First Assembly of God

Our History

In 1923 Kelso was a sleepy logging town with a population of 2,000. A half-century before it had been established by Peter Crawford at the confluence of Cowlitz, Coweeman and Columbia rivers. He had named it for his birthplace of Kelso, Scotland. In that year a neighboring city, Longview, was born and this church came into existence.

The founding pastor was Edwin Swanson whose boyhood home had been twelve miles to the west along the Columbia river. During World War I he had been converted and healed of a heart condition. He responded to the call of God to preach and later served as a co-pastor of the Gospel Tabernacle in Portland, Oregon. The young people in the Portland church were active in holding street meetings in outlying towns. They often came to Kelso to conduct such services on Saturday nights when all the loggers were in town.

A burden came upon the heart of Pastor Swanson to establish a church in his hometown. With that thought in mind he moved to the area. Another family from the Portland church, Mr. And Mrs. Sylvester Pride and daughter, Bonita, followed to help in the endeavor. When Postmaster Jeff Buford heard of the plans, he asked where they were going to meet. He was clerk of the Session (board) of the Presbyterian church. Through his influence that church building was made available for services on Thursday and Saturday evenings. The first meeting of the fledgling congregation was held there late in August 1923.

An integral part of the plan to reach the community was to conduct street meetings. In the beginning a folding street organ was set up in front of Mockman's store at Allen and Pacific. Later they moved to the corner of Oak and Pacific. There was no problem in attracting crowds any night in the week but the greatest interest was shown on Saturday evenings.
Many people in the Portland church took a vital interest in what was happening in Kelso.
Soon plans were underway for a simple meeting hall to be built at 506 Allen Street. A businessman persuaded them to erect a wooden building where the church could be upstairs and his laundry on the ground level. Later that building was destroyed by fire.

The first service was held on Allen Street March 24, 1924. In that building many people were saved and filled with the Holy Spirit.

One interesting aspect of the early history of the church stemmed from a murder. A six-foot-four-inch black man killed his common-law wife while in a rage. No one would conduct the funeral for the woman. Pastor Swanson volunteered to do so. He was the only white face in the packed building. As a result of that funeral fourteen people from the black community were saved and came into the church.

Edwin Swanson resigned as pastor in October of 1931 and he was succeeded by R. D. Stryffeler. Later he was succeeded by Cecil Ahalt who served briefly before going to the parent church in Portland.

During the tenure of Pastor Ted Silva there was a strong desire to have more adequate facilities and the ideal way to do that was to build. The Depression was on and finances were limited but with capable leadership they ventured forth. A lot was available at 5th and Church but commercial interests were vying for it because of its central location. It was a part of the estate of a woman who had been a member of the Presbyterian church. Suddenly it was discovered that she had specified in her will it be sold only for use by a church. That left the Assembly as the only bidder for the property. After many difficulties and struggles, a large frame building was erected on that site which is now the northeast corner of the present church parking lot. Most of the work was done by volunteer labor. The progress was very slow at times but there was great satisfaction when it was finally completed. Many questioned why such a large structure was built but it proved to be a wise provision for a great growth, which was yet to come.

Pastor John S. Manchester served the congregation for eleven years and under his leadership the greatest growth was experienced. Much of the seed sowing of the former pastors came to harvest under his direction. He was succeeded by Wesley F. Morton.

Two significant future events had their beginning during the pastorate of Burton W. Pierce. For some time leaders in the church conducted a branch Sunday School in the Columbia Heights area of Longview. Eventually several families formed the nucleus of what is now a thriving Assembly and a strong arm in reaching this area for God. The First Assembly has every reason to be proud of that child which is now grown to full maturity.

The second event was merely the purchase of a house adjacent to the church at Fourth and Academy. The far-sighted vision that snapped up that property, when there was no immediate need for it, made the church the owner of veritably the whole block. That made possible the erection of our present facilities and the sanctuary now stands where the house did. The congregation moved into the building June 1966 and the church was dedicated in April 1967.

Pastor Thomas M. Ming, Jr. served the congregation for nine years and it was under his able leadership that the beautiful building and facilities we now have were built. It is interesting that the contractors for the new church were G. W. and Henry Swanson, nephews of the founding pastor.


In the 1980's the Catholic church north of First Assembly was purchased and serves today as our Activities Center for youth and children's ministries. 

First Assembly has been richly blessed by God over the past 80+ years and continues to minister in Jesus' name to this community.