HISTORY OF MANITOU PARK PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH

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In 1908 a Presbyterian Sunday School Missionary, the Reverend Frank Mixall heard singing as he was changing streetcars at the station in Manitou Park. When he followed the sound he came upon a group of children gathered with a lady under a crooked fir tree. Mrs. George Shumake on that April 12th day had gathered her five children and other neighborhood children and was teaching them Bible stories and songs. From this beginning preaching services followed in a small tent in the woods which is now Manitou Park, across the street from the present building. In 1909 when property owners of the woods asked that the tent be removed the Ladies Aid Society with Mrs. Ezra Shepard as leader purchased a lot at the corner of South 66th and Verde Street and began building a small wood frame church which became known as the Little Brown Church.

The first meeting in the new church was held 1 September 1911. At the request of 18 members the Olympia Presbytery of National Missions formally organized the church on 12 March 1912. When church support declined, "Grandma Shepard vowed the doors would never be closed." The Sunday School and church were reorganized, membership increased and the congregation soon outgrew the little church. Reverend Charles Snowden became the pastor in 1925 and was credited with bringing new interest on the part of the community. In 1926 the trustees purchased the present site at the corner of Grove and Cheyenne and laid the cornerstone in 1927. The first service was held in the new church in September 1928 with the Reverend T. Davis Acheson as pastor. He served until his death in 1932. The Depression brought another struggle to keep the church going. Mrs. G.E. Bolinger, a member of the Board of Trustees and president of the Ladies Aid Society in a discussion with Rex Meek, church treasurer, again vowed, "the doors of this church must never close." The Reverend Snowden came again and in a little over a year revitalized the efforts of many. Laymen from the First Presbyterian Church, the Reverends Ringseth, Van Zante, and Weyer filled in until Walter Johnson, a missionary at the Indian Mission, arrived. He served the congregation from 1937 to 1945 and the congregation continued to grow.

The early years illustrate the up and down struggles of the church to survive. Strong growth came with dedicated church leaders and the numerous activities of the Ladies Aid Society, the Missionary Society, youth groups known as the Junior and Senior Christian Endeavors, Sunday School and the choir. Reverend Johnson was followed by the Reverends Richard Redfield, 1946-51; K.J. Scott, 1952 -59; Robert Roach, 1959-63; Ralph Weyrick, 1964-67; Ralph Smith, 1968-70. Chaplain Roy Meyers arrived in 1972 and served until his retirement in 1988. He credits the gift by Cornell Meek of his father's house, which was sold and the money placed in an endowment, as giving the church a sound financial base. He also credited the women's groups with much credit for the survival of the church. When the church celebrated its 75th Anniversary in 1987 members came from the surrounding community as well as far away places. The Reverend Jim Thoburn was installed on 22 October 1989 as full time minister. He served until 1996.

The South Tacoma Presbyterian Church was merged with the Manitou Park Presbyterian Church in 1998 and its assets were transferred to Manitou. The Reverend Merrill Brown became pastor in 1996, and he continues to lead the church as it strives to serve the local community. The Manitou Park Presbyterian Church has an active outreach in the Manitou Park Schools. With the help of a Young Life Youth Missionary Group they are filling a very real local need. They commissioned and support the Joyful Noises, a youth choir group that is ministering to juvenile prisons and to the community at large with amazing results. Transportation is provided for older members needing this assistance and a church food bank is available for members and neighbors in need of short term help. Manitou Park Presbyterian Church has a dedicated core of church members who vow as Mrs. Shepard did, "These doors will never close." (Information in this article was originally printed in the Tacoma News Tribune, March 1997).