Highand Park United Methodist Church celebrates 120 years

In 1902, a group of Methodist laymen conducted Bible and English classes for the 300 to 400 Japanese men living and working in Spokane.

That mission outreach eventually evolved into Highland Park United Methodist Church. This month the church celebrates its 120th anniversary, including a celebration Saturday at Mukogawa Event Center.

“We originally met at a church on Grant Street,” longtime member Patty Marinos said. “My grandfather helped build this church.”

In 1958, the current facility was constructed on a rocky outcropping on South Garfield Street. Reflecting the Biblical parable of the wise man who built his house upon the rock, church members embraced the challenge.

“It was a big pile of basalt,” Marinos said. “The city said we could have at it.”

Architect Frank Toribara designed the building and landscape gardener Ryotara Nishikawa created beautiful grounds, incorporating large chunks of basalt.

“I remember the building of the church and the painting of the interior,” said member Joanne Ferris, who’s attended since birth. “If you peel the paint behind the cross, you’ll find my dad’s initials.”

Ada Honda’s memories go back even further.

“I was married at the Grant Street church,” Honda, 102, said.

She grew up in Walla Walla and came to Spokane as a bride.

“In the beginning, I wasn’t involved in the church much because I was busy caring for my husband’s elderly parents and trying to learn how to be a good wife,” she said.

A pair of Spokane women helped to ease the transition for newcomers like Honda.

“Two white women, Mrs. Butler and Mrs. Ellis, helped them acclimate,” Marinos said. “They taught them how to speak English, how to cook and how to shop. We named the sanctuary and the church hall after them.”

A surge in membership occurred during World War II, as people from Western Washington and elsewhere on the West Coast arrived by the hundreds, hoping to avoid being sent to government internment camps.

Despite the discrimination, many members of Highland Park wanted to serve their country.

In the church entryway a memorial honors church members who gave their lives in service. Included is a plaque dedicated to the 14 Nisei men (second-generation Japanese) who died during World War II.

Marinos’ father served in the famed 442nd Infantry Regiment.

“He and his Japanese friends went to see a movie at the Fox,” she said. “They were in uniform but were chased out of the theater and spit on. Women threw sodas at them. He remembered his sergeant told him not to talk back, to hold his head up, so that’s what he did.”

Yet the congregation continued to reach out to the Spokane community, while keeping its cultural identity.

“We used to have a Japanese service before the English service,” Ferris said. “That stopped in the ’70s.”

But their choirs and Japanese dance classes burgeoned.

“There were so many youngsters and not enough classrooms,” Honda said. “Many Buddhist families let their children come here. I started teaching Sunday School and taught until my oldest daughter went to college.”

The church needed to expand.

“In the 1980s, we built an addition for classrooms,” Ferris said.

For many years, Highland Park welcomed the community to a teriyaki chicken dinner. That dinner has morphed into a fall festival where treats like senbei, a traditional rice cracker, are offered for sale.

“My 30-year-old daughter is the youngest generation working with us to make senbei,” Ferris said.

The process takes an entire day to complete.

“You can’t buy it anywhere else,” she said.

Another meal continues to draw crowds. The church’s annual Sukiyaki Dinner has been on Spokane’s social calendar for decades.

The congregation boasts many notable members including Ed Tsutakawa, who was instrumental in launching the Sister City program with Nishinomiya.

“The Japanese gardens at Manito were renamed after him,” Marinos said.

More recently, the Denny Yasuhara Middle School was named for a member.

Marinos noted Spokane golf courses didn’t allow Asians until 1954, yet their members continued to support the community.

“We are the oldest volunteer group for Bloomsday,” Ferris said. “And Ada started our volunteer group at Crosswalk and was honored for her many years of service.”

“The kids really liked the teriyaki chicken we served and so did the workers,” Honda said.

While their register lists 500 members, Marinos said average Sunday attendance numbers about 30.

“Spokane has this beautiful facility – a gem and generations of Japanese that are proud to be part of this community, yet many don’t know we’re here,” Marinos said. “This church is a wonderful community of love, care and commitment. Our church is uniquely Japanese, but all are welcome.”

Highland Park United Methodist Church is located at 611 S. Garfield St. For more information go to www.hp-spokane.org/.