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Thursday, July 31,2014 - Mason County Journal - Page A-19
Continuing mission: "To make disciples of Jesus'
By GORDON WEEKS Shelton First Baptist Church, part
gordon@masoncountjzcom of the conservative Baptist movement,
helps people in need through the non-
In 1889, six parishioners left theprofit Love In the Name of Christ. Pa-
Shelton Methodist Church to form arishioners also supply meals to hungry
new Baptist congregation. Under the people in downtown Shelton through
leadership of part-time pastor J.W. Community Lifeline, a coalition of
Beaven, they worshipped at Kneeland Shelton churches,
Hall, the Methodist Church and other The church also helps people in need
sites before constructing their own by distributing food, electrical and pro-
church at 428 Cota St. in 1894. scription vouchers, said Natalie Ham-
In May, more than 400 members of ilton, who has attended the church for
the congregation gathered for a group 30 years and serves as its unofficial
photo in front of the white structure historian,
with the bell tower to celebrate the "It's just a constant flow of people in
church's 125th anniversary, need," she said.
The buildings received additions in The congregation grew to 43 mem-
1924, 1938, 1953, 1993, 1995 and 1998, bers by 1915. The original building was
and the original structure is now the raised in 1925, and a basement added.
second floor. The church's founders To celebrate the church's 100th an-
might be puzzled by the electric guitars niversary in 1989, a new bell tower and
and drums at the worship service, or bell were added.
the Spanish-speaking service at 6 p.m. Magee is a native of Southern
Sundays. California. He presided over his first
But the church today has "the samecongregation, a nondenominational
'mission, different congregation," said church in Redlands, for 10 years be-
Pastor Jake McGee, who took over one fore getting the call to head north to
year ago. Shelton.
"Our mission is to make disciples of "To assume a church that's been
Jesus ... and proclaim the gospel," he around for more than a hundred years,
said. "And in that way we have not de-
viated from the mission of the church." see CHURCH, page A-28
A photo of the church
in 1894, the year the
building was erected.
The building still
stands at 428 Cota St.
Photo courtesy of Shelton
First Baptist Church
Longtime parishioner and chui'ch historian
Pastor Jake Magee stand in front of Shelton
celebrating its 125th anniversary.
Journal photo by Gordon Weeks
Natalie Hamilton and Senior
First Baptist Church, which is
K4FISTINE ISLAND NEWS
"guess I just don't real-
ize sometimes how big
.our island is. I visited a
property down at the south
end on Dana Drive. It is a 22-
mile round trip to and
from my house -- 22
miles -- and I take the
shorter of the two ways
for me to go. As you get
closer to the south end,
the road narrows as it
dips down into a deep
green fern grotto.
Looks like there
are some new elected
officers in the garden
club. Diane Edgin will
be leaving as presi-
dent. Jill Meek and Donna
Strandberg will take over
as co-presidents. The club
would like to give a big thank
you to Rick Reese, an islander
with awesome wood-crafting
skills. He generously made
By MIKE
CALLAGHAN
two centennial plaques to
adorn the sides of the front
doors of the hall. Our friend,
Richard Poet, put this project
together on behalf of the gar-
den club. Thank you
to both Richard and
Rick.
The garden club is
sponsoring the third
annual Harstine Is-
land Pie Contest to
be held Sept. 20 at
the hall. Pies can be
brought to the hall
between 10 a.m. and
11:30 a.m. Judging
and the announce-
ment of the winning
pie will be at noon. Slices of
the homemade pies will be
available at $1 a slice, with
the winning pie going for $2 a
slice. There will be three win-
ners, first, second and third,
with the first-place winner
taking home a lovely plaque
and $100 grand prize.
On Aug. 9, the Harstine
CERT team will be sponsor-
ing a two-hour safety day
program for the community. It
will run from 10 a.m. to noon.
This will take the place of the
cancelled kids carnival. The
plan is to have CERT, the
Mason County Sheriffs Office,
the Sheriffs Office's Search &
Rescue Program, the county
Department of Emergency
Management, Washington
State Parks, Mason County
PUD 3 and maybe others with
demonstrations and handouts
available. Also, a fire extin-
guisher company will offer
hands-on fire extinguisher
training for those who want to
try it. This will also be a good
time for residents to bring
in old extinguishers for a re-
charge or a chance.to order
new extinguisher.
August is nearly here --
next thing you know we'll be
talking about Christmas. The
2014 Christmas Giving Arts
and Crafts Fair will take
place on Nov. 8 at Pioneer
Primary School. This year's
fair will run from 10 a.m.
until 3 p.m. This is a time
change -- organizers received
several suggestions to adjust
the fair's end time because of
dwindling attendance toward
the end of the fair.
Now, back to the reason I
started talking about August
-- the senior lunch menu. On
Aug. 6 they will be serving
baked chicken with mashed
potatoes and gravy. Green
beans will also be served with
sherbet for dessert. Then, on
Aug. 20, they will have pop-
corn chicken, white rice, spin-
ach salad and fruit crisp with
whipped cream. Remember
to be at the hall a little before
noon if you want a great lunch.
At 5:30 p.m. on Aug. 8,
organizers will have an old-
fashioned outdoor picnic as
part of the Harstine Island
Community Club's 100th
year anniversary celebra-
tion. All are welcome to
share this special evening,
along with honored guests
from the Pickering Com-
munity Club, who are also
celebrating the 100th year
anniversary of historic Grant
School. Our communities
have enjoyed a long and
fruitful relationship during
the years, and they want to
continue making memories
together. This will be a pot-
luck, so bring your favorite
picnic dish to share.
see HARSTINE, page A-24
