baby grand, and for nearly 28 years, the pipe organ. For over 20 years she
donated her talent. When an honorarium was offered in the late 1950's, she at first refused, but
eventually accepted it reluctantly.
Another appeal came from General Assembly for a $60 million "Major Mission Fund" to "move
Christ's mission forward." It was designed to augment the giving to general mission that had
declined throughout the denomination. The Session of St. John's agreed to subscribe $19,500,
- 55 -
payable over a 30-month period, and many church families
met the challenge. Thus, for the third time in 30 years, the
congregation responded to a special appeal to carry the gospel
to all mankind. In the past 100 years the minutes of Session do
not reveal a single instance when we have failed to participate
in a special appeal of our denomination!
During the decade the women of the church kept up their high
level of service and giving. Large sums were given to mission
causes, heifer programs, the special work of the Bakers in
Colombia and Sue Althouse in Japan; improvements to the
kitchen and Fireside Room, drapes for the narthex, devotional
lunches in the Fellowship Hall during Lent; contributions of
time and money to Church Women United, to FISH, to Church
World Service and many other causes.
MRS. EDITH HALL WAS A RULING
ELDER, CLERK OF SESSION AND
DEACON, A PRESIDENT OF THE
WOMEN'S
ASSOCIATION
AND
CHURCH WOMEN UNITED. FOR 30
YEARS SHE SERVED AS A CHURCH
SCHOOLTEACHER
AND
SUPERINTENDENT
OF
THE
PRIMARY DEPARTMENT.
The congregation honored John Reynolds on the 25th
anniversary of his ordination as a minister of the gospel, and
the Presbytery of the Cascades elected him moderator for
1980. He also was a presbytery commissioner to General
Assembly that year.
Three members, Mrs. Anna Mettler, Hugh Gittings and Fred
Good were honored for their long services in the church choir,
a combined total of 150 years!
In 1980 the Board of Deacons helped finance the reuniting of a South Vietnamese family that had
been separated for several years. A young couple of the Thanh Lao family had come to Camas as
refugees. After five years of effort, eight others including the couple's two young children, the
grandparents and several other family members arrived, after a year's stay in a Hong Kong refugee
camp, for a joyous and touching reunion. Several members of the church helped make the
newcomers feel welcome and adjust to their strange, but wonderful adoptive country.
But a fire-bombing of the home of a Camas Vietnamese family horrified most citizens and all
Presbyterians. A supreme effort was needed to assure all minorities in Camas and Washougal that
the infamous act was not representative of the community's attitude. St. John's Session led the way
by authorizing a full page ad in the Post-Record, which was signed by 400 concerned citizens. This
seemed to quiet fears and elicited an editorial commendation from the county's daily newspaper,
The Columbian.
For the first time, two of our youth took part in new national programs of the denomination. Britt
Anderson, a ruling elder, was elected by Presbytery in 1980 as the first youth advisory delegate to
the General Assembly. Bruce Stoller, soon to become an elder, attended the first national
Presbyterian Youth Triennium.
Mrs. Wendy McAninch-Ruenzi declared in 1980, her conviction that she should become a minister
of the gospel. On recommendation of the Session she was accepted as a candidate by presbytery
and taken "under care" of that body as she entered Harvard Divinity School. In her senior year she
passed the five standard examinations for ordination given by the Presbyterian denomination. In
- 56 -
February of 1983 the presbytery licensed her, the final step before ordination, which occurs when
she is called to a church.
Our 1980 summer seminary intern, Malcolm McQueen, was employed the following year for a
period of 13 months ending in August of 1982, when he returned to seminary for his final year.
Through the efforts of Malcolm and our director of Christian education, the pastor and lay leaders,
the program of the junior and senior high youth groups took on new dimensions of fellowship and
growth in the faith. When Malcolm returned to school he was becoming an accomplished preacher,
liturgist and educator, and the well-wishes of the congregation went with him.
Lewis and Trudy Baker, the agricultural missionaries in Colombia, concluded their service and
returned to the state of Washington, where Lewis continued his vocation on a farm near Enumclaw.
The Bakers spent a Sunday with the congregation, reported on their efforts to promote modern
agricultural methods, and thanked us for our many years of interest and assistance in their labors
in Christ's name.
Longtime dedicated church members, Bill and Roberta Price, made a year's commitment to be
Volunteers-in-Mission at Menaul School in Albuquerque, New Mexico. At this 100-year-old
Presbyterian-related boarding school for Spanish-American young people Roberta shared her many
talents, administering a testing program, counseling, teaching and serving as dining room hostess.
Bill was the official school driver, helped with maintenance and performed many other tasks.
During their year of service, ending in mid-1983, Bill and Roberta kept up a lively correspondence
with the congregation about this ministry Presbyterians are rendering to high school students of
ethnic backgrounds.
A third member of the congregation to become a Volunteer-in-Mission was Miss Laurel Glennie, a
recent college graduate. She chose to serve in the Buckhorn, Kentucky, Children's Center, a licensed
social work agency of the Synod of the Covenant. She has worked with twenty children ages 3 to 5
in the daycare program and has helped with the recreation program for the thirty live-ins, ages 8 to
16.
On Sunday Laurel has sung in the choir of Presbyterian Church, known as the Log Cathedral for its
beautiful and unique construction. Her letters indicate that the experience has presented her with
many challenges and rewards.
⋆ ⋆ ⋆
- 57 -
11. APPROACHING A CENTENNIAL
As the congregation neared its Centennial, a committee planned several observances preceding the
December anniversary. There was to be a homecoming for former members, dinners honoring oldtimers and worship services honoring former ministers. At the anniversary itself two special
services of worship and thanksgiving were planned for December 4 and 11, 1983.
So 1983 has been a year of reflection by local Presbyterians on a century blessed (or cursed?) with
the greatest explosion of knowledge and technology in human history. Yet for all the advances in
material things, the specters of greed, hate, fear, lust, and separation from God continue to plague
humanity, including our own little corner of it.
A century ago our forefathers lighted the darkness with kerosene lamps and heated their homes
with wood stoves. Men put in bone-tiring twelve hour shifts on the job under primitive conditions
and little concern for health or safety. Their wives struggled to make a home with five "appliances":
a cook stove, a wash boiler, a washboard, a broom and a carpet beater.
Boys hated the chore of keeping the seemingly bottomless wood box filled and girls grumbled over
dishpans of water lugged from the village spring or family well. One bathed in the kitchen in a
galvanized tub.
Travel was for emergencies or business, on a river boat or on horseback. The village druggist was
the family doctor. Hospitals were unknown.
The great social problem was alcohol. Men (and some women) turned to the saloon to escape the
woes of the workplace and the quarrels at home. Many drank or gambled away their slender wages,
robbing their families of food and clothing.
The four original Protestant congregations in Camas struggled together to meet the problem. Like
churches, everywhere, their solutions were to ban the sale of strong drink, convert the drunks or
put them to shame, offer the poor salvation and the promise of a life hereafter.
In their mission outside the community, Presbyterians sent funds to help the freed slaves, to
Christian workers on Indian reservations and to missionaries in remote lands like China and Alaska.
In 30 years the town graduated from the waterwheel to steam power to electric power. The
telephone came. The automobile was invented. Working hours were cut and Mom was able to get a
hand-cranked washing machine… Another decade brought the radio and central heating and a
myriad of conveniences for the home and the workplace… Then the electronic age, television, space
exploration, human rights, convenience foods and finally — the era of the home computer!
But alcohol still defies solution, as do other forms of drug abuse. The workplace is now a maze of
safety rules and human rights regulations, but one of every ten breadwinners cannot find work, and
advancing technology continues to abolish jobs on every side. Individual lives are confused and
complicated by a mountain of gadgets designed to uncomplicate them.
Today those four original Camas congregations are multiplied by four or five. Some still stand
together in opposition to gambling and vice. They help the poor through FISH and Treasure House,
they take stands on social issues, encourage ecumenism and provide hope to members fearful of the
future in a world turned upside down.
- 58 -
But many churches go their own ways, tailoring their outreach to their own particular doctrines.
The result is less cooperation in Camas and Washougal among those who profess Christ than
existed a century ago.
Made wiser by travel and television, we of St. John's are
finding that the suffering and disadvantaged peoples of other
states and other lands are virtually our neighbors. Through
the church's changing world mission we send fraternal
workers to serve alongside native Christians in mature
overseas churches. We send food, clothing and medical
supplies to be distributed by the local Christians in accordance
with local needs. We also try to relate our faith to the world's
social problems, to world peace and to the needs of developing
countries. And we are becoming increasingly aware of the
urgency of our response.
Members of the congregation have also been facing the future.
During 1983 they have been evaluating themselves and their
opportunities and responsibilities in the years ahead. With the
completion of the I-205 interstate highway bridge west of
Camas, the local community is faced with an urban explosion
of unprecedented force. Already this new artery of travel is
changing economic and social lifestyles and foreshadows a
population growth beyond anything ever experienced here.
DURING ST. JOHN'S CENTENNIAL
YEAR MRS. WENDY MCANINCHRUENZI
WAS
LICENSED
BY
PRESBYTERY AND HAS BEEN
SEEKING A CALL AS A MINISTER
OF THE GOSPEL.
Leading this search for goals and opportunities is a special committee appointed by the Session to
work with a planning consultant from presbytery. The group is conducting a thoughtful, prayerful
and creative study seeking to find God's will for local Presbyterians as they begin their second
century.
For Christ's Church, maybe that's what an anniversary should be all about.
The cost of printing this book was underwritten by grants and loans from undesignated memorial funds.
- 59 -
APPENDIX
RULING ELDERS
(Listed in order of their first election. Most served more than one term.)
Aeneas McMaster*
James Anderson
William J. Gilbert
Frank Walton
Allan Duffin*
Murdoch Robertson
Lemuel Alberts
John Mitchell
James B. Mitchell
Hugh MacMaster
Henry M. Trenner
Arthur Trenner
George Self
O.D. Stebbins
J.H. Henderson
R.P. Reed
Alfred C. Allen*
John D. Currie*
Charles D. Gates
Thomas Stewart
1883
1885
1887
1887
1887
1888
1888
1891
1891
1904
1906
1906
1908
1908
1908
1914
1916
1916
1918
1920
Carl Vertrees
W.J. Allison
C.B. McCracken
A.C. Salisbury
William J. Ewing*
Dwight H. Stebbins*
J. Wilbert Barnes
Jacob Egaas
Mrs. Elizabeth Duffin
Mrs. Rose Scott
Kent Chappell
Dolph F. Olds
Robert Stoller
Lloyd Hutchison
Fair C. Griffin
W. Merrill Kunkle
George Ayers*
1920
1923
1924
1929
1929
1931
1931
1932
1932
1932
1939
1939
1943
1943
1943
1944
1945
- 60 -
G. Fred Good*
Milton J. Franklin
Mrs. Edith Hall*
Mrs. May Ulowetz*
Clinton Ash
E.A. "Bill" Price
Clifford Duncan
William Daggett
Willard L. Carlson
Curtis Sawyer
Harry Jones
John Alm
John Buchholz
Mrs. Gertrude Burnett
Fremont Everett
Dee R. Laird
Eugene Jacobs
Richard Carter
Hugh Gittings
Hugh Kennedy
Mrs. Peggy Kestie*
Carl Hinman
Richard E. Lawton
Mrs. Inez Duncan
Homer Moore
Milton Bona
Warren MacGregor
Eugene Seidel
Max Brower
Carleton Beck
Miss Elizabeth Currie*
Stanley Borjesson
Miss Ethel Paul
David Goheen
David Hard
Robert Garver Jr.*
Gene Collins
Waldon Dailey
Lowell Bobbitt
John Barton
Glenn Blake
Dudley Church
David Hall
1945
1947
1947
1947
1948
1948
1950
1950
1950
1951
1951
1952
1952
1952
1953
1954
1954
1954
1954
1955
1955
1956
1956
1957
1957
1957
1958
1959
1959
1960
1961
1962
1962
1963
1963
1963
1963
1963
1964
1964
1964
1965
1965
- 61 -
Charles Bauer
Leland Kelson
Alvin M. Johnson
E.M. McAninch
Don Jones
Homer Lackey
Mrs. Mary Zollo*
James Palmer
Mrs. Roberta Price
Paul Brockmeier
Robert Goodale
Gordon Murdock
Mrs. Grace Stewart*
Joe Walker
Lewis Burden
Elbert Lewis
Ross Wither*
Elven Anderson
Tom Allen
Mrs. Shirley Tacheron
John Henderson
Mrs. Lucille Hood*
Mrs. Margaret Jacobs
Richard Pinkerton
Mrs. Mary Shilling
Miss Ruth MacGregor**
Miss Irene Roffler
1965
1965
1965
1965
1966
1966
1966
1966
1966
1967
1967
1967
1968
1968
1969
1969
1969
1970
1971
1971
1972
1972
1972
1972
1972
1972
1973
Miss Ann Anderson**
Donald Eldredge
Mrs. Eddie McAninch
Miss Laurie Johnson
James Friberg
Mrs. Linnea Glennie
Mrs. Kay MacGregor
Miss Katy Anderson* **
Mrs. Miriam Brower
Ted Claus
Alan Stoller
Alan Greaves
H.R. Ward
Gerald Craig
Britt Anderson**
Mrs. Karen Norris
1973
1974
1974
1975
1975
1975
1975
1976
1976
1976
1976
1977
1977
1978
1978
1978
- 62 -
James Dunn
Sheldon Tyler*
Miss Gayle Matthews
Mrs. Arveda Irvine
Mrs. Kay Goodwin
Kirk Reynolds**
Mrs. Ellie McCallum
Mrs. Angie Trumbower
Mrs. Norine Gittings
Russell Hartley
Dan Williams
George Stoller
Bruce Stoller**
Mrs. Alice Blair*
Jack Culbreath
Bill Hillgaertner
Mrs. Corinne Nevin
Mrs. Verla Cowan
Miss Linda Lasater**
Douglas Brown
Keith Hartle**
Kim Peery
1978
1978
1979
1979
1979
1980
1980
1980
1981
1981
1981
1981
1981
1982
1982
1982
1982
1982
1982
1983
1983
1983
*Also served as Clerk of Session
**Youth elder
LIVING PIONEERS
(Communicants with 50 or more years of membership and dates of affiliation.)
Mrs. Marjorie (Duffin) Blake
Mrs. Hazel (Jacoby) Olds
Miss Elizabeth Currie
Miss Irene Roffler
Mrs. Anna (McCracken) Mettler
Hugh Gittings
Miss Ella Mae (Maysie) Duffin
George R. Stoller
Mrs. Helen (Duncan) Craig
Mrs. May (Borigo) Ulowetz
Milton Franklin
Mrs. Bettie (Ewing) Franklin
3/28/1915
3/28/1915
3/12/1916
6/24/1917
3/31/1918
1/15/1919
3/28/1920
3/28/1920
3/27/1921
4/1/1923
1/24/1926
1/24/1926
- 63 -
Mrs. Grace (Helme) Stewart
Miss Christine A. Kropp
Miss Ethel A. Paul
Mrs. Harriet Clark
Mrs. Maude Kennedy
Gerald F. Craig
Milton Bona
Beatrice E. Bona
1/24/1926
4/4/1926
4/4/1926
7/1/1928
3/31/1929
4/5/1931
1932
6/5/1933
MINISTERS
Joseph A. Hanna
John R. Thompson
A.G. Boyd
S.S. Meyer
A.M. McKenzie
George H. Roach
D. McEwan
Andrew Carrick
G.H. Mitchell
1884-86
1886-88
1888-90
1890-93
1893-1900
1900-05
1905-06
1906-09
1910-11
E.R.D. Hollenstad
L . B. Quick
M.G. Everett
James H. Edgar
W.O. Benthin
Herrick Lane
William B. Mahon
Carroll H. Pederson
John F. Phipps
Francis M. Kirk
John O. Reynolds
1911-14
1914-17
1917-19
1920-22
1922-24
1925-27
1927-30
1930-35
1936-58
1959-71
1972-
TRUSTEES
(Listed in order of their first election. Many served more than one term. No records prior to 1898 or
between 1913 and 1925. M means date missing.)
F.S. Walton
George Self
Donald McMaster
John W. Mitchell
1898
1898
1898
1898
- 64 -
F.C. Yoemans
Hugh MacMaster
Courtney Poage
Kent Chappell
Fred Stout
Allan Duffin
Walter Scott
Mr. Barnes
John Gittings
A.E. Beagle
F.D. Chaplin
J.D. Currie
Charles Gates
Robert Stoller
Jacob Egaas
Fred Stevey
A.W. Benton
Chester L. Johnson
Harry S. Clark
J. Wilbert Barnes
E.H. Post
Hugh D. Kennedy
Dolph F. Olds
C.F. Daly
H. Dale Olds
Hugh Gittings
Curtis Sawyer
Milton Franklin
Marlvey Lewis
Lloyd Hutchison
Glen Smith
Christ Peters
Arthur Goulard
John Westlie
Fred Stevey
J. Lyall Burnett
James Butterick
John Buchholz
Robert Fuller
Carl Hinman
Fremont Everett
D.A. Bond
Arthur K. Harris
1898
1898
1898
M
M
M
1908
1908
1909
1910
1911
1913
1914
M
M
1926
1927
1927
1930
1930
1931
1933
1934
1934
1934
1935
1936
1937
1938
1940
1940
1945
1946
1946
1946
1947
1947
1950
1951
1951
1952
1952
1953
- 65 -
Homer Moore
Milton Bona
Gerald Craig
Robert Mispley
Henry Hood
Mrs. Roberta Price
Carleton Beck
Max Brower
MacKenzie Goold
Harry Jones
George Stoller
Mrs. Arveda Irvine
Norval Reeder
Arthur Neubauer
E.M. McAninch
Mrs. Grace Stewart
W.M. Hearon
Robert Skill
Jack Buhler
Leland Kelson
James Lambert
James Palmer
Glenn Blake
Gordon Murdock
Selvy DeWeese
Gene Collins
Waldon Dailey
Mrs. Nellie Gittings
David Goheen
Robert Garver Jr.
,Raymond Nordstrom
1953
1954
1954
1954
1955
1955
1955
1956
1956
1956
1956
1957
1957
1957
1957
1958
1958
1959
1959
1959
1960
1960
1960
1960
1960
1961
1961
1962
1962
1962
1962
Note: In 1962 a “unicameral” system was adopted, wherein members of Session also serve as
trustees of the church corporation.
SECRETARIES
Mrs. Shirley Carlson
Mrs. Pansy Hutchison
Mrs. Edythe Piller
Mrs. Virginia Vincent
Mrs. Jackie Smead
1947-50
1951-63
1964-69
3 mos.-1970
3 mos.-1970
- 66 -
Mrs. Shirley Tacheron
Mrs. Pat Biskeborn
Mrs. Norine Gittings
Mrs. Pat Biskeborn
2 mos.-1970
1970-79
1979-80
1980-
BOARD OF DEACONS
(Listed in order of their first election. Many served more than one term.)
Mrs. Florence Ayers
Mrs. Julia Baz (Jones)
Mrs. Gertrude Burnett
Mrs. Hazel Olds
Mrs. Mary Stoller
Mrs. Lucille Hood
Mrs. Frederika Schatz
Mrs. Betty Westlie
Mrs. Grace Hinman
Mrs. A.M. Fisher
Mrs. Marie Alm
Mrs. Doris Everett
Mrs. Ethel Roffler
Mrs. Eula Stoller
Mrs. Mariette Hoxsie
Mrs. Effie McAtee
Charles Hawkes
Bernard Zollo
Frank Lehn
Robert Tacheron
Mrs. Bea Muncey
John Buchholz
Mrs. Lois Buchholz
Mrs. Arveda Irvine
Robert Copple
Mrs. Grace Stewart
Mrs. Edith Hall
Wendell Wasner
Alvin Johnson
Charles Caine
John Henderson
Mrs. Elsie Odoms
Mrs. Kay Ward
John Horning
Lewis Burden Jr.
1951
1951
1951
1951
1951
1951
1952
1952
1953
1954
1954
1955
1956
1957
1960
1960
1960
1960
1960
1960
1960
1961
1961
1961
1962
1962
1962
1962
1962
1963
1963
1963
1964
1964
1964
- 67 -
Mrs. Shirley Tacheron
Mrs. Marjorie Blake
Neil Lasater
Joe Walker
Ross Wither
Mrs. Ruby Lewis
Douglas Smith
Miss Ethel Paul
Mrs. Verle Clark
Mrs. Mildred Reeves
Richard Oliver
Thomas Allen
Mrs. Kay Goodwin
Mrs. Nellie Gittings
Gene Collins
Leo Finck
Lowell Bobbitt
Mrs. Lucile Cole
Mrs. Paula Palmer
Clifford Odoms
Mrs. Harriet Clark
Don Eldredge
Mrs. Bettie Franklin
James Petrie
Mrs. Peggy Kestie
Mrs. Nancy Seidel
Mrs. Alice Blake
Mrs. Doris Collins
Jeff Garver*
H.R. Ward
Mrs. Edythe Piller
Jon Gittings
Paul Tacheron*
Mrs. Joan Pinkerton
Mrs. Kay MacGregor
Mrs. Dorothy Cormack
Mrs. Laverne Craig
Mrs. Inez Duncan
Mrs. Daphne Raynor
Miss Laurel Glennie*
Mrs. Gwen Stoller
William Goodwin
Mrs. Beverly Barnes
Gerald Craig
Mrs. Maxine Atkins
1965
1965
1965
1965
1966
1966
1966
1966
1967
1967
1967
1967
1968
1968
1968
1968
1968
1969
1969
1969
1970
1970
1970
1971
1971
1971
1972
1972
1972
1972
1972
1973
1973
1973
1973
1974
1974
1974
1974
1975
1975
1975
1975
1975
1976
- 68 -
Mrs. Louise Ward
Dan Williams
Mrs. Alyce Meredith
Mrs. Alice Lawton
Fremont Everett
Mrs. Helen Lackey
George Stoller
Max Brower
Mrs. Linda Shinn
Stanley Borjesson
Mrs. Joan Walker
Mrs. Mary Daniels
Mrs. Marilyn Rasmussen
Alfred Andersen
Wilbur Shilling
Elven Anderson
Ronald Craig
Mrs. Judy Brown
Mrs. Roberta Price
SeIvy DeWeese
Homer Townsend
Dave Daniels
Mrs. Audrey Lasater
Miss Kathleen Curdy
Don Couture
Mrs. Arlene Stahl
Sheldon Tyler
1976
1976
1976
1976
1977
1977
1977
1978
1978
1978
1978
1979
1979
1979
1979
1980
1980
1980
1980
1981
1981
1982
1982
1982
1983
1983
1983
* Youth deacons
WOMEN'S ASSOCIATION PRESIDENTS
Mrs. Hazel Griffin
Mrs. Ruth Berger
Mrs. Marjorie Howard
Mrs. Louise Fuller
Mrs. Roberta Price
Mrs. Inez Duncan
Mrs. May Ulowetz
Mrs. Mary Shilling
Guild presidents
Mrs. May Ulowetz
Mrs. Pansy Hutchison
Mrs. Nadine Burden
1945-46
1947-48
1949-50
1951-52
1953-54
1955-56
1957-58
1959-60
1961-62
1963
1964
1965-66
- 69 -
Mrs. Lucille Hood
Mrs. Alice Lawton
Mrs. Edith Hall
Miss Elizabeth Currie
Mrs. Jackie Carter and Mrs. Nellie Gittings
Mrs. Roberta Price and Mrs. Doris Collins
Mrs. Denise Reynolds
Mrs. Alice Lawton
Mrs. Linnea Glennie and Mrs. Mary Shilling
Mrs. May Ulowetz
Mrs. Edythe Piller and Mrs. Roberta Price
Rotating members
1967
1968
1969-70
1971-72
1973-74
1975
1976
1977
1978
1979
1980-81
1982-83
WOMEN'S ASSOCIATION AWARDS
Miss Elizabeth Currie*
Mrs. May Ulowetz*
Mrs. Elizabeth Duncan
Mrs. Alice Currie
Mrs. Winnifred Jones
Mrs. Effie Everett
Mrs. Ethel Roffler
Mrs. Edith Hall
Mrs. Pansy Hutchison
Miss Ethel Paul
1938
1948
1948
1948
1952
1958
1963
1964
1970
1970
Miss Maysie Duffin
Mrs. Roberta Price
Mrs. Peggy Kestie
Mrs. Lucille Hood
Miss Katy Anderson (junior)
Mrs. Mary Shilling
Mrs. Alice Lawton
Mrs. Linnea Glennie
Mrs. Kay Goodwin
1972
1973
1974
1975
1975
1976
1979
1982
1983
*Awarded by Columbia River Presbyterial
CHURCH SCHOOL SUPERINTENDENTS
(Incomplete.)
1883-87
Aeneas MacMaster
- 70 -
R.T. Cowan
Allan Duffin
Mrs. Ella MacMaster
Curtis Sawyer
Keith Owen
Mrs. Hannah Lewis
Hugh Gittings
Milton Franklin
Mrs. Roberta Price
Merrill Kunkle
Fred Good
Milton Franklin
Mrs. May Ulowetz
Mrs. Peggy Kestie
Warren MacGregor
Gordon Murdock
Mrs. Margaret Jacobs
Mrs. Ellie McCallum
Paul Brockmeier
Mrs. Alice Blake
Elven Anderson
Elven Anderson and Mrs. Jackie Carter
Mrs. Jackie Carter and Mrs. Nancy Tyler
Mrs. Nancy Tyler
Mrs. Louise Ward
1890's
1907
1908, 1926-33
1934-36
1937-38
1939
1940
1941-42
1943
1944
1945-48
1949-50
1951-52
1953-58
1959-63
1964-65
1966-68
1969
1970-71
1972-73
1974-75
1976
1977
1978
1979-81
SEMINARY INTERNS
Robert Perdue
Mrs. Carolyn Hampton
Larry Gaylord
Mark Duntley
Miss Jan Carlson
Malcolm McQueen
1971-72
1976
1977
1978
1979
1980, 1981-82
CHOIR DIRECTORS
(Incomplete.)
Mrs. Fannie Douglas
Rev. C.H. Pederson
1920's
1933
- 71 -
Dolph F. Olds
Mrs. Inez Driscoll
Mrs. Mareta Burdon
Mrs. Arlene Herring
Mrs. Joyce Garver
Robert Goodale
Mrs. Joyce Garver
1934-41
1943-45
1945-48
1949-53
1955-63
1964-76
1977-
YOUTH CHOIR DIRECTORS
Mrs. Harriet Clark
Mrs. Mareta Burdon
Mrs. Dorothy Egaas
Mrs. Joyce Garver
Mrs. John Henderson
Robert Goodale
Mrs. Ruth Elliott
1937-44
1945
1946-50
1955
1960
1964-65
1966-67
PIANISTS/ORGANISTS
(Incomplete.)
Mrs. Ella MacMaster
Mrs. Fannie Douglas
Mrs. E.H. Post
Mrs. Neva Olds
Miss Maysie Duffin
Mrs. Mary Hojem
Robert Hansen
1907
1920's
1933
1934-36
1937-79
1980-81
1981-
(Assistants: Mrs. Neva Olds, Mrs. Florence Smith, Mrs. Dorothy Egaas, Miss Lorraine Duncan, Mrs.
Irene Bar ton, Mrs. Lucille Harlin, Mrs. Bernice Hughes, Mrs. Helen Lackey, Mrs. Joyce Goodale, Miss
Maysie Duffin.)
(Violinists: Mrs. Hazel Olds, Seymour Howard; flutist, E.H. Post.)
TREASURERS
(Incomplete.)
Hugh MacMaster
John D. Currie
1907-12
1913-14
- 72 -
U.E. Reed
H.B. McAfee
L.C. Johnson
Mrs. E.H. Post
H. Dale Olds
Odmund Egaas
Mrs. Elva Owen
E.A. "Bill" Price (acting)
Mrs. Pansy Hutchison
Assistants: Dale Olds
Elliott Irvine
Mrs. Edythe Piller
Miss Ella Maye Duffin
Mrs. Carol Allen
Mrs. Mary Zollo
Mrs. Kay Goodwin
Mrs. Mary Zollo,
Recording Treasurer
Richard E. Lawton
1915-16
1917
1928-31
1932-33
1933-34
1935-36
1937-42
1942
1943-63
1946-58
1959-63
1964-69
1970-71
1972
1972-73
1974-76
19741977
CHURCH MEMBERSHIP
1883 . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
1885 . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
1890 . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
1896 . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
1900 . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
1904 . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
1907 . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
1910 . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
1912 . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
1916 . . . . . . . . . . . . 108
1920 . . . . . . . . . . . . 127
1925 . . . . . . . . . . . . 137
1930 . . . . . . . . . . . . 115
1936 . . . . . . . . . . . . 141
1940 . . . . . . . . . . . . 161
1945 . . . . . . . . . . . . 232
1950 . . . . . . . . . . . . 339
1955 . . . . . . . . . . . . 391
1960 . . . . . . . . . . . . 491
1965 . . . . . . . . . . . . 474
1970 . . . . . . . . . . . . 458
1972 . . . . . . . . . . . . 372
- 73 -
1974 . . . . . . . . . . . . 342
1976 . . . . . . . . . . . . 304
1978 . . . . . . . . . . . . 313
1980 . . . . . . . . . . . . 276
1982 . . . . . . . . . . . . 291
- 74 -
THE STAINED GLASS WINDOWS
THE GOOD SHEPHERD (1953) — given by Mrs. Mary Manrose Green in memory of her 15-year-old
grandson, Guy M. Green, recently deceased, who was the son of Howard and Helen Green.
THE NATIVITY (1954) — given by the children of Robert and Mary Stoller to honor their long
service to the church and community.
CHRIST AT GESTHEMANE (1968) — given by Mrs. Marjorie Blake in memory of her husband,
Harold Blake.
THE MIRACLE OF THE LOAVES AND FISHES (1968) — given by Mrs. Hazel Olds in memory of her
husband, H. Dale Olds, who served as a trustee, church treasurer and assistant treasurer for many
years.
CHRIST AND THE CHILDREN (1969) — given by Mrs. Lucile Cole in memory of her mother, Mrs.
Effie Everett.
THE ASCENSION (1972) — given by Mrs. Marjorie Blake and Miss Ella Maye Duffin in memory of
their parents, Allan and Elizabeth Duffin, he a long-time elder and clerk of Session; she a charter
member of St. John's.
THE BAPTISM OF JESUS (1973) — given by Mrs. Eula Stoller in memory of her husband Fred, a
long-time supporter of the church.
THE RESURRECTION (1980) — financed with memorial gifts of members, friends and family of
Robert Fuller, who served on the Board of Trustees and on the Men's Council.
CHANCEL AND NARTHEX FURNISHINGS
THE PULPIT (at congregation's left) — given in memory of Harry S. Clark (1873-1947) by his
widow, Mrs. Nellie M. Clark, and daughter Mrs. Effie Clark Cutler.
THE LECTERN — given in memory of Mr. and Mrs. Edgar C. Duncan (1869-1939, 1874-1950) by Mr.
and Mrs. Clifford A. Duncan.
THE SEDALIA (two benches) — given by Mr. and Mrs. Frank Lehn.
THE COMMUNION TABLE — given in memory of Mrs. Freda G. Kropp (1874-1958) by her daughter,
Christine.
THE CHANCEL CROSS — built by Del Laupp, Max Brower, Ed McAninch and Eugene Seidel.
THE DOSSAL CURTAIN — given by Mrs. Edith M. Seavert.
THE DOSSAL HOOD — given in honor of the Rev. John F. Phipps by the Camas-Washougal Kiwanis
Club.
THE BAPTISMAL FONT — given in memory of Charles G. Duffin (1887-1957) by his sisters, Mrs.
Marjorie Blake and Miss Ella Mae Duffin.
- 75 -
THE NARTHEX TABLE — given by Mr. and Mrs. Arthur Goulard.
(All of the above were given in 1958)
THIS DRAWING OF THE OLD CHURCH APPEARED IN THE OREGON
JOURNAL IN THE 1930'S. THE ORIGINAL HANGS IN THE NARTHEX OF THE
PRESENT CHURCH.
- 76 -