Our History

St. John is one of many Lutheran congregations planted in the Pacific Northwest by a missionary pastor named Edward Doering. He was sent by the Oregon-Washington District (now the Northwest District) of the Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod. Doering was born in Saxony (Germany) on June 12, 1852, just five years after Saxon immigrants in the midwest had founded the Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod. The original 12 pastors and 14 congregations banded together to train church workers, publish resources, and send missionaries. Doering became one of those early missionaries of our church body, trained and sent to plant new congregations in the northwest. Arriving in 1881 his mission was to shepherd scattered Lutherans into unified congregations. He served as a circuit rider and missionary, founding Zion Lutheran Church (1889) and Trinity Lutheran Church (1890) and eventually began his work in Washington. 

When Doering began outreach efforts in the small community and rural area around Salmon Creek. He searched for German speaking immigrants who might be excited at the prospect of starting a German speaking Lutheran congregation. We might picture his work to be fairly simple. Find Germans, remind them that they are Lutherans, and start a church. Doering described what he found in the Northwest a bit differently: “I find people everywhere, i.e., Germans, former Lutherans, backsliders, doubters, distressed, and spiritually indifferent. The soil is hard, very hard.” (Gospel DNA: Five Markers of a Flourishing Church by Michael Newman)

Despite the hard soil, Doering persisted in Salmon Creek and St. John was founded in 1908. something very special began to grow. The congregation built a sanctuary, a parsonage, and eventually a school above the banks of Salmon Creek (near today's Klineline Park on 117th Street). The school shaped young disciples for decades, but no longer exists. Many of our earliest members were laid to rest up the hill from the church's original location. The St. John Cemetery (shared with Salmon Creek United Methodist Church) is tucked into a neighborhood located near Sacajawea Elementary School. 

In the early 1960's the congregation moved away from the banks of Salmon Creek to a new property on Highway 99, our current location. The worshipers pictured in the 1958 photo inside the old sanctuary were the ones who made the leap of faith to move locations. Our 1960's sanctuary and classrooms now house St. John Christian Childcare (founded in the 1980's). The lower level is used for Sunday School and throughout the week by ministries and organizations from our community.

In the early 1980's the congregation put in a lot of their own manpower to build Koinonia Hall (koinonia means "fellowship") to provide more space for youth ministry and congregational gatherings. The final phase of our current campus was the 2001 construction of our current sanctuary and offices. Imagine the many people who have been baptized, confirmed, discipled, married, built up, encouraged, challenged, and comforted in these spaces. 

Thankfully St. John's previous generations also invested in the planting of other churches all over Clark County. St. John was instrumental in the formation of:

Memorial Lutheran, Vancouver

Grace Lutheran, Vancouver

St. Matthew Lutheran, Washougal

Prince of Peace Lutheran, Battleground

Good Shepherd Lutheran, Vancouver

These are the pastors who have served with this flock:

Pastor Edward Doering 1908-1913

Pastor Walter G. Biehl 1913-1921

Student Pastor W. H. Werning 1921-1922 

Pastor Arthur Grabow 1922-1930

Pastor John Westendorf 1931-1948

Pastor Clarence Wildermuth 1948-1962

Pastor Eugene H. Denner 1962-1966

Pastor Lawrence E. Faasch 1966-1980

Pastor Robert L. Weber 1980-1993

Pastor William Stunkel 1993-2006

Pastor Robert Swearer 2009-2012

Pastor Butch Olsen 2014-2015

Pastor Brian Larson 2015-present