A church that rang for generations with the hallelujahs of one of Auburn’s oldest congregations has begun a new life.
A growing Korean congregation has revived the former White River Presbyterian Church, which closed its storied doors last fall because of dwindling numbers and failing financial health. The WRPC, the oldest congregation in the Seattle Presbytery, had been a part of the Auburn faith community for 142 years.
Looking for a permanent home for its expanding fellowship, the Pyung An Presbyterian Church – with roots in Federal Way – decided to inherit the historic church this spring. Seattle Presbytery continues to assume ownership and oversight of the facility, which was built in 1960.
Pyung An Presbyterian Church held its official open house last Saturday to usher in a new era for a church that was established in 1992 and is affiliated with Presbyterian Church USA. More than 600 Korean-Americans make up the majority of the congregation.
“We are here to make the impossible possible through our faith,” the Rev. Seonglim Kang said in his opening remarks at the ceremony. “We are living in the age where everything is possible. … It is through our faith where we make those things possible.”
Kang welcomes all to be a part of the Korean congregation. The new church will honor many of the established ministries as well as introduce new programs. Church leaders already are entertaining plans to expand the facility.
With an estimated 36 Korean churches in Federal Way, Kang and church leaders saw Auburn as a good opportunity to relocate the growing congregation. The church previously held services at the main sanctuary of the Steel Lake Church.
Auburn was without a large Korean church, until now.
“This is another opportunity for our faith to grow in our city,” Mayor Pete Lewis said in his address at the ceremony. “This is another time to welcome people in our community to be a part of us.”
The arrival of the Korean congregation is the latest chapter in the church’s long history.
The WRPC was the first church organized in the current Presbytery. The Rev. George W. Sloan established it with six members on July 7, 1867 in the log schoolhouse at Langston Landing, on the Green River near present-day Kent.
In 1889, the congregation of WRPC moved to the town of Slaughter. By 1890 it was meeting in its own church building on the corner of 1st and Division, near the present-day location of Auburn Regional Medical Center.
Slaughter was renamed Auburn in 1893, and the church grew along with the town.
In 1924, the church completed a new building one block away, at the corner of 2nd and Division.
The church continued to grow and eventually bought property on Southeast 12th Street. It finished the present building in 1960.
Today the church contains the same bell that first rang back in 1884. With the church in limbo this year, there was some speculation that it would retire the bell to a more permanent location, perhaps at a museum.
But with a new congregation in place, the aging bell will stay put where it belongs – symbolic and silent, Kang said.
Kang is excited about the challenge of establishing and growing the church. Kang, who is married with three children, earned his Ph.D. in computer engineering from the University of Connecticut before deciding to follow his heart and become an ordained pastor.
“There are so many reasons why they are coming to our church, but I believe people really want to put their hearts in Jesus Christ,” Kang said. “We just focus only on Jesus Christ. It’s what we are doing.”
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New church at a glance
• Location:
• Services: 9 a.m. (communion); 11 a.m. (traditional, with English translators); 1 p.m. (youth).
• Information: 253-508-1112, www.pyungan.org.
• E-mail: pyunganchurch@hotmail.com
