Valley Baptist marks 50 years

Kirby Neumann-Rea/News-Register##Valley Baptist Church is marking 50 years on its site at McDonald Lane and 27th Street. The site features large lawns and a parking lot, in addition to the church itself.

Submitted photo/Valley Baptist##Founding members of Valley Baptist Church gather for a photo in 1968. The McMinnville church met in members’ homes, then at the fairgrounds before buying its own property on McDonald Lane. It expanded an old building, then built a new one in the mid-1990s.

Valley Baptist Church, 2631 N.E. McDonald Lane, McMinnville, will mark 50 years at the same site during its Sunday service Oct. 27.

The service will be open to everyone starting at 10:45 a.m. A meal will be provided afterward.

Valley Baptist started meeting in members’ homes, Pastor Micah Cooksey said. In 1970, it began holding weekly services in the Green Room at the Yamhill County Fairgrounds.

It moved to the McDonald Lane site, once a turkey farm, in 1974. An older church building provided home to the new congregation.

Needing more room, church members built the current building in 1994-95. It includes a large sanctuary, where about 65 people meet each Sunday, along with a social hall, classrooms and offices.

The old building is scheduled to be razed in late November, the pastor said.

Cooksey has been attending the McMinnville church for 18 years. He became pastor in February 2023, following in the footsteps of his father, Ronnie Cooksey, who pastored the church from 2006 until a few years ago.

Micah Cooksey said the church is made up of “people who have received mercy from what Jesus did for us by dying on the cross, who want to help others relieve their burdens and find joy by knowing Christ.”

Not every burden is obvious to others, Cooksey said. People may appear to be at ease and happy, he said, but “God knows their hearts.”

Saturday’s 50th anniversary celebration will include a sermon and information about the church’s history, Cooksey said. Old photos will be on display.

“We’re celebrating history and looking ahead to having a positive impact on the community by sharing the love of Christ,” he said.