Members of Burien's Free Methodist Church will celebrate a century of service in the community this weekend.

Highlighting four days of special services and festivities will be the Rev. Matt Whitehead, Pacific Northwest Conference superintendent, who will speak Sunday, May 28, at 10:30 a.m.

The service will include a multimedia presentation of the church's history as well as special music. Cake and ice cream will be served following the benediction.

Centennial events at the church, located at 520 S. 150th St., will get underway with Community Family Renewal Services on Thursday, May 25, and Friday, May 26, at 7 p.m. each night.

Tim Knight of Highline Christian Church will lead both services. Music will be presented by Chaplain John Owen.

A community hymn sing at 6 p.m. will precede Friday's service.

On Saturday, May 27, the church will be open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. for parishioners and friends to visit, enjoy the flowered Friendship Court, and view historical photo displays and multimedia presentations.

That evening, church members will attend a sold-out catered dinner and historical music program at The Cove in Normandy Park.

Around 400 people are expected to join this weekend's centennial jubilee.

It is impossible to discuss Highline history without focusing on the Burien Free Methodist Church, which is nestled on a quiet Burien street north of Highline High School.

Burien Free Methodist Church, where Highline-area pioneers worshipped, has gone the extra mile to serve heaping helpings of compassion, community and Christ over the past century.

In 1906, three families ventured out in faith to form the Sunnydale Chapel, which would become the Burien Free Methodist Church. John Myers, his brother William Myers and I.M. Thomas formed the first Board of Trustees. The first pastor, R.E. Nichols, who was single, lived in a log cabin the the Foster area about three miles away. He commuted by walking and on horseback.

In 1907, Pastor Nichols married and he and his wife soon became missionaries, leaving for the Dominican Republic.

The first church property was donated by Anna Peters on the condition it be used only for a church building. Logs were cut from the trees on the property and hauled by a team of horses to a sawmill on Angle Lake to be cut into lumber.

Construction of the original church building began in 1907 and was completed the following year. During that time, the trustees were authorized to purchase the property just east of the church to build a parsonage. The parsonage cost $525 with most of the labor donated.

In 1911, members who would be the core of the church for the next 50 years started attending.

Etta Morasch and her husband, whose family was one of the original founding families of the area, joined the church. Etta became a widow in 1918, but continued to serve the church in many capacities for over 60 years.

Etta's sister Wanda, her husband, August Sternberg, and her parents also joined.

In 1918, Albert West became pastor. Shortly thereafter, both the church and the parsonage were wired for electricity. The first light bill for both buildings was $1.04. The cost of wiring was $10.25.

During this time, Robert Hughes built a belfry tower and installed a bell, which rang every Sunday for the next 35 years. The bell is now mounted in place near the Friendship Court.

From 1910 to 1920, the average pastor's salary was $350 a year.

In 1952, Bob Spurling was appointed pastor. The little white church was becoming too small and under his guidance, plans were made for a new brick chapel. That building is still in use as the church's fellowship hall.

The new chapel was dedicated in September 1957, and in 1959 the name was changed to Burien Free Methodist Church.

On November 25, 1967, the little white church was demolished to make room for a major addition to the chapel -- the current sanctuary, which was built in less than a year. Much of the work was donated by Wally Cordell, a general contractor.

The new sanctuary was dedicated on October 17, 1971. R.E. Nichols, the first pastor, returned to help it shortly before he died at the age of 93.

Pastor David Downie, who arrived in 1986, sees Burien Free Methodist Church as a family church.

Yet he is quick to add, "We're no more special than any other church.

"We're solid believers. We're the core," Downie said. "We are the kind of people who stay with it ... with unity and love.

"In the last year or so, we're seeing a real change. It's really special. There is more diversity and young families."

He added that 40 new adult members have joined the church since last September, not only by transfers but from confessions of faith.

"In the history of this church, this has never happened," Downie remarked.

Congregation member Jim Hansen, who came into the church as an infant and sees himself as a bridge between the original members and newer ones, sees the church as sharing the message of the Bible from one generation to another.

"It's friendly," Hansen says of the church. "There are no stigmas or cliques. Everyone is accepted, all walks of life, income, races, all kinds of people come away seeing a warm, friendly church."

Burien Free Methodist Church is 100! What a gala! What a century

For more information, call the church at 206-241-0915, or check out the church website at burienfm.org.