Overlake Christian Church - History

History

Overlake Christian Church began in Kirkland, Washington in 1969 with a handful of former attendees of Bellevue Christian Church. James Earl Ladd, then president of Puget Sound College of the Bible in the nearby city of Mountlake Terrace agreed to serve as a temporary, part-time pastor/preacher until a replacement could be found. A pastor from Enid, Oklahoma, Bob Moorehead, was invited and became Overlake's Senior Pastor in January, 1970. During the nearly thirty years of Moorehead's tenure, weekly attendance at the Kirkland church campus grew from less than a hundred to more than 6,000. He resigned in 1998 amid allegations of sexual impropriety, mostly related to the 1970s, that he had touched or fondled male members of the congregation. The elders of the church exonerated Moorehead in the results of their initial investigation, but a year after he resigned they withdrew their support, saying they had discovered new evidence that showed he "did violate the scriptural standards of trust, self-control, purity and godly character required for the office of elder and pastor." As a conservative Christian, condemnation of homosexuality had been a major theme of his preaching.

In the autumn of 1997, the church moved a few miles east to a new 250,000 square foot (23,225 m²) building on 27 acres (110,000 m2) along Willows Road NE in Redmond, Washington. The new building has seating for 5,138. After Moorehead's departure in June, 1998, the senior pastor's role was filled by Rick Kingham, a former Vice President of Promise Keepers, who led the congregation until February 2007. He stepped down as allegations of inappropriate use of funds were made. Mike Howerton, already on staff as a teaching pastor, became the church's lead pastor in the summer of 2007. The church's membership peaked at over 6,000 in 1997, but dropped to about half that by 2007.