Our Story

Compass Church began when Micah and Kristen Dodson realized that the church they served and attended didn’t have anything to offer their friends who didn’t yet know Jesus. They spent the next seven years on staff at East Park Church, which is an area church that shared their same values. They took part in a church planting assessment in the spring of 2003 where it became clear they were both called and skilled to plant a church. After directing them to West Vancouver, God led them to begin praying for a specific location for this new church to exist. A year later the very building for which they were praying became available, and Compass began regular worship gatherings on September 18th, 2005.

In May 2010, the Dodsons moved up to the Seattle area to plant a network of church-planting churches. At that time Tim Saur came on staff as our lead pastor, and he helped us navigate the purchase of our building from the Disciples of Christ Fellowship next door. After a short while he handed the baton to Brian Kilde. Brian has been on staff with Compass since we planted back in 2005, and he has been our lead pastor since November 2013.

All the while, God has given us many opportunities to worship Him, learn from His Word, make disciples of Jesus, pray for and encourage each other, serve the community, partner with Hough Elementary, support church planters, care for the impoverished, provide respite for foster families, raise up new leaders, and send out short-term mission teams. We’re glad for how God utilizes us to invite people to discover Him, and we believe there’s room for everyone, all types of people, to join in.