History of Foursquare Church in Downtown Olympia

capitol city studios
Despite burning to the ground in April, this building has a rich history in downtown Olympia. Photo credit: Jason Scragz.
0 Shares

 

By Emmett O’Connell

capitol city studios
Despite burning to the ground in April, this building has a rich history in downtown Olympia. Photo credit: Jason Scragz.

What we now call the Church of the Living Water saw its roots find soil in Olympia on 4th Avenue in the 1930s.

The Foursquare Church (of which the Church of the Living Water is a member) found one its first homes in the building at 911 Fourth Ave East in downtown Olympia that recently burned down.

The Foursquare religion has a west coast birth, being first formed in Los Angeles in 1926.

The first ever Foursquare meeting in Olympia came six years later as the congregation gathered in the iconic Eagles Hall at 4th and Plum.

The group migrated around Olympia, meeting in homes and commercial spaces, until being granted a charter by the mother church in 1934. That same year, the congregation rented the old Lutheran Church at 4th and Adams.

Four years later, they bought the property (just up the street for their original Eagles’ home) on 4th Avenue, and began the community effort to build the structure. Working with donated materials, the distinctive structure was finished in 1939.

The total size of the week-to-week congregation in those early years was around 150, with over 600 attending Easter Services each year.

The building was the home of the budding Foursquare community in Olympia until 1972 when the congregation moved south to Chambers Street. In a few years, the church itself would change named to the Church of the Living Water.

And in 1987, they would expand from their original 3,200 square foot Chambers Street building to the current 14,000 square foot facility. By the mid-80s (but prior to the construction of their new and current home), Easter attendance had grown to 1,500.

After the Foursquare Church left 4th Avenue, the old church structure became folded into the cultural tapestry of downtown Olympia. For a time, it was a recording studio.

And, in the early 80s, the building was also home to the just starting Olympia Film Society. The group, numbering only in the dozens at the time, owned a 16mm camera, and showed special evening showings at the old church.

Print Friendly, PDF & Email
0 Shares