Our Story, His Story ---> Our History

High View Baptist Church began as a dream in the hearts of David and Donna McCafferty and Jerry and Jeanette Caddy. On December 16, 1987, these couples invited Charles Aiken, the Director of Missions of the Pikes Peak Baptist Association, and his wife, Evelyn to a home on High View Circle to discuss the possibility of beginning an evangelistic Southern Baptist Church in the beautiful mountain town of Woodland Park, CO. They needed a name for this new work and High View Baptist Church was the unanimous choice.

Before long, Aiken was able to find denominational resources for the church plant and he also persuaded First Southern Baptist Church of Colorado Springs to adopt High View Baptist as its mission church. Worship services began on December 27, 1987 and Chaplain Eddie Engle of Fort Carson was invited to give the inaugural sermon. Those in attendance that first service were the Caddy family and McCafferty family. For the first three months of High View's life, the services rotated between the homes of these two charter families.

During its modest beginning, High View was steadfastly committed to the Great Commission and began to experience growth. On February 14, 1988, the church moved into the log cabin at 120 Midland Avenue. A succession of interim and called pastors, including Ken Musslewhite, David Diehl, Harlan Harris, and Bruce Williamson, reflected the early struggles of the new church; but God continued to bless the new congregation as it was obedient. Entering the 1990s as a two-year-old church, High View experienced more growth and leased a space at 400 West Midland Avenue. In May of 1991, Pastor Joe Willis was called by the church membership to be a permanent, bi-vocational pastor, with Howard Moffatt, an Air Force officer at the time, donating his services as Associate Pastor.

A vision for the future led the church to purchase the six acres of land on which the present building sits, and by December 20, 1991, the church had secured free and clear title to the land. Next, the church focused on building a facility in which to worship. High View broke ground on April 4, 1993. Mission groups from all across the Southern Baptist Convention came to Woodland Park to participate in building the structure. God gave the church not only the building, but many new friends from all over the country. Beneath the walls of the church building there are signatures and prayers written by all these workers who volunteered their summer during construction. Before the building was finished, High View was constituted as an autonomous church with 130 members.

On January 9, 1994, after leaving months earlier to serve as the pastor of Cripple Creek Baptist Church, Howard Moffatt returned to High View and became its pastor in lue of Pastor Willis's resignation. Pastor Moffatt officiated the first worship service held in the present facility on Wednesday, March 16, 1994. The building was dedicated to the Lord on the following Sunday, March 27.

After years of productive ministry, evangelism, and biblical preaching, Pastor Moffatt submitted his resignation in the early months of 2001. The following period without a pastor would represent a trial for the congregation. After many months of searching, High View called one of their members, Wade Thomas, to become their permanent pastor. With years of previous experience pastoring in Texas, Pastor Thomas took the reins.

In 2005, Pastor Thomas met with Pastor Doug Jones, the young pastor of another small Southern Baptist Church meeting in Woodland Park. Convinced that the Lord wanted to do something special in Woodland Park, the two explored the idea of joining High View Baptist and Woodland Park Baptist into a single congregation. In the latter months of 2005, Pastor Thomas and Pastor Jones felt that uniting the two churches together was the Lord's will and in the early months of 2006, Woodland Park Baptist and High View Baptist successfully merged together. The churches chose to keep the name High View Baptist Church. Pastor Thomas continued as the senior pastor and Pastor Jones took the role of associate pastor.

In May of 2007, Pastor Thomas submitted his resignation and in November of the same year the congregation called Pastor Doug to become their permanent pastor. Today, High View Baptist Church finds itself nestled between several public schools and neighborhoods. The church remains eager to reach its community and the world with the gospel of Jesus Christ.