April 26 — Sumner church turns 130

The Sumner Presbyterian Church is celebrating 130 years of community service, fellowship and biblical sermons this week

Andrew Hosford / of The Herald

On Sunday, April 29, the Sumner Presbyterian Church will blow out 130 candles in celebration of the congregation’s birthday.

From Friday to the Sunday service, the celebration is the first for the church since it turned 100.

“It’s not just a celebration of the past, but a look to the future as well,” said Pastor Mary Hendrickson.

The church planned on celebrating the 125th year of the historic group but checked the records and noticed they were a year or two late. Hendrickson said the disappointment quickly ceased when she noticed that number 130 fell on a Sunday.

The party starts on Friday evening with a special dinner hosted by church members.

City councilmembers, firefighters, school board members and other local representatives are being treated to a “Thanks For Giving” feast.

“It is for the community leaders as a way to say thank you,” Hendrickson said.

On Saturday, church and community members are gathering for a day of service of a different kind.

From 8 a.m. to noon, people are volunteering their time at the local food bank, cleaning parks and assisting in any way they can in the name of celebration.

After four hours of hard work, a barbecue is scheduled as a thank you to the volunteers and a start to the afternoon baptism session at Lake Jane. Pastor Steve Starr said he plans to wear a wetsuit as he dunks the nearly 40 people who signed up for the ceremony.

Three services are scheduled for Sunday, each with a separate theme that revolves around different eras of the church’s history.

The first service at 8 a.m. will be set in the 1880s. The King James Version of the Bible will be read and Starr will wear a preacher’s frock from 1860. Taking it one step further, the congregation is expected to separate the men and women across the aisle from each other.

The 1950s are the basis of the 9:30 a.m. service that includes a choir singing hymns matching the era.

Finally, the service at 11 a.m. takes place in modern times with a praise team band singing songs and readings will be from the most recent version of the Bible.

“We’ll do each as close to the time period as possible,” Hendrickson said.

If people stay for each sermon, though, they will hear the same message.

“I am not doing three different sermons,” Starr said with a laugh.