A Growing Faith on South J Street
The Swedish Methodist Episcopal Church reaches a milestone with the dedication of its new building, a testament to the growth of immigrant congregations in Tacoma.
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Dedicatory services at the new Swedish Methodist Episcopal church, corner South J and Eleventh streets, will be held tomorrow morning. The services will commence at 11 o'clock and will be conducted by Bishop Earl Cranston of Portland. The church has grown from a membership of half a dozen in 1890 until the society now takes its place with some of the strongest foreign churches in Tacoma. The value of the church property is now about $7,000. The first pastor was Rev. A. Peterson. The charge at present is under the care of Rev. John Ovall, presiding elder of the Swedish Methodist church in this district. He has been pastor of the church for three years, and it is largely due to his efforts that the society is in its present prosperous condition.
“The church has grown from a membership of half a dozen in 1890 until the society now takes its place with some of the strongest foreign churches in Tacoma.”
This reflects the massive wave of Scandinavian migration to the Pacific Northwest at the turn of the century, where ethnic churches provided essential community infrastructure. Today, Tacoma's Hilltop neighborhood continues to evolve, holding deep roots from this era of immigrant institution-building.
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