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Kent Lutheran Church celebrates 130 years in the community

Published 1:30 pm Thursday, November 7, 2019

Kent Lutheran Church celebrates 130 years in the community
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Kent Lutheran Church celebrates 130 years in the community
New Kent Lutheran Church members from South Sudan speak during the congregation’s 130th anniversary celebration last Saturday. COURTESY PHOTO
Mary and Harold Botts of Kent were married at Kent Lutheran Church in 1952, four years after Mary was confirmed at the church. COURTESY PHOTO
Barbara and Robert Strom of Kent moved into the Kent Lutheran Church’s parsonage in 1963 due to the housing shortage in the Kent Valley. After raising three children in the parsonage, they were able to buy their own home in Kent where they have lived for the past 54 years. COURTESY PHOTO
Representing the Kent community at the 130th anniversary of Kent Lutheran Church were Toni Troutner, Kent City Councilmember; and Judy Woods, Kent Downtown Partnership secretary, Greater Kent Historical Society and Museum Board of Trustees member and board member of Kent Grand Organ. COURTESY PHOTO

Kent Lutheran Church marked its 130th anniversary in the community last Saturday.

Festivities included food, fellowship and a program that celebrated the church’s long history in the heart of the city.

A near-capacity crowd of church members and others from the community enjoyed pork sliders and tomatoes and cheese skewers before an hour-long program in the sanctuary that looked back at the church’s 130 years in the downtown area.

Individual speeches and a parody of the song, “Downtown,” preceded an event highlight with the opening of a 50-year time capsule. The sealed tin box, placed behind a copper ID plaque, was stolen some three years ago but was returned after being found in a nearby homeless camp.

The evening also celebrated Pastor Jane Prestbye’s 20-year tenure with an unexpected standing ovation.

The next major milestone for Kent Lutheran will be the dedication of its newly refurbished and installed Hutchings/Plaisted, Opus 78 Pipe Organ with some 70 ranks with 4,200 pipes. The million-dollar project is 75 percent complete, church officials said.

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