First Congregational Church of Tacoma

"Since God is pleased to live in and with all people, to be the spiritual force in their lives and to guide and encourage them; we, therefore, covenant together and with God to be faithful followers both in spirit and in truth. We promise by the words and love of Jesus Christ to seek God's will, according to the light made known or yet to be disclosed. We resolve to grow in judgment, faith and charity, to strive for justice and peace, and in fellowship to do and teach God's will. Amen."

OUR MISSION STATEMENT

"With open-minded witness to God's spirit, we seek to nurture the hopes and relieve the hurts of those around us, reflecting the love of Jesus Christ in word and deed."

Five charter members organized First Congregational Church of Tacoma on June 17, 1874, in a tent pitched on a plot on St. Helens Avenue. The founding pastor was the Reverend George Atkinson, a Congregational missionary who established many congregations in the Washington and Oregon Territories. In 1882, the congregation incorporated and erected its first church building adjoining the site of the original tent. The present church building in the Stadium Historical District was built in 1907. The educational wing was constructed in 1928.

First Congregational Church has a proud heritage of civic involvement in Tacoma. In the late 1880s, our congregation was one of the few that protested the expulsion of Chinese immigrants from Tacoma. In the teens of the last century, First Congregational Church introduced the community to what became a very popular program for the community, the Tacoma Public Forum. These evenings featured well-known presenters (including, among others, Irish poet William Butler Yeats) on a variety of topics of interest to the public, followed by discussion and debate. The Tacoma Little Theater, then known as the "Pilgrim Players," had its start at First Congregational Church in the 1920s. During World War II, the congregation hosted soldiers on their way to the Pacific theater, housing them on cots erected in the church gymnasium, and holding weekly dances in the social parlors. We produced a popular yearly "Brotherhood Concert" that served Tacoma's arts community well into the 1960s. Under the leadership of Reverend Lyn Hodges, who had served on Tacoma's Human Rights Commission, First Congregational developed and housed Tacoma's first food bank in the 1960s. The church has also hosted numerous debates for political candidates over the years, as well as noted public speakers including among others inventor/philosopher Buckminster Fuller.

Today, First Congregational Church is best known for its progressive, non-creedal theological approach, its educational programs for the community such as the Jesus Seminar on the Road, and for its involvement in urban ministry for homeless families.