Preston Baptist Church was started 106 years ago by Swedish immigrants. Its rich history is recorded in the Heritage Room at the Church.

Preston Baptist Church has been blessed by many faithful men and women during its long history. Some stayed only a short time while others spent a lifetime in God's service in Preston. Although the names and faces have changed, God's plan has not.

In the beginning a Quaker man named Rudick (of Preston) started a Sunday School around 1890. Sometime in 1892 August Lovegren moved to Preston to start a mill and by 1894 was elected the first Superintendent of the Sunday School. In February, 1900, Mr. Lovegren called a meeting to discuss the founding of a Swedish Baptist Church. March 1900, twenty people gathered to sign the original charter and the Swedish Baptist Church of Preston was formed. The first pastor was F.O. Lonn. The Preston Mill donated the land for the first church building. The church grew rapidly during the first few years. An addition was added to the building in 1905 to accommodate the growth and by 1907, membership was 119.

In 1911 the Lovegrens sold the mill and moved to Cherry Grove, Oregon. The church struggled without a called pastor for four of the next nine years. Pastor Carlson arrived in 1920 and stayed until 1929. No pastor was called for financial reason from 1930 to 1936. In 1937 the treasury had $28 and Ronald Johnson had a vision of adding a Sunday School rooms in the basement. Ronald, Art Pendall and many others worked many hours to see the project through. The 1940's and 50's saw the Reverends Nelson, Piercey, Funkhouser, Brice, and Miller lead the congregation. Support was very strong for missions, including Preston's own, Rhodie Dawn and Edith Johnson. Lake Retreat was founded and many hours were donated to help build the facilities. A major remodeling of the church occurred in 1954 when Arvid Larson, Marshall Moore, Randall Nelson and others worked evenings and Saturdays to build Sunday School Rooms in the basement. During that time, the direction of the sanctuary was also changed.

Preston Baptist helped start Crossroads Baptist Church in 1962. Reverend Rekstad became Pastor in 1963 and a new parsonage was built across the street from the church in 1965. Arvid Berg became Pastor in 1967 until late 1969 when Pastor Clark was called. Don Wright left for the mission field in Japan in 1969. Pastor Clark and Pastor Stohre led the congregation during the 1970's with Pastor Luckman serving as interim in 1973/74 and 1979. The Erickson house was purchased in 1971 and used for Sunday School and a youth pastor was hired.

Dan Bettger became in 1980 and served until 1986. During his tenure the Food and Clothing Bank became a church ministry. In 1986 a call was extended to Reverend Gary Moen. Gary began his ministry in Preston on April 1, 1987, and served for over thirteen years.

On November 1, 2002 Pastor Roy Peacock and his family moved to Preston to take over leadership of Preston Baptist Church and is our current pastor. Current ministries include Youth Group, Food Bank, Alpha, Mid-Week Mentor and Missionary support worldwide, including Kenya, Brazil, Indonesia, Ecuador, and short term trips to Mexico. Preston Baptist Church, today and as in years past, seeks to fulfill the Lords' purpose by: praising God, building relationships and caring for the community.