Roy
Washington
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Roy Community Church
History
The church was organized by Reverend Samuel Greens, Superintendent of the Congregational Sunday School in Western Washington Territory. The first Pastor, Reverend Robert Brown of Sumner came as a missionary and used the old school house for a meeting place. He preached in Roy, Yelm, and the Muck Creek areas.
The church building was begun in 1888 and finally completed at a cost of $1,150 in 1890. The first service and dedication of the new building was held December 1, 1889. An organ was borrowed for the occasion. On March 25, 1890 a loan of $500 from the Board of Homeland Missions was accepted for finishing the building. This loan was repaid in February 1982 (no, this is not a typo—the loan was forgotten about and finally repaid when the church withdrew from the United Church of Christ Conference organization) with no interest charged. This loan was the only debt that the church ever had. Members made a vow, "If we can't pay cash, we'll wait until we can".
Roy Community Church has seen a number of pastors, and many a member come and go over the years, however there remains many of the faithful still here. Elizabeth Wallace now holds the honor of longest membership in our Church (75 years as of March 2004). She joined in 1929, lived in the parsonage in return for cleaning the church, and keeping the old wood stove stoked. She is presently our organist.
Many old-timers helped build the church, pioneers of all creeds and all social-economic backgrounds. The church has stood as a symbol of the work of the Lord through his body in this community. Our newsletter, “First Things,” is mailed out to all post office boxes in Roy every three months.
The church was organized by Reverend Samuel Greens, Superintendent of the Congregational Sunday School in Western Washington Territory. The first Pastor, Reverend Robert Brown of Sumner came as a missionary and used the old school house for a meeting place. He preached in Roy, Yelm, and the Muck Creek areas.
The church building was begun in 1888 and finally completed at a cost of $1,150 in 1890. The first service and dedication of the new building was held December 1, 1889. An organ was borrowed for the occasion. On March 25, 1890 a loan of $500 from the Board of Homeland Missions was accepted for finishing the building. This loan was repaid in February 1982 (no, this is not a typo—the loan was forgotten about and finally repaid when the church withdrew from the United Church of Christ Conference organization) with no interest charged. This loan was the only debt that the church ever had. Members made a vow, "If we can't pay cash, we'll wait until we can".
Roy Community Church has seen a number of pastors, and many a member come and go over the years, however there remains many of the faithful still here. Elizabeth Wallace now holds the honor of longest membership in our Church (75 years as of March 2004). She joined in 1929, lived in the parsonage in return for cleaning the church, and keeping the old wood stove stoked. She is presently our organist.
Many old-timers helped build the church, pioneers of all creeds and all social-economic backgrounds. The church has stood as a symbol of the work of the Lord through his body in this community. Our newsletter, “First Things,” is mailed out to all post office boxes in Roy every three months.