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A Fresh Start for Pleasant View Baptist Church in White Bird, Idaho

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The new parsonage at Pleasant View Baptist Church in White Bird, Idaho

By Karen L. Willoughby

WHITE BIRD, Idaho – Pleasant View Baptist Church embraces change. Not just in its leadership, but in the very home that will welcome its next pastor.

After the previous pastor departed in February, church leaders took a hard look at the aging parsonage: a 1969 mobile home donated back in the 1980s. With weakening floorboards, inefficient heating, and a laundry list of maintenance woes, it was clear the time had come for an upgrade.

“We were fortunate to have donors from our congregation eager to help,” Deacon Russell Gray told UI Connections.

Seizing the opportunity, the church opted for a modern manufactured home placed on a solid foundation. The old trailer was demolished and hauled away, a new foundation poured, and two container-length sections of the house were delivered by truck to the property next to the church building.

Sourced from River Bend Homes in nearby Lewiston, Idaho, this three-bedroom, two-bathroom home boasts an open floor plan, energy-efficient appliances – stove, refrigerator, and dishwasher – and a sleek contemporary design.

“The interior still needs finishing touches from the manufacturer,” Gray said. “Water and sewer are hooked up, and electricity should be ready in a week or two. Once that’s sorted, they’ll return to install carpet, make any transport-related repairs, and get everything polished for the new pastor and his wife.”

This investment isn’t just practical. It’s a powerful symbol of the church’s enduring spirit. The new parsonage “not only provides a welcoming residence for the incoming pastor but also symbolizes the church’s commitment to blending tradition with progress, ensuring that Pleasant View Baptist Church remains a vibrant cornerstone of White Bird for generations to come,” according to a recent article in the Idaho County Free Press.

Yet, as with any big transition, there’s a small hitch. The congregation unanimously selected their new pastor, but he’s facing a serious health challenge that requires surgery and recovery time.

“It’s anyone’s guess when they’ll arrive, but with the holidays and his healing process, I’d be thrilled if it’s by early January,” Gray noted thoughtfully. “We don’t want to rush him. His well-being comes first.”

The congregation of Pleasant View Baptist Church in White Bird, Idaho

Despite the delay, the church’s tight-knit community of about 30 regular attendees remains strong and active.

Services kick off every Sunday at 10 a.m., preceded by adult Sunday School at 9 a.m. Midweek, there’s Bible study on Wednesdays at 6 p.m., with deacons stepping up to share preaching and teaching duties.

The women’s group meets every other Monday at 6 p.m., while the men gather for breakfast and devotions on the second Saturday of each month.

Fundraising and outreach are cornerstones here too. A popular spaghetti feed in March supports a full week at Camp Alacca in July for kids, plus another for teens. Vacation Bible School (VBS) this year attracted 20 young participants, thanks in part to ongoing support from Leoma Baptist Church in Leoma, Tennessee, led by Pastor David Simmerman.

“The church loves getting involved in local festivities, from decorating floats for White Bird’s annual 4th of July and Christmas parades to partnering with community groups for monthly barbecues from May to September,” Gray said.

The barbecue gatherings recently moved indoors, year-round, to the IOOF Hall, serving up hearty soups, salads, desserts, and bread. At Easter, Pleasant View Baptist hosts a community sunrise service at the scenic White Bird Overlook, followed by breakfast back at the church and a special service.

In a nod to modern outreach, Pleasant View Baptist has been live-streaming Sunday services on its Facebook page for more than a year, “making it easier for folks near and far to join in,” Gray said.

The parsonage sits on a newly poured foundation next to the church in White Bird, Idaho

And at the heart of it all are the church’s founders, Dick and Susie Brust, who planted the seeds back in 1979.

“They’re still active members, and we just love them to death,” Gray said warmly. “Time and again, they’ve been the ones – along with God’s guidance – who’ve kept this church thriving through the ups and downs.”

As Pleasant View Baptist looks ahead, this blend of renewal, community spirit, and unwavering faith promises to keep it a beacon in White Bird for years to come.



Karen Willoughby

National correspondent for Baptist Press

and other state Baptist newspapers

Sue and Randy Myers

Randy Myers retires after serving Utah Idaho 40 years

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By Karen L. Willoughby, UI Connections Staff Writer

Randy and Sue Myers love serving the beautiful community of White Bird, ID

WHITE BIRD, Idaho – Randy Myers was 30 and working for NASA in the San Francisco Bay area when he first made a profession of faith in Jesus. The week before he did, Mike McGuire recommitted his life to the Lord at the same Warm Springs Southern Baptist Church in Fremont, Calif.

The men studied together at Criswell College in Dallas, Texas, where they started Tri-Cities Baptist Church. McGuire, a former Mormon, returned to Utah in 1982 and invited Myers in 1983 to join him as associate pastor at East Carbon Baptist Church, near Price.

“After eight months, Mike and I helped start [churches in] Wellington and Huntington, and then the Lord called me to start one in Green River. I was there five years,” Myers said. “Then the Lord called me to Pleasant View Baptist Church as pastor and also as a Home Mission Board church planter to restart a church in Cottonwood, Idaho, that had been closed for five years after the Job Corps Center closed and the members moved away.”

Valley view of the community of White Bird, nestled in the heart of Idaho County, Idaho

During his 16-year stint at Pleasant View, Myers also started works in Mount Idaho, and Nez Perce, in addition to Cottonwood. His years of ministry in Central Idaho was followed by five years at First Baptist Church in Vernal, Utah, and six years at Crestline Baptist Church in Spokane, Wash.

“The Lord just used Mike and me as church planters,” Myers said. “We never worried about finances. We trusted God to take care of us and He always did.”

McGuire now lives with poor health in Burley, Idaho.

Myers was 71 when he “Just got tired,” he said. “It was the end of March. We’d had two feet of snow and I was shoveling the driveway. ‘We need to go someplace warmer,’ I told my wife.” They retired and moved to Tennessee.

Randy Myers baptizing a young new believer at Pleasant View Baptist Church, White Bird, Idaho

Three months later Myers un-retired and became the “connections pastor” at a Tennessee church, until a woman from Pleasant View started calling him because they needed a pastor or the church would probably wither away.

“The Lord convicted me that He – the Lord – still had plans for Pleasant View and that I was not through ministering as a pastor,” Myers said.

When asked for words of wisdom about planting churches, Myers said, “All I knew was to listen to God, trust God, go where God told me to go, and then depend on God to do the work through me. God has been faithful all these years and I praise the Lord. He was willing to use clay vessels – cracked pots – like Sue and me to share salvation with lost people.”

White Bird 1

Pleasant View Baptist gets a new school and new pastor

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By Karen Willoughby, UI Connections Staff Writer

Pleasant View Baptist Church, White Bird, ID

WHITE BIRD Idaho – This scenic village four hours north of Boise has a population of 88. Yet between 30 and 40 people attend Sunday morning services at Pleasant View Baptist Church.

That’s up from the seven who called Randy Myers as pastor in October 2019.

“Then Covid came in March [2020,]” Myers told UI Connections. “That slowed things somewhat, but the Lord has blessed us. We’ve had a number saved and baptized, and a number of new people because of Covid.”

Pleasant View Baptist also started a weekday Christian school this fall, despite no money, no building, and no teacher until just before the school year started.

“It was not possible for us to do it,” Myers said. “God works in so many different ways. We just have to be available and pray all the time, all the time. Pray without ceasing.”

Schoolchildren in White Bird are bused to school in Grangeville, 18 miles north, and Myers didn’t like what he was hearing about school board decisions there related to library books and gender diversity.

“Last year the high school approved and placed a litter box in the girls’ bathroom because a girl identified as a cat,” Myers said.

Pleasant View congregation in prayer

“I didn’t know how to do it, [start a school] didn’t know where, didn’t know when we’d get a teacher. And we didn’t know how to finance it. We started praying about it.

“I went to a Gideons’ banquet, and asked, ‘Would you guys pray with us about a Christian school?’ A pastor across the table asked me, ‘What salary would you need for a teacher?’ I said, ‘I guess $1,000 a month for 9 months. He thought a minute and said, ‘I can give you that for a school year.’ I called him the next morning to make sure I heard him right.”

Myers told that to the Pleasant View congregation. A location for the school came next. The White Bird church seats about 60 people, and there are only two small classrooms. Someone suggested the former White Bird two-room schoolhouse, now being used as a recreation center.

“I went to a monthly meeting and asked if the Rec board would be open to us using the building for a school,” Myers said. “They said, ‘Sure, and we won’t charge you anything.’

“That was the second thing we needed for a school. We get to use one of the rooms, and we pay for utilities.

White Bird Christian School now meets in the home of the original two room schoolhouse in White Bird, ID (image: Idaho County Free Press)

“Now we needed a teacher,” the pastor continued. “It was June and we needed to start in August. We’re praying and praying and praying.”

The last week in July, Pleasant View Baptist hosted a fundraising meeting for a woman who wanted to do ministry in the Czech Republic. A couple came from Grangeville to hear her, and during the fellowship that followed, the couple heard about the plans for a school and the need for a teacher.

“I’m a certified teacher,” said the woman from Grangeville. “I’d like to do it.”

Pleasant View Christian School has four students this year: one in first grade, two in third and one in sixth, “because we started late,” Myers said. He anticipates several more students next year if for no other reason than White Bird students catch the bus at 6:30 a.m. and don’t get home until 4:30 p.m., a 10-hour day for youngsters.

“We’ve got the school board going, the finances going, and we’re ready for the next school year,” the pastor continued. “Everything’s functioning and everything is doing well. The Lord is blessing everything.”

New pastor

Myers turned 79 last month. He’s ready to retire (for the second time) and move to Leoma, Tenn., where he and his wife Sue have been given the no-cost (except for utilities) use of a spacious house. But he didn’t want to leave until a new pastor had been called.

Randy and Sue Myers retire in February after forty years serving Utah and Idaho churches

Some churches spend two years or more to find a new pastor. This one, however, came just as easily as did the school.

“My God is so awesome,” Myers said.

Bill Horn, longtime pastor of First Baptist Church in Clearwater, died from Covid in 2020. The church has been looking for a pastor ever since. Don Starn, a member of the search committee, recently called a reference for a prospective pastor for Clearwater, and passed on to Myers the name of the reference: John Morris of Alamagordo, N.M.

Pleasant View members called Morris and his wife Trish in late January; they plan to move to White Bird in late February. His first Sunday preaching is to be Feb. 4.