Founded in 1857, when the Rev. Christopher Alderson presided over a meeting in an Empire drugstore building, the church is older than the state of Oregon, which did not join the union until 1859.

When the Rev. David King was installed last year, he became the 43rd pastor in the Coos Bay flock's long history.

So many years have passed since the church's founding, in fact, that the church building on Ocean Boulevard is still referred to as the new church, even though it was completed in 1957.

Despite its age, the church continues to develop new traditions to augment existing, long-standing practices.

This weekend, the church will celebrate its sesquicentennial with a homecoming dinner Saturday night and a special morning worship on Sunday. Guests at the evening affair will have a chance to share food, music and memories with old friends, former pastors and fellow congregants. While even the most senior members of the congregation weren't around at the church's founding, a good deal of history will be on display in photographs and in reminiscences.

Misty beginnings

Before Alderson arrived in Empire, the South Coast was visited by a Methodist circuit rider, Thomas Fletcher Royal. Beginning in 1855, he was assigned to Scottsburg and North Umpqua, though he is believed to have traveled as far south as Coos Bay.

Less than five years after Alderson preached for the first time in Empire, W.W. Luce, owner of an Empire sawmill, donated land for the Methodists' first church.

Although the First United Methodist Church originated in Empire, it set down firm roots in Coos Bay, then known as Marshfield, after the discovery of coal in the near vicinity. Marshfield became the regular appointment in 1885 and the church in Empire was sold in 1891.

In the 1890s, work began on a new church near the corner of Fifth Street and Central Avenue. At the time, an inlet ran from the bay up to where the church was being constructed. As a result, the structure was built on top of pilings, with boardwalks surrounding it. It would serve as the church's home for more than 60 years.

Connie Nipgen, current lay leader of the First United, said the location of the church offered certain challenges that the parish no longer faces.

“During service, some of the men had to go outside with poles to push logs floating in the water away from the building because otherwise they would hit the pilings and disturb the service,” she recalled.

Building endeavors

In the 1920s, with funding help from the Methodist Board of National Missions, Wesley Hospital was built at the intersection of Seventh Street and Commercial.

“The Board of National Missions insisted on a first-class hospital and, as it turned out, it was probably more than the area could afford,” Nipgen said.

When the Depression hit the South Coast, the church sold the property to the Roman Catholic Church. It was then operated by the Sisters of Mercy as McAuley Hospital until 1974, when Bay Area Hospital was established.

By the 1950s, the church population was growing, eventually peaking at about 300 members. At the same time, the church on Fifth Street was showing its age. Along with the constant bombardment of logs, the pilings underneath the building were rotting.

In 1951, during the pastorship of the Rev. Walter Warner, a committee was named to investigate possible building sites. Two years later, the church approved the site on Ocean Boulevard and purchased land at a sheriff's sale. Additional acquisitions from the city and a private landowner gave the church a full city block on which to work.

Ground was broken on Feb. 26, 1956, with the first shovelful of dirt taken by the Rev. Meredith Groves, the Eugene District superintendent at the time.

The church was able to raise $45,000 and got an additional $50,000 from the Board of National Missions, but a contractor put out a bid for $155,000. So instead of contracting out the work, the building committee decided to act as contractor for the project and hired Myrne “Hap” Schutte as superintendent.

Over the next year, more than 100 men, women and children contributed to the construction of the building, putting in more than 3,500 hours of work.

“There would be retirees working at the site during the day and then people would come up after a full day's work to help out,” said church historian Nova Lovell.

On July 28, 1957, the Rev. Wal-ter Warner presided over the first service in the new church.

Starting traditions

In the 1960s, the Women's Society of the Methodist Church oversaw the implementation of an annual smorgasbord event. Held in January or February, the meal would attract as many as 400 people from the community. Tables would groan under the weight of pickled herring, meatballs, potatoes, baked beans, specialty cookies and other Scandinavian delicacies. Following dinner, Runeberg Dancers would entertain the crowds.

“Those who weren't Scandinavian, learned to make Scandinavian food,” said Janet Skinner, an active senior member of the church. “They just kept coming and coming.”

Eventually, the organizers of the event decided to move on and they could not find anyone to pick up the task. Now, one of the few reminders of the 12-year tradition at the church are the wooden candlesticks that held the candles that provided flickering light for dancers and diners alike.

Around the time the smorgasbord ran out of steam, the Rev. Jake Powers created a new tradition, this one centered around Easter. At the time, the alter was traditionally decorated for Easter with fake flowers.

“But he wanted something living for the Easter celebration,” Nipgen said. “All fresh flowers.”

So began the tradition of covering a cross with flowers the day before Easter.

“It has become quite an event,” said Lovell. “Everyone brings flowers from their yard.”

Nipgen said the tradition has been maintained practically every year, though it has been difficult some years. One especially cold spring, few flowers had bloomed, so church members wound up heading over to Safeway to get them.

“It was a pretty yellow cross that year,” she said.

Powers' wife, June, also brought a new program to the church, with the development of the Creative Learning Center, in 1976. It would serve the congregation for nearly three decades, before it closed in 2004 due to financial difficulties.

Sweet sounds

One constant for the church has been music. At its height, the church boasted as many as five choirs. In 1974, a Grand Reuter pipe organ was installed in the church. In the 1990s, a grand piano was donated by Helen McPherson. The daughter of the Rev. Charles McPherson, who served in Coos Bay from 1903 to 1905 and helped build the church in North Bend, McPherson played an active role in the church's musical affairs over the years as well as at Marshfield High School as its vocal music director.

One of the most musical times of year for the First United church is around Christmas, though in recent years, the programs have changed slightly. For many years, it was traditional to have a musical service, complete with a Christmas cantata, on the Sunday prior to Christmas. One year in the 1990s, a horrible ice storm hit on the appointed Sunday.

“There were only about 10 people who attended, so we decided to have it on Christmas Eve,” Nipgen said, “and it has just stuck.”

Church elders were unsure what kind of turnout they would get, but when Christmas Eve arrived, the church was filled to capacity for the evening of singing by candlelight. Ever since, the performance has taken place on Dec. 24. For those who can't wait until Christmas Eve to sing carols, a Christmas carol sing-along has been implemented in the last few years, held several weeks before Christmas.

“It's a time for people who don't get a chance to sing good old Christmas carols,” Nipgen said. “And then afterward, they go downstairs and have punch and cookies.”