History:
Sumner was settled in 1853 by members of a wagon train which crossed the Cascade Mountains through Naches Pass. The town was built around a lumber mill run by the town's founder, George H. Ryan. The following year, a few Christians began meeting in Sumner homes for worship. Due to an Indian uprising in 1855, all the residents fled to Fort Steilacoom for safety.
In 1858, the First Christian Church in the Washington Territory was organized at one of the homes in Steilacoom with fifteen charter members. Members attended worship services in a school house near the Mountain View Cemetery. New converts were baptized in Gravelly Lake.
The members moved back to Sumner in 1863 and began meeting in a log school building near the corner of what is now Wood Avenue and East Main Street Twenty years later, in 1883, a church building was completed in the center of Sumner (on donated land corner of Alder Ave. and Maple St.). This was six years prior to statehood in 1889. With several additions and renovations, this building was used by the growing congregation for 76 Years.
The congregation purchased five lots at the corner of Wood Avenue and Silver Street for a new church facility in 1951. (This location was considered "out of town" at the time.) All the members helped in the building of an educational wing which was completed in 1959 at a total cost of $85,000. The mortgage was burned in 1961. The next step, taken in 1965, was the purchase of a three bedroom house adjacent to the church property for use as a parsonage.
In 1969, the present sanctuary was dedicated, 111 years after the congregation's founding. Total cost was $104,865. That mortgage was burned in 1981.
The First Christian Church of Sumner observed its 140th Anniversary in 1998. The contributions of pastors and countless lay persons have made this, the oldest chartered Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in the State of Washington, a church rich in tradition. Its people continue to proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ, nurturing each other in Christian love, and challenging each member to give practical witness and service in the name of Christ. Our heritage of faith, dedication, and community service continue onward.