After nearly 40 years tending to the faithful at Montana City’s Friendship Baptist Church, Pastor David Klass retired last week at a ceremony honoring him and welcoming his successor.
Originally from Oklahoma, the 70-year-old Klass and his wife Cathy started Friendship Baptist in January 1986, with 10 people turning up for the first service at Clancy’s St. John’s Church. After a year and a half of renting out St. John’s for $25 per week, the expanding church moved to Montana City.
Friendship Baptist would change buildings two more times as the congregation continued to grow. Over the years, Klass’ church earned a reputation for generosity, giving nearly $2 million to international Baptist missions, including to South Sudan and Nepal.
The longtime pastor refused to take credit for the largesse. “God did all this, David and Cathy Klass didn’t do it. We were simply little vessels,” he said, “little tools he used.”
Succeeding Klass is Nicholas Korthals, a Michigan native who joined Friendship Baptist as assistant pastor three years ago. “Pastoral transitions can be challenging, especially when you’re following someone who’s been somewhere a long time,” Klass said. “It’s been a really good transition.”
Stepping away from the church, Klass plans to take his preaching skills on the road, visiting other churches in Montana and beyond. He hopes to soon take his first international trip to New Zealand to visit a missionary he has supported.
Klass plans to step away for six months before returning as pastor emeritus to help Korthals, coordinate new missions, and start a class for older church-goers in between his travels. Excited to spend more time with his family, he became emotional when asked what he’ll miss about the church he and his wife built.
“You pour 40 years of your life,” he said. “It’s like our little infant.”
Even though it took much of his time, Klass will miss caring for others. Other than his pastoral duties, Klass has made it his mission in the last 39 years to be involved as possible in the communities of the Prickly Pear Valley. He and his wife raised four children and coached almost every sport offered at Clancy Elementary School.
“Ask anybody in the Prickly Pear Valley if they know David Klass and they will say yes,” said Meg Munden, longtime Friendship churchgoer. “He makes [it] his business to get to know people.”
Klass said he is best-known locally as a school bus driver, which he did for 38 years until retiring in 2024. Often munching on a pastry while picking up kids in the morning, Klass’ young passengers dubbed him “Donut Dave.”
Klass enjoyed participating annually in the World Outreach Celebration, bringing in guest speakers to discuss missions abroad and hosting cookouts and film screenings. Despite his origins, the new retiree has come to love Montana over the years, recalling pheasant hunting around Big Sandy, training hunting dogs, and bashing the Griz at every opportunity.
“My roots are in the hills of eastern Oklahoma,” he told The Monitor. “But my heart is in Montana.”
“He doesn’t know a stranger,” both Korthals and Munden declared in reference to Klass’ familiarity with his congregation and community. Munden emphasized the fitting name of Friendship Baptist, and said it welcomes anyone looking for a church home.
“I’ve learned a lot from him – just how to carry myself and respond to things,” said the new Friendship Baptist pastor. “He’s a humble man. He’s a great example of ‘a soft answer turns away wrath.’”
