The Helvetia story begins when Swiss and German immigrants began settling in Oregon's Tualatin Valley in the late 1870s. They came from Europe by way of Wisconsin, Illinois and other eastern states, or directly by ship via Panama and San Francisco. As communities grew, schools and post offices were established, and the districts given names, Helvetia is the name the Romans gave the region now known as Switzerland. It was a natural choice for the predominately Swiss residents of the district. 

In March, 1882, Elder John Kunrath offered to donate ten acres of land as a building site for a church and parsonage near Phillips. Because of the distance it was decided in 1898 to erect two houses of worship, one at Phillips on the land donated by John Kunrath, and another at Helvetia on land bought from Christian Lauber. Both churches would be served by the same pastor alternating Sunday morning and afternoon. The group at Union never grew large enough to justify a church building of their own. The building committee consisted of A. Guerber, Wm. Josse, M. Wafler and Abr. Jungen.

The Phillips church was built in 1898 and the Helvetia church a year later in 1899. The two churches with a single pastor continued until 1938 when the Phillips church was destroyed by fire. Arson was suspected since other churches in the area were also burned at that time.

After the fire the property and parsonage were sold with only the cemetery remaining. With the advent of automobiles and better roads, travel was easier, so rather than rebuild at Phillips the two congregations united into one at Helvetia.

In 1934 the German Reformed Church in the U.S. united with the Evangelical Church, another German Church which was at least partly Lutheran in doctrine, to form the Evangelical and Reformed Church. The merged church used the Heidelberg and Lutheran Catechisms. The church at Helvetia was then renamed Emmanuel Evangelical and Reformed Church of Helvetia.

With the whole congregation now meeting at Helvetia, in 1947 the building was enlarged with additional Sunday School rooms and a basement. The interior of the church was also renovated. In 1949 a modern parsonage was built on the site formerly occupied by the Helvetia school.

1957 the Evangelical and Reformed Church merged with the Congregational Christian Church to form the United Church of Christ. Individual churches of each denomination were permitted to vote whether or not to join the merger. After much prayer and deliberation, the Helvetia church decided that the merger meant too great a compromise in doctrine and voted not to join. They subsequently reorganized themselves into an independent church and chose the name Helvetia Community Church.

In the 1960s the church grew in numbers and size. The building was further remodeled, and a new two-story section added for classrooms and a fellowship hall. Helvetia continued to prosper for another two decades. In the 1990s attendance began to decline and there was concern that the era of rural historic churches might have come to an end.

Happily, the Lord has blessed Helvetia with renewed growth and energy.

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